Who has self-coded the ZM 28/2.8 Biogon?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I have just ordered an M8 and bought a few UV/IR cut filters for my lenses. One of them is the ZM28, which I suppose I will have to code, in order to avoid the cyan drift and vignetting.

The problem with this lens is that there's a screw where the first couple of pits are supposed to go. I do NOT want to pay to have a new flange attached--but look here at the Leica 28/2.8 ASPH:

The screw seems to be about where those two adjacent white pits belong. What if I just paint a bit of white over the screw, then sharpie in three dashes next to it? Has anyone tried to do this?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

OK, how about this--can anyone show my a photo of the flange on a coded (professionally or otherwise) ZM28 Biogon?

 

[back alley]

you gave up your rd1 for this misery?

 

[martin s]

I use a 28mm Leica and don't see neither vignetting nor color shift or anything else. I would stay calm and try it first.

martin

 

[Bobfrance]

I coded mine with the m-coder kit and don't recall any problems. I'm afraid I no longer have it so can't show you any pictures.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I am calm and unmiserable! Quite excited actually--I like tinkering. I'll probably just end up Sharpieing until it comes out right.

Martin, are you using an IR cut filter? If you don't get vignetting with the filter on, that's great--if I get similar results, I won't bother coding.

I am not especially eager, either, to have the wrong lens listed in my EXIF data.

 

[Doug]

The silver screw head should "read" like a white-painted pit, and you can add a bit of white fingernail polish if you want to make sure. Here's a shot of my 25mm Biogon's flange (swapped from an 18 Distagon and machined to be a 24/35mm flange), coded by DAG to 011001 as a 24mm Elmarit ASPH. I'm told that more recently the screw positions for these flanges has changed to avoid this possible interference. Mine as coded though works fine... Good luck!

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Excellent, thanks, Doug!

I just discovered the existence of CornerFix, though--I may just go with that, if it's as simple as it looks.

 

[RFNewbie]

I didn't really notice any of the vignetting and color shifts that bothered me when using the Zeiss 28mm f/2.8 on the M8. It's actually my favorite focal length for the M8. Can you please describe what you are referring. Here's a few pics from my trip to China last month.

 

[RFNewbie]

a few more pics.

One thing that I would like to see is the lens info being embedded into the EXIF. The only way to do that right now is coding but none of my lens are coded except the Leica 24mm. I'm hoping that Leica will come out with the firmware update so you can manually change it in the camera similar to the M9. That's the main reason that I haven't coded my lens yet. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

RFNewbie, I don't even have the camera yet! Should be here tomorrow or Wednesday--I am just trying to suss out the various IR-related issues people complain about all the time. Those are very fine results--are they taken with or without an IR cut filter on the lens?

If I personally don't notice color shift and vignetting problems on my photos with the ZM28, I won't bother trying to code it. I liked it a great deal on the R-D1 and I'm sure I will like it on the M8 as well.

 

[RFNewbie]

I do use the UV/IR filters. That is a definite must! The color shifts are very noticable without it. The only time that I have been able to get away from using the IR filter is when doing b&w. Other than that, I would highly recommend it.

I still have my R-D1, which I feel has much better ergonomics (for setting the various parameters). ISO, exposure compensation, image quality is all right there without having to go through the menu. I have no idea why you have to go through the menu to access it on the M8. The other thing that really annoys me about the M8 is the off/on/continous/self timer switch. I am use to just flipping the switch without looking and taking pics. I do that for candid street photography. If I look down, it takes away from valuable time that could be spent taking the pic. Most of my pics that I posted above was taken within 1-2 sec of deciding to take it (this includes turning it on, focussing, and composing, and taking the shot....I leave it on 2.8 most of the time). On many occasions, I switch it from single shot to continuous on accident. Who shoots continuous on a rangefinder? It anything, they should put continuous and timer in the menu. That annoys me more than any aspect of the M8.

Having said that, the M8 is my favorite camera now. The old look/size of the camera (like the R-D1) doesn't scare people like the big dslrs so I get much more candid shots (less of the deers in the headlights look or people running away). Its size is a big plus and the colors are much better than my other cameras (R-D1, Canon 1D mk2n, 1Ds mk2).

 

[Benjamin Marks]

John: I will echo some of what RFNewbie wrote. I started out with just two IR cut filters and gradually have acknowledged that for my pictures, the color correction that they give is necessary. I found not just the shift towards purple with black synthetic fabrics, but certain hair-dyes also registered wildly incorrect (and were much harder to fix in photoshop). I now use IR cut filters on all of my most-used lenses -- it is a hidden cost of using this camera. From what I read, the M9 addresses some, but not all of the problem, so I do not see the filters as a waste in terms of future upgrades.

One unsung virtue of this "feature" is that I can now do IR photography. I use an old 35mm LTM Summaron at hyperfocal distances and an IR-pass filter so that only IR is hitting the chip. Very interesting results, although they do require some color correction post.

I too came to the M8 from the RD-1 and I find the rangefinder on the M8 muuuch more accurate on the Leica than on the Epson, particularly with fast lenses. (75/1.4, 50/1, 50/1.4 etc.). Good luck with yours.

Ben Marks

[Edit: BTW: the white spots on Leica 6-bit coding read as "zero"; when I have hand-coded lenses with a sharpie, I just leave those spots unmarked. Seems to work fine.]

 

[Doug]

I do use the UV/IR filters. That is a definite must! The color shifts are very noticable without it. The only time that I have been able to get away from using the IR filter is when doing b&w. Other than that, I would highly recommend it.

... The other thing that really annoys me about the M8 is the off/on/continous/self timer switch. I am use to just flipping the switch without looking and taking pics. ... On many occasions, I switch it from single shot to continuous on accident. Who shoots continuous on a rangefinder? It anything, they should put continuous and timer in the menu. That annoys me more than any aspect of the M8.

Agreed on both counts! On the latter I determined to do something about it. Because I don't use the Continuous Mode or the Self-Timer, I stuck a trimmed piece of cabinet-bumper to prevent the switch from moving to those positions. These can be had at a hardware store, intended to be placed on the inside of cupboard/cabinet doors as a bumper, self-adhesive and they come in various sizes. Round, domed, I used a sharp blade to trim it to a useful shape. See pic below...

 

[hon910]

Leica M8

Leica M8

I didn't really notice any of the vignetting and color shifts that bothered me when using the Zeiss 28mm f/2.8 on the M8. It's actually my favorite focal length for the M8. Can you please describe what you are referring. Here's a few pics from my trip to China last month.

Nice picture of yours.
I have got myself an used M8 and been using it on my Zeiss 28mm as well.
So far so good, no vignetting.
Indeed I was using it on my R-D1 as well before I sold it for the M8.
Now I am quite satisfied with the Zeiss as well.

Here's some pictures taken with it. Of course I tweak the colour a bit as the weather is not so great.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Well, I have profiled this lens with Cornerfix, but to be honest I'm not bothered very much by the vignetting and shifting so far. Most of the time I will probably just leave the photos as they are. The only lens I'm likely to use Cornerfix for regularly is the 15mm Heliar.