Lens Coding for Tri-Elmar 28-35-50

[lanetomlane]

Bit the bullet over the weekend and coded my 24mm, 35mm and 50mm lenses. I used a Dremel to 'mill' the recesses into the lens flange and then filled with Matt Black and Matt White enamel modelling paint. Everything worked out great but I couldn't find a code for the Tri-Elmar ...... anyone have any ideas?

I was also going to code my 90mm Summicron but as one of the black marks coincided with a screw and I understand it isn't essential to code anything over 50mm, I didn't bother.

As a note to anyone thinking of using a Dremel to code; I was a bit apprenhsive before actually doing it but it's very straight forward. I was tempted to use a slower speed on the drill but that tends to 'snatch', it's much smoother if you use a high speed. Biggest problem is protecting the lens from brass filings entering.
_________________________
Regards, Tom



Photography by Tom Lane

[marknorton]

Brave Man. How did you ensure the edges of the pits were flat and are not now going to scratch the bayonet ring?

Check out Carsten's posts (user: carstenw). He has a link at the bottom which shows the codes for the lenses including the Tri-Elmar.

[cbretteville]

Brave man indeed. Code for the MATE is 42 See Leica M8 Lens Codes
BTW, what did you put on the Dremel to make the grooves?

- Carl

[lanetomlane]

Hi Carl, many thanks for the information.

I used an extremely small router bit in conjunction with a flexible drive from the Dremel.
_______________________________
Thanks & regards, Tom

[lanetomlane]

Originally Posted by marknorton

Brave Man. How did you ensure the edges of the pits were flat and are not now going to scratch the bayonet ring?

Check out Carsten's posts (user: carstenw). He has a link at the bottom which shows the codes for the lenses including the Tri-Elmar.

Thanks for your help Mark. I used a small spherical router bit and flexible drive, therefore raised edges on the grooves were not a problem. I checked for flatness after 'milling' and if there had have been any raised edges I would have levelled using a needle file.
_________________________
Thanks & Regards, Tom

[tbarker13]

Thinking about trying this myself. But I think I'll start with the LTM adaptor on my UC hexanon. That's easy enough to replace if I mess up.

[lanetomlane]

Originally Posted by tbarker13

Thinking about trying this myself. But I think I'll start with the LTM adaptor on my UC hexanon. That's easy enough to replace if I mess up.

I tried it on a piece of scrap aluminium alloy before attacking the actual lens' flange. It really is very easy but I would recommend to use one of the higher drill speeds. At first I tried with a low speed on the assumption that if anything went wrong I wouldn't do as much damage. However, using the lower speeds the router bit tended to snatch and I didn't have as much control.

After this success I thought I may have a go at dentistry .... and volunteers?
____________________________
Regards, Tom

[michali]

Using an M Coder and engraving tool I coded my MATE.

Very important how the lens is orientated: I position the red dot in the 2 O'clock position, which places the aperture scale etc. in the 12 O'clock position, area to be coded ends up in the 7 O'clock position.

Working anti-clock-wise the code is BWBWBW (obviously B=Black W=White). I've only milled the Black notches, painted them black with nail polish & left the White blank.

I've done all of my old Leitz Lenses including the 1954 35mm Summaron & 50mm Summicron, I read somewhere that these can't be coded, on the contrary it's worked on all of them. I've done this mainly for EXIF purposes.
Good luck!

[lanetomlane]

Originally Posted by michali

Using an M Coder and engraving tool I coded my MATE.

Very important how the lens is orientated: I position the red dot in the 2 O'clock position, which places the aperture scale etc. in the 12 O'clock position, area to be coded ends up in the 7 O'clock position.

Working anti-clock-wise the code is BWBWBW (obviously B=Black W=White). I've only milled the Black notches, painted them black with nail polish & left the White blank.

I've done all of my old Leitz Lenses including the 1954 35mm Summaron & 50mm Summicron, I read somewhere that these can't be coded, on the contrary it's worked on all of them. I've done this mainly for EXIF purposes.
Good luck!

Thanks for the information Mike. Now I have the actual coding I cannot see any problems as the other three lenses were easy to do. Problem was that the M Coder doesn't provide the code for the MATE.
_____________________________
Thanks & regards, Tom


Photography by Tom Lane

[michali]

QUOTE: "Thanks for the information Mike. Now I have the actual coding I cannot see any problems as the other three lenses were easy to do. Problem was that the M Coder doesn't provide the code for the MATE."

Tom- My pleasure. The M Coder I have does show the MATE code it's on the flip side of the rotating scale, off the top of my head it's shown under the lenses manufactured up to 1999 or 2000 if I recall correctly.

[lanetomlane]

Originally Posted by michali

QUOTE: "Thanks for the information Mike. Now I have the actual coding I cannot see any problems as the other three lenses were easy to do. Problem was that the M Coder doesn't provide the code for the MATE."

Tom- My pleasure. The M Coder I have does show the MATE code it's on the flip side of the rotating scale, off the top of my head it's shown under the lenses manufactured up to 1999 or 2000 if I recall correctly.

Hi Mike

I never thought to check the flip side of the M Coder ....... dummy! I will when I get home tonight and I bet it's there. Again, many thanks for your help.
_____________________
Cheers, Tom