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"Old" lens giving a 6-bit code. Yes or no?


Paulus

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I was thinking about putting a 6 bit code on one of my "old" lenses. It's a 35 asph from 1996. It needs a CLA anyway so I was thinking about this.

 

What's the price nowadays at Leica? I know when they started, at the time of the M8, it was € 100,- but that was a few years ago...

 

Is Will van Manen a serious option , or is the 6-bit code he provides degrading the value of the lens, because it's non - Leica?

 

Speaking of resale value. Does this really affect a lens if it's 6 bittet, or does an original 35mm asph from the beginning of the production line also has its value?

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Consider the great value in using the 6 bit coding yourself, rather than worrying what someone else may think of it, IF you sell it! All my M lenses are 6 bit coded except one, my 135/4.5 tele. It drives me mad because I forget to dial in the code manually and then when I do put it in, I forget to return to 'auto' coding and then all my lens images. are mis-coded.

 

I think you must do all or none, for consistency of use.

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Definitely worth it if you only use Leica lenses and frequently swap lenses on-the-fly. I have sent many lenses to Will for CLA, but never asked him to code them, although I'm confident he would, as always, do a great job.

When I got the M8, I had a few coded by Leica. The price was more reasonable back then and menu selection was not available.

These days, I enjoy vintage/non-Leica glass alongside my factory-coded lenses and have made a routine of going to the lens selection menu every time I swap lenses, irrespective of whether they are coded or not.

In any event, I don't think you would get back the full cost of the coding in terms of resale value.

Edited by Ecar
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Consider the great value in using the 6 bit coding yourself, rather than worrying what someone else may think of it, IF you sell it! All my M lenses are 6 bit coded except one, my 135/4.5 tele. It drives me mad because I forget to dial in the code manually and then when I do put it in, I forget to return to 'auto' coding and then all my lens images. are mis-coded.

 

I think you must do all or none, for consistency of use.

John, make a user profile for that lens, to enable you to select it in the set screen.

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Consider the great value in using the 6 bit coding yourself, rather than worrying what someone else may think of it, IF you sell it! All my M lenses are 6 bit coded except one, my 135/4.5 tele. It drives me mad because I forget to dial in the code manually and then when I do put it in, I forget to return to 'auto' coding and then all my lens images. are mis-coded.

 

I think you must do all or none, for consistency of use.

 

My 135mm isn't coded either but coding makes no difference at all to the image and irrespective of what the image looks like it's pretty darn easy to spot a 135mm image in the library because it's the one without the code.

 

On the general point of coding a lens (and not the inability to code certain lenses) lens flanges with coding rebates machined in are available to buy and are an easy user swap (small screwdriver needed), which means they can be swapped back for the original flange in the future.

 

 

Steve

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My 135mm isn't coded either but coding makes no difference at all to the image and irrespective of what the image looks like it's pretty darn easy to spot a 135mm image in the library because it's the one without the code.

 

On the general point of coding a lens (and not the inability to code certain lenses) lens flanges with coding rebates machined in are available to buy and are an easy user swap (small screwdriver needed), which means they can be swapped back for the original flange in the future.

 

 

Steve

Steve, I totally agree with your comment but it has become a 'nice' luxury to have the exif data fully recorded. I had my 135 coded but of course it didn't work! It all serves to keep my ageing mind active.

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John, make a user profile for that lens, to enable you to select it in the set screen.

Are you suggesting I get technical! :wacko:

Hmm. May try it.

 

The real problem is remembering to do 'something else' when changing lenses rapidly/frequently.

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Are you suggesting I get technical! :wacko:

Hmm. May try it.

 

The real problem is remembering to do 'something else' when changing lenses rapidly/frequently.

Just get a body for each lens :)

Much less effort than remembering to select a lens from the menu, faster too!

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I've tried it all too. Just made a user profile at Jaap's suggestion, but already I can see it will have problems for the way I shoot.

 

I will just live with the occasional 'wrong' exif data in my files. I am used to that as a lifelong analog shooter who never had exif data except what was in my memory!

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I've tried it all too. Just made a user profile at Jaap's suggestion, but already I can see it will have problems for the way I shoot.

 

I will just live with the occasional 'wrong' exif data in my files. I am used to that as a lifelong analog shooter who never had exif data except what was in my memory!

 

If you use Lightroom, the LensTagger plugin can help changing the exif to the 'right' values after the fact. But it is slightly "technical" as well... 

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If you use Lightroom, the LensTagger plugin can help changing the exif to the 'right' values after the fact. But it is slightly "technical" as well... 

Thanks Ecar, but I don't use Lightroom, preferring C1. The problem is only an aggravation, not deal breaking or serious.

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I coded all my 35mm and shorter lenses myself.  They're all well-used so I wasn't worried my DIY job doesn't look like factory coding.  It works, that's all I care about.  Given that a 135/4.5 isn't worth a lot of cash, if you're handy you should be able to code it yourself.  Dreml and some flat-black paint.  No need to do the white codes.  Myself I didn't bother with anything over 35mm, as there are no corrections applied and Irdgaf about EXIF identification.

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  • 2 weeks later...

About half my lenses are coded. If I've messed up by forgetting to dial in the correct coding for a lens, or to reset it afterwards having done so, as soon as I transfer the files into LR I add details of the correct lens used to Keywords. It's very quick and easy to do - as long as I do it pretty soon after shooting I can usually work out the lenses used. Of course, I'd prefer it if they were all coded!

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15 euros or thereabouts for a replacement lens flange from seller jinfinance on eBay and a couple of euros for some black and white enamel. I've done it for a number of lenses and it has always worked perfectly for me.

 

Would you mind to elaborate about jinfinance flanges which worked for you?

The following ones did not work for me so i stopped ordering them out of boredom: 28/2 v1, 35/2 v4, 50/1.4 asph, 50/2 v4, 50/2.8 v2, 90/2.8 v1, "thin" 90/2.8, 135/2.8.  

No problem with two lenses though: 50/1.4 pre-asph and 90/2 pre-apo.

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Would you mind to elaborate about jinfinance flanges which worked for you?

The following ones did not work for me so i stopped ordering them out of boredom: 28/2 v1, 35/2 v4, 50/1.4 asph, 50/2 v4, 50/2.8 v2, 90/2.8 v1, "thin" 90/2.8, 135/2.8.

No problem with two lenses though: 50/1.4 pre-asph and 90/2 pre-apo.

I've used them on a couple of 90mm Elmarits (latest/last version), a 75mm Summicron, and an older 90mm 1974 Summicron. What issues did you face? They seem to have a pretty good reputation online.....

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