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Does the M8 need to use IR Filter?


lagrassa

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Its been a few years since I purchased my M8.1. I never got my IR filters from Leica (a computer glitch at that time). Now that Ive read this, do you think they will send out filters ever after all this time has passed? Any suggestions who should I contact about this?:)

 

I just bought a demo M8, with full guarantee, and called to Leica Solms, the guy there was very kind, he registed my camera with the serial number, I sended him a fax with a photocopie of the guarantee booklet, and will get my 2 free filters next week. That is great Leica service! Thanks.:)

 

ISIS's Photo Galleries at pbase.com

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I may be joinng the M8 club and remember reading some time back that an IR filter needs to be used. Is this absolutely necessary? What happens if you don't?

Thanks.

A hollow square is formed of M8 owners and the red dot is ripped off your camera accompanied by a slow drumbeat...
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In my experience, coding is not needed, from 15-75.

 

It's more complicated though - UV/IR filters may be, depending on the subject material you shoot, and then if the filters are used, you might want some coding applied to fix up the corners.

 

If you seldom need the UV/IR filters (which will give you sharper images, and less flare), you don't need to code the lens.

 

 

I may be joinng the M8 club and remember reading some time back that an IR filter needs to be used. Is this absolutely necessary? What happens if you don't?

Thanks.

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4778900332_bddbc75934_z.jpg

 

Took pictures of a friend's farewell party on Friday, a roll on my M3 and about 50 or so on my M8. About five or six of the M8 pictures have these front windows in frame, and three of them have the ugly window reflections that make the shots a lot less appealing. So this was yesterday, for me.

 

4781540185_6d77b8dcb3_z.jpg

 

This was about three weeks ago, and I thought I was going to get an interesting sneak shot of some guys sitting one table away in the coffee shop having a thumb war. Whatever other issues with the shot, the ghosting ruined it utterly.

 

The point has been made, you want the IR cut filters, and I agree with that. I'm just pointing out that they come with a downside that is more than a subtle loss of sharpness or increased flaring.

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My photos with old lenses (1936-1952) with A36 filter mount (Elmar, Summaron, Summar) are all without filter. Look here for the latest examples.

(Yes, I agree, in the 3rd photo, the bag on the right is magenta :eek:. In all the other shots, the colours are great). So in the end, I think the decision to use a filter has to be made considering the kind of ambient light and the kind of photos you take...

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Michael,

 

I hope this thread has not gotten too convoluted for you.

 

As already stated you will need the UV/IR filter if you are shooting color.

 

I've always kept one on all my M8 lenses.

 

If you don't use the filter some blacks like the band on the young lady's hat, won't appear black. This is almost always the case with most black fabrics.

 

SO YES, YOU WILL NEED IT, and please don't let that be a deterrent, the M8 IQ is fantastic and unique.

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In this shot you can appreciate the effectiveness of the UV/IR filter. The woman's sweater appears black, as it should.

 

As far as B&W people photography is concerned, I don't think anything outshines the M8. It remains my favorite.

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Here are two M8 photos made with and without UV/IR filter.

 

With filter:

1171665.jpg

 

Without filter:

1171666.jpg

 

On the later one the magenta color cast on the picture left/right sides is visually seen.

pdemme, Welcome to the Forum!

 

It is difficult to judge from small reproductions. What lens was used? Was it coded? Was the camera set to recognize the lens?

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well I see it this way, it's like windshield wipers, whether it is raining or not. And, you should have UV/IR filters for your lenses, especially if you are a wedding photographer or otherwise will knowingly come into synthetic blacks.

 

However, you only need to use your windshield wipers when it is raining.

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well I see it this way, it's like windshield wipers, whether it is raining or not. And, you should have UV/IR filters for your lenses, especially if you are a wedding photographer or otherwise will knowingly come into synthetic blacks.

 

However, you only need to use your windshield wipers when it is raining.

 

If someone doesn't mind being hit in the face by things at 60mph they don't need a windshield either.

 

Having to scope out every scene for synthetic blacks (or non-synthetic green plants, among the numerous other things besides synthetic blacks the M8 sensor skews due to its IR sensitivity) and quickly screw on an IR filter, then unscrew it off again, seems like quite a bother in the name of stubbornly resisting keeping the filters on all the time. Likewise, I can't imagine it would be much fun having to postprocess a few hundred shots selecting only the false-magenta blacks or false-yellow greens so they can be color-corrected without skewing the real magentas and/or yellows. Before spending on a pile of IR filters I gave it a try without...it was an exercise in masochism.

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Michael,

 

I hope this thread has not gotten too convoluted for you.

 

As already stated you will need the UV/IR filter if you are shooting color.

 

I've always kept one on all my M8 lenses.

 

If you don't use the filter some blacks like the band on the young lady's hat, won't appear black. This is almost always the case with most black fabrics.

 

SO YES, YOU WILL NEED IT, and please don't let that be a deterrent, the M8 IQ is fantastic and unique.

 

Wilfredo:

 

Yes, I have a filter for my Summarit 35 and keep it on always (for protection as well).

For my older Summaron 35, I did not because I don't have one that will fit that older lens. I did not notice any adverse effect, probably because I shot scenes that would not be much affected anyway., i.e, black fabrics or foliage.

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  • 2 years later...

Put simply, I was ready to trash the new to me M8. My dealer "gave" me a uv/ir with the M8 purchase. That fixed many off colors, not just blacks.

 

I can come close to repairing all the colors in photoshop, but who wants to spend all that time. There is a lot of masking and many layers involved.

 

I just bought 6, one for each lens. Now I get cyan corners from the filter. For the camera to fix the cyan corners, the lens needed coding. I had to do one with my Moto Tool and bought replacement flanges on Ebay for others. Some of those screwed up the focus, so I had to thin them by .001" or so.

 

This whole process took 4/5 months, but now I get pretty decent colors and image uniformity across the image.

 

To achieve perfection, I use corner fix for critical images like snow scenes.

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  • 1 month later...

i have lux 50mm with 46mm leica uv/ir cut filter installed, i still dont notice why i need the filter and i keep the filter attached.

then i buy voigtlander 40mm 1.4 without filter, i want to do some experiment on it.

I found magenta issue happen for black object, then i decided to get the filter and have to option:

- get ring adapter 43 to 46 mm, as i have 46 mm filter on lux lens

- get 43 mm filter, not easy to get it, leica filter cost more than usd 200. on ebay i found usd 22.

 

conclusion, uv/ir cut filter is required for m8

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i have had my camera for over a month...and have never encountered any magenta tints.....i shoot 75% of the time in B&W......but i have no plans to put an IR/UV filter in.....i see no need.

 

i will try to recreate the tint......just to see if it even happens! i'm sure it does if you have all seen it.

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