Bike Tourist
Well-known
When I first got my Leica I obsessed over what to do with my non-coded lenses. I would dutifully scroll through the menu list of lenses each time I changed them. Then, I decided to experiment a little. I made a permanent adjustment of lens detection to automatic and left it there.
I have two Leica lenses of 28 and 50mm focal lengths, both 6-bit coded, and two Voigtlanders at 21 and 35mm, not coded, naturally.
All lenses give excellent results shooting DNG with automatic lens selection. I needn't have worried about vignetting with the Voigtlanders It just doesn't happen. Of course, the non-coded lenses don't report the focal length of the lens but I think I can remember which is which.
I have two Leica lenses of 28 and 50mm focal lengths, both 6-bit coded, and two Voigtlanders at 21 and 35mm, not coded, naturally.
All lenses give excellent results shooting DNG with automatic lens selection. I needn't have worried about vignetting with the Voigtlanders It just doesn't happen. Of course, the non-coded lenses don't report the focal length of the lens but I think I can remember which is which.
In the first few years of owning an M8, I felt it was useful to have all my lenses coded, as the camera has no option to manually ID the lens. Partly it was the value of EXIF info recording the lens, and partly some lens corrections done in-camera.
So for uncoded lenses I'd send them off to DAG for coding. He would remove the mount flange and ship it to John Milich in New York where he machined the pits the same as Leicas, send it back to DAG who painted in the code I'd requested, then check the lens for any needed service and focus checking. This was fairly economical, as I recall a bit over $100 IIRC. And in case of a focus adjustment there was some understandable confidence gained.
OTOH I bought a used Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 Nokton that the previous owner had coded himself with a Dremel tool. Very crude, but it works!
So for uncoded lenses I'd send them off to DAG for coding. He would remove the mount flange and ship it to John Milich in New York where he machined the pits the same as Leicas, send it back to DAG who painted in the code I'd requested, then check the lens for any needed service and focus checking. This was fairly economical, as I recall a bit over $100 IIRC. And in case of a focus adjustment there was some understandable confidence gained.
OTOH I bought a used Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 Nokton that the previous owner had coded himself with a Dremel tool. Very crude, but it works!