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M8 Sensor coating damage- resolved


Marac

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My trusty M8 had a bit of sensor dirt so I swabbed it, it was still there, I used the pentax sticky pen, still there, swabbed again and it kind of got bigger... Hmmmm strange, let me try it again maybe its grease .... ooooops its the coating coming off. Called Leica, they do not cover it as it was only the M9 series that had coating issues... OK... errrm.

 

Sent it off to ACS to have it converted to IR (yes I know its great at IR anyway) the cost was a lot less for a start and as I now own an SL I am delighted to keep my old beaten up M8 for IR B&W

 

As soon as I get it back from them I will update the thread 

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How much was the conversion?

Well, because the camera was already damaged we agreed that any further damage they would not be liable for so we ended up agreeing an all-round fee of £300

 

I have a small update regarding the sensor. It does not have any filters on the sensor, this means that they have to actually remove the thin glass that is actually a part of the sensor itself and so it is a slight PITA, the glass it coming off in tiny splinters and Neil is having to be very careful not to let any go inside or indeed to damage the tiny wires inside the unit, a bit like brain surgery I imaging.

 

I asked if it would be easier to replace with normal filter or convert to IR, he told me I could have both (pending successful repair) I can have the glass replaced or converted to IR, well now that opens a whole new option for me

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Marac,

 

I get that converting your M8 to IR means that you don't need to have appropriately sized IR filters for each lens but would you really be happy to never again be able to shoot visible light shots with it?

 

If you have the glass replaced instead of converted to IR then you can obviously still shoot IR but you'll be able to choose a 680 nm, 720 nm, or 850 nm IR filter depending on whether you're looking for stark white foliage or to shoot faux-colour IR by swapping the colour channels in post-processing.  Converting to IR would deny you this flexibility.

 

Pete.

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Hi Pete, this is now my dilemma. I have an SL for all my colour needs so having a converted \M8 is a nice option, but as you say having it as it once was is also a nice option too.. I believe the replacement glass would block IR so I could not use it like a standard M8 anyway but it would be more like an M9 with a crop sensor..

 

The jury is still out on this one ... Must admit though, I am tempted to have it done with standard filter and use it as a cropped M9 and just forget about IR all together.

 

Having it IR converted was what I thought was a last chance option to have it repaired again, I had no idea that a company who do IR conversions could also simply replace the filter with a standard one, obvious now I think about it though, so I am leaning towards having it done with the normal filter. 

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... I believe the replacement glass would block IR so I could not use it like a standard M8 anyway but it would be more like an M9 with a crop sensor...

Ah, Marac, well that would change the equation for me and I completely understand now why you were thinking of a converted IR-only M8.  Under those circumstances I think I would go for the conversion to IR too.

 

Pete.

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  • 2 months later...

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Just an update...

 

Spoke with Neil at Advanced Camera Systems yesterday, and the sensor glass is finally removed, it took such a long time because the original glass was so thin it came off in splinters.

 

We are going with 720 IR, and he will test for hotspots (an issue with some sensors with IR) then if all is said & done it will be put back together and will be IR only...

 

I have to call Tuesday to confirm all systems go.

 

I asked if he would consider doing Leica M IR conversions and he made a scared laugh and said "now I know how they are engineered, YES!"

 

Anyone got a spare M8/M9 imagine a MM converted WOW!

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  • 1 month later...

Finally it's finished. They had a lot of issue removing the sensor glass and as such have cause a few marks to the actual sensor (this is not a problem to me because the arrangement was that I would not hold them responsible because it was already a brick). Anyway, it's been done and works very well indeed, I will post some photos, these are only snaps I managed to grab while we still had some light.

 

Hoping for some sun tomorrow so I can go grab some better scenes. Final cost was £300 including the scratches, Bargain.

 

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Another.

 

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