Does the M8 need to use IR Filter?

[otto.f]

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If you skip the UV/IR filters you can use it as a 'cheap' MM.

[Guest JMF]

Yes it does !

It affects the foliage as well...

 

no uv/ir filter by careca2013, on Flickr

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[iedei]

^^that photo would look better in B&W anyways!

[Guest JMF]

^^that photo would look better in B&W anyways!

 

Leblon rua PB by careca2013, on Flickr

Edited December 8, 2012 by jmanivelle

[iedei]

very nice!

[jaapv]

Actually, other cameras of the time had the same problem, like the RD1 and the D70. Apparently Leica was held to higher standards.

I still wonder how the M8 IR issue came to be.

 

Were the boffins at Leica really so out to lunch that

they let such an obvious problem get past them

until the camera was on the market and in the

hands of owners, or was it a marketing decision

made of necessity?

Was the M8 project so far down the road and so much

money committed to it when the IR problem was finally

identified that a decision was made to market the

camera, problem and all anyway; then do a

public grovel, tug of forelock and offer 'free' filters?

 

Obviously, the IR issue wasn't insurmountable

since it doesn't occur (to any great degree) with

the M9 using what is really the same CCD as

the M8, except for it's larger size.

 

Regards to all on the Forum

 

Sandy

[lct]

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My R-D1s and D70 are far from having the same IR issues as those of my M8-2 i must say. IR-cut filters are mandatory with the latter, not with the formers in my experience, except in tungsten mode with the Epson.

[jaapv]

Yes there was certainly a difference in degree. Nevertheless, when I got my M8 it took me all of ten minutes to see the problem, but only because I had been involved in solving it with a mate who was struggling with the colors on a D70.

I am still convinced it was a marketing breakdown. I am sure the technical people at Leica were aware of the IR sensitivity, but somebody must have decided it did not matter.

It would have been far better if the camera had been sold from the beginning as "for optimum image quality IR filtering must be done by a filter in front of the lens instead of in front of the sensor" or something similar.

Edited December 9, 2012 by jaapv