A bit disappointed

Why is everyone having such trouble getting IR cut filters? I got E39 Heliopan with my M8 (because it was just in stock) and Tamarkin, Adorama, etc. have most other sizes that I need. People buy a $5000 camera and then act like it doesn't work because they can't locate an IR cut filter in common sizes which are in stock every time I've ever needed one. I must be missing something here. Maybe you planned to shoot a particularly hard to find lens size.
 
It is going to be really interesting to see how this whole filter thing pans out.

The IR cut filter is now taking the place of a protective filter, bummer.

You see, I often shoot in situations where a protective filter is mandatory. The auctioneer yelling spit with my 28 in his face, the blowing snow spray of a fine winter storm, the dust as the wind picks up at the cattle drive. All of these things put the front element of multi-thousand dollar Leica glass at risk. Enter, the B&W filter for $39.95.

If the filter gets damaged or scratched, the filter can be removed and replaced, the shooting does not have to stop. But now we have a expensive filter that is now part of the optical path of necessity. Are pros carrying spares then? If a pro is on a long term assignment with say two M8's and 4 lenses, are they carrying at least $600 in filters? What about the use of polarizers or other special effect filters? Are people stacking all that glass on a optically perfect 28mm 2.0 aspheric?

Hmmm....
 
Daniel, yes, with a polarizer you MUST stack filters, as a pol doubles the IR contamination. Fortunately, one uses a polfilter 90 degrees of the sun, so the lenshood will cut all skew rays, minimizing the undesirable effects of stacked filters.

sirvine said:
I must be missing something here. Maybe you planned to shoot a particularly hard to find lens size.
Click to expand...

It took B&W two weeks to supply my special order 41mm 486.
 
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KM-25 said:
It is going to be really interesting to see how this whole filter thing pans out.
Click to expand...

It's already panned out. Whoever wants an M8 badly enough accepts the filters. Who doesn't accept the filters could deal with the contamination in post, could use a band-aid profile or the new "tweaking" in the firmware, could pretend they don't see it, could shoot only subjects that don't reflect IR and/or in light that contains little or no IR...but basically the filters seem like the simplest way.

The IR cut filter is now taking the place of a protective filter, bummer.

You see, I often shoot in situations where a protective filter is mandatory. The auctioneer yelling spit with my 28 in his face, the blowing snow spray of a fine winter storm, the dust as the wind picks up at the cattle drive. All of these things put the front element of multi-thousand dollar Leica glass at risk. Enter, the B&W filter for $39.95.

If the filter gets damaged or scratched, the filter can be removed and replaced, the shooting does not have to stop. But now we have a expensive filter that is now part of the optical path of necessity. Are pros carrying spares then?
Click to expand...

I'm not a pro and I don't have an M8 yet (not because of the IR filters, though I still believe they are a stupid consequence, but because of such a high reported failure rate) but if/when I get one I will still have all those MRC UV filters leftover and will do some experimentation. If I don't see any ill-effects I'll probably keep one stacked to protect the IR filter. After all, what's one more suspension of common sense in comparison to having the wonderful IQ 🙄
 
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