teehas53 Posted January 23, 2007 Share #1 Â Posted January 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just read Sean Reid's recent review of 24/25mm lenses - excellent and comprehensive, as always Sean! Â I decided to give hand-coding a try on my 25/2.8 ZM. Sean stated he wasn't able to successfully code a ZM 25 with the 24/2.8 Elmarit code, but was able to apply the 28/2 'Cron code, and the results looked quite good. Â Figured I'd try the 24 code first (no disrespect, Sean.. ) It didn't work for me either, and unfortunately, neither did the 28/2 code. I tried each code twice, but no joy. My technique was very careful and meticulous. The Zeiss lens mount has a large screw head in the spot where the final bars of the code need to be, and I suspect this may be part of the problem. Â I should say that I was relying on the EXIF data to tell me whether the code was recognized or not. I have since read in a couple of posts that EXIF lens readouts are not always reliable with the M8. Just another petty frustration in what is a great, but poorly sorted camera... Â I am one who does shoot in color quite a bit, so this issue is a real concern to me. Let me join the chorus and speak LOUDLY here in support of menu-selectable lens coding on this camera! Are you listening, Leica? Â Has anyone else been able to code a 25/2.8 ZM successfully? Other than EXIF data, how can one tell definitively whether a hand-applied code is working? Any tips would be appreciated! Â Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 23, 2007 Posted January 23, 2007 Hi teehas53, Take a look here Adventures in lens coding. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Eoin Posted January 24, 2007 Share #2 Â Posted January 24, 2007 I had a problem very similar to this, not a 25ZM but a Canadian Summicron 50, I put in the 2 black bars of the code but no dice. Following the template available form Carsten I noticed there was a screw head right where there was supposed to be a white bar. Using some Tippex or typewriter correction fluid I filled the cavity of the crosshead screw and the slight recess of the screw. When dry I took a blade and shaved the Tippex flush with the mount surface and Bingo up came the 50mm f/2.0 max apeture in the exif info. Â You could use this method if the area of the screw is meant to be black or white, in my case it should have been white but if needed you can always colour the Tippex with a felt tip marker should you need black. Might be worth a try?. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyspedden Posted January 24, 2007 Share #3 Â Posted January 24, 2007 I applaud all who have contributed to this lens coding effort starting with Carsten and Sean and all thereafter. Â However I believe that Leica, in support of their entire customer base, must answer Sean's call for a menu to manually set the lens in use. Leica must not be so shortsighted that they fail to see that the real deal is to get more M8's in the market. Yes they will lose some lens sales to Zeiss (probably will do anyway) but they will also see a large number of leica lenses sold as a result as well. The M8 must become a more widespread used camera. Leica must do everything in their power to make that happen. Approaching the market as a closed system similar to what Apple did in the early days will have the same disastrous results. Learn from he past Leica. Support the needs of the entire base of photographers and you will be a winner. Â Woody Spedden Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted January 24, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted January 24, 2007 Hi Tom, Â Thanks for the comments on the article. The template, posted on the forum and that many of us use, is off just a bit. If it's possible, try to place it on a coded Leica lens (at a dealer, friend's, etc.) to see how the template relates to the coding placement. If the rotation is off even a little, it won't work. When a coded spot needs to overlap a screw, it can be tricky to ink that in. I use both a fine and medium tipped sharpie to get the groove filled. Â You can also try coding the ZM25 as a 28 Elmarit Aspherical and see how that works. Â The focal length will appear with the exposure, etc. information in the review screen that shows details after the exposure is made. Â Cheers, Â Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 24, 2007 Share #5 Â Posted January 24, 2007 I've noticed that i have sometimes failed to get a coded Leica lens to show up in the EXIF. I think the problem is that my M8 is new, the mount is quite tight, and if I don't turn the lens to the extreme right, hearing a nice sharp "click," then the bar code will not be perfectly aligned and thus not read correctly. This is more likely to happen for the lenses that bring up the 28/90 frame lines, since they take a little force on the frame line lever at the side of the lens mount before they are properly seated. Â So this is one more thing to check if lens coding isn't working for you. Â scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teehas53 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share #6 Â Posted January 24, 2007 Everyone's comments are appreciated. I have a couple of coded lenses, and will re-check the template alignment issue. I was pretty careful about filling in the screw slot with ink, and making sure the lens was fully seated. Â I'm unsure about the idea of filling in the screw head depression. I like the concept, but am not confident that whatever material used will stay put through repeated mounting/dismounting of the lens over time. Â A new day, and another opportunity for success, right? Â Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted January 24, 2007 Share #7 Â Posted January 24, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ultimately, hand coding is a temporary solution because it does wear off and I find myself "refreshing the coding" on the lenses. Â Cheers, Â Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teehas53 Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share #8 Â Posted January 24, 2007 Makes sense. I've also been wondering whether there is enough pressure in the mount where it touches the coding sensor cover that ink residue might build up slowly there over time. Hard to tell for sure. The factory codes are slightly recessed, so it appears that there is no physical contact between the paint and the cover plate. Â I guess only time will tell. Best case scenario is that Leica will realize it is to everyone's benefit to make codes accessable through the menus... Â Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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