Coding Off

[Bike Tourist]

I have a varied collection of lenses, some 6-bit coded and some not. Has anyone tried just setting the coding to OFF? I can try it myself but I’m interested in hearing if the results are horrible or satisfactory. Sure would make changing lenses more pleasant.

 

[Frankd]

Coding issue

Coding issue

`I have a similar issue with one coded lens and the rest not. I usually use it on "automatic". That way it picks up the coded lens that I Have. The other uncoded I have a choice. Either I can just shoot and let the rangefinder describe the frame and focus like any Leica M camera. But this way it won't show up in EXIF data. The other choice is to put it on "manual" and go into the menu and pick the exact lens or one that is close to what you have on.

Not sure why the previous poster is so negative. This for me is no big deal. With the M240 you also have "live view" to check your frame like any other digital camera or DSLR.

 

[Henry]

You can save it as a profile, one automatic and then three more with your most common manual set lenses.

 

[dfranklin]

I don't think turning the coding off will have any appreciable effect on your images. My understanding is that the lens profiles are mainly a matter of the EXIF. I wouldn't be surprised if some profiles compensated for vignetting, but beyond that I don't think they really do anything. In any case, the worst result would be a closer approximation to how the lens performs on film. I have used uncoded Zeiss lenses, sometimes without a lens profile, and sometimes manually selecting what I guess to be a similar Leica lens profile. I haven't noticed any effect on results. (BTW, I use an M240.)

 

[Henry]

I don't think turning the coding off will have any appreciable effect on your images. My understanding is that the lens profiles are mainly a matter of the EXIF. I wouldn't be surprised if some profiles compensated for vignetting, but beyond that I don't think they really do anything. In any case, the worst result would be a closer approximation to how the lens performs on film. I have used uncoded Zeiss lenses, sometimes without a lens profile, and sometimes manually selecting what I guess to be a similar Leica lens profile. I haven't noticed any effect on results. (BTW, I use an M240.)

Depending on profile I believe they can apply vignette correction and various distortion corrections. It bakes that into the DNG, but it can be turned off in raw conversion software.

 

[dfranklin]

Aha, good to know. In the future, then, I won't select a profile for my non-Leica lenses.

 

[Henry]

Aha, good to know. In the future, then, I won't select a profile for my non-Leica lenses.

Some of them work well with the profiles, honestly.

 

[Beemermark]

I don't see a huge (or small for that matter) difference with coding on or off on my M9. I think it might be handy for older lenses, especially wide angles like the 21mm. The only really nice feature is the EXIF coding in the files when on. Henry's advice is best, use the profile menu. I save one profile for AUTO (coding on), one for my Zeiss 50/1.4 and one for an old 90 Tele-elmarit that I rarely use.

 

[Gregm61]

I have a varied collection of lenses, some 6-bit coded and some not. Has anyone tried just setting the coding to OFF? I can try it myself but I’m interested in hearing if the results are horrible or satisfactory. Sure would make changing lenses more pleasant.

The “worst” part of doing that is, no official record of the focal length used. Any optical issues can be addressed, especially if you shoot raw.

I simply no longer mess with non-coded lenses when I do use my M262 because I want that focal length info in the EXIF data and have shifted most of my shooting to a Leica digital CL and full set of TL lenses.

 

[Benjamin Marks]

As for the coding, I think the results depend on whether you are shooting wider than 35mm often. I find that the vignetting correction is useful for wides, trivial for normal to tele-. Just my experience.

 

[Godfrey]

I have a varied collection of lenses, some 6-bit coded and some not. Has anyone tried just setting the coding to OFF? I can try it myself but I’m interested in hearing if the results are horrible or satisfactory. Sure would make changing lenses more pleasant.

Much as others have said, for longer focal lengths the lens profiles do less but they do various kinds of corrections for the wider focal lengths that are significant, as well as populate the EXIF data with lens name and focal length, etc.

Leica lens profiles have an intent which you should understand: They are an effort by Leica is to allow lenses that may or may not ever have been designed for a digital sensor to render as closely as possible to their original design intent. If you choose not to use them, the rendering they produce will just be whatever the lens's optical design does with whatever given camera sensor you're using them on; if you choose to use them, the rendering should match very closely from Leica camera to Leica camera, both film and digital.

For some lenses, they allow the lens to achieve its best performance on a given body and without them there are imaging issues that you have to accept and/or work around. For other lenses, the differences with or without is inconsequential.

Just try the lenses you have with and without on various scenes and see if you can see the difference. If you can't, you know how much they are needed. 🙂

G

 

[dfranklin]

Leica lens profiles have an intent which you should understand: They are an effort by Leica is to allow lenses that may or may not ever have been designed for a digital sensor to render as closely as possible to their original design intent. If you choose not to use them, the rendering they produce will just be whatever the lens's optical design does with whatever given camera sensor you're using them on; if you choose to use them, the rendering should match very closely from Leica camera to Leica camera, both film and digital.

For some lenses, they allow the lens to achieve its best performance on a given body and without them there are imaging issues that you have to accept and/or work around. For other lenses, the differences with or without is inconsequential.

G

thanks for this lucid and helpful explanation!

 

[Bike Tourist]

Thanks, all of you, for your knowledgeable replies.