corner fix vs coded lenses

[tobey bilek]

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First i bought filters for all the M8 lenses. Now I get cyan corners.

Corner fix is perfect. I made a profile for every lens and every stop full open to F 8.

 

I put the pics in , call up profile, and I get 100% correction, vignetting and color.

 

Problem is incorrect and missing EXIF data so I may not know the lens and stop used in a year.

 

Question is if I code the lenses, will the latest camera firmware, 2.14, work as well and eliminate the need for corner fix. Will the camera make different corrections for F 2 and F8 for any given lens or is it a generic for each lens that requires further work?

 

I have consulted with some machinists on how to mill the pits. Doable, but some effort required and I am not sure it is worth my time if it will not work as well as corner fix.

[jbcollier]

The camera does not know what aperture is set. The coding only let's it know which lens is attached.

[jaapv]

In general it works as well as cornerfix and saves you computer time.

[jaapv]

The camera does not know what aperture is set. The coding only let's it know which lens is attached.

 

Not sure about that. I suspect the estimated aperture is used for the corrections. ( The camera has a shrewd idea of the aperture by comparing the ambient light as measured by the blue dot with the EV value measured by the exposure meter.)

[BJDrew]

Toby -

I found that the coding is nice for a fast fix and saves loads of time in post with lots of images- but that it wasn't right a lot of the time and I ended up fixing it myself anyway.

 

I ended up having a simple set of Photoshop actions and a few Lightroom Presets that could be quickly applied based on the image that worked as well or better. I chose not to code my lenses after using some coded ones.

 

For images that I cared about, it was preferable to do it myself for more satisfying results.

 

tl;dr Coded corner fix is a time saver but doing it yourself is the ultimate in quality.

[jaapv]

I tried both Cornerfix and Capture One. For both convenience and precision of the correction I pefer C1. ( LCC profile).

[tobey bilek]

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I did some eyeball coding yesterday and the lenses register correctly so I am close enough. Black fingernail polish works better than the dried Sharpie I had. The only glitch was the 21 & 28 registered as 90 mm. Turns out the the mounting screw in the center of the LCD strip reads that as black. White out to the rescue. That was the only white code I did. Naturally black is required.

 

 

At smaller than wide open and one stop down, coding does a more than acceptable job.

 

I think CF profiles do better at the two widest stops.

 

I do not like what CF does to the Leica colors. It seems to mute their brilliance. The coded lens pictures that I took at 4 to11 are the most beautiful I have gotten from the camera so far and they remind me of the image I got when they were used on film. All this is based on a dozen or so pictures, so perhaps I am wrong.

 

I have already checked out tooling available to mill the depressions so I am tending to go in this direction. Yesterdays were indoor pics and some done after dinner in the last 30 min before sunset so they got an advantage of simply beautiful light . I will do more today.

[WestMichigan]

Did you know that there are swap out lens mounts available on flea-bay? I cannot vouch to these being a 'perfect' solution, but they are reasonably priced so might be worth a try. Unless you're having the milling of your own mounts done by friends, family, or yourself, that might get pricey.

 

The seller JinFinance has a couple available. Here is the link for one of them:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/226749-corner-fix-vs-coded-lenses.html#post2000681

 

I have been exchanging emails with him about a specialty product and he seems like a decent enough fellow.

 

Anyway, can't vouch for the product's suitability, ymmv, not valid in california, lsmft, :-), but it seems worth considering.

Richard in Michigan

[iFriend]

Thank you much for all this info....i bought those adapters, followed your instructions. However out of 4 lens (28 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 90 mm) only 50 one is properly recognizing it. The others seems to be not recognizable. Do u have any idea what could have been down wrong or what else i should do?

 

Thank you very much in advance

[Erik Gunst Lund]

Try another black paint, some paint types doesn't work.

[doubice]

Thank you much for all this info....i bought those adapters, followed your instructions. However out of 4 lens (28 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 90 mm) only 50 one is properly recognizing it. The others seems to be not recognizable. Do u have any idea what could have been down wrong or what else i should do?

 

Thank you very much in advance

 

Another possible error could be that the wrong flange was attached to a particular lens - i.e. a 35mm flange to 28 etc. The coding and the frame selector ridge on the lens flange have to match the lens in use, otherwise the lens will not be recognized by the camera.

 

Cheers,

 

Jan

[iFriend]

Thanks guys, but still it aint working for me. This is what i did last time.

 

I have used another black paint, called deep black and white nail polish - no success.

I have bought two types of flange adapter, Type 1 - 6 holes and Type 2 - 5 holes.

 

28mm f/2,8 Elmarit-M, 11804 - Adapter Type 2

35mm f/1,4 Summilux-M ASPH., 11874 - Adapter Type 1

50mm f/2 Summicron-M, 11819 - Adapter Type 2 (works correct)

90mm f/2 Summicron-M, 11136 - Adapter Type 2

 

Also i did check that the flange in the right position - check that the six bit code is directly over the code reader on the camera lens throat. The code is the right way around also, did download it in here on the forums and painted it clockwise. I made a picture so u can check it.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

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[marknorton]

As doubice says, the correct framelines need to be displayed because the position of the lever is used as part of the lens detection process.

 

Are the correct framelines being displayed?

 

If not, trying holding the frame preview lever in the correct position to display the correct framelines and then take a shot. Is the lens recognised now?

[tobey bilek]

Holding frames in correct position will not work. Been there. The flange must be the correct one for the focal length you are painting.

 

Your paint looks good, but looking does not always count as the LED see wave lengths not visible to your eye. I have used used fingernail polish to test, black area only. It worked.

 

My permanent solution was GM universal black and Sierra white car paint thinned a bit with MEK so it flowed. Fill the pits layer by layer. I did not buy it, have a black and a white car

 

So now buy a Sharpie fine and mark the edges on the lens mount to see if your pits are lining up with the LED lights

[pico]

[...] I have used used fingernail polish to test, black area only. It worked.

 

Tobey, are you saying that one need not paint the white spots because the unpainted reflected surface works as well?

 

Thanks,

[Dougg]

Yes, that's been my experience. Only when there's a screw head at a white position is some white paint needed there.

[tobey bilek]

Yes, it visually determined where the pits should go and painted the area black with nail polish, black only. One I found the coding brought up the correct lens, I Dremeled the pits in where the black was and used GM universal black.. This was for lenses that were not removable flanged.

 

Most had interchangeable flanges, and I bought the ones from Jinfinance on EBay.

 

They tend to be too thick by .001. I ground then down with wet emery on glass so they were the same thickness as the one that came off. You need a micrometer. They have 6 pits and I just painted them all as I had the paint already. 6 are a difficult hand grind. You can join two blacks.

 

21.28. & 35 mm lenses all front focused until I measured the new/old flanges for comparison. Now focus is perfect.

 

If the focus is not perfect with the old flange, it is likely the lens needs internal adjustment and you need to have it professionally coded as they will correct the focus at the same time.

 

STAY OUT OF THE INSIDE OF THE LENS which is where the focus needs to be corrected..

[designed]

Good thread, I occasionally get cyan corners since I shoot with uncoded lenses. 21mm Elmarit is the worst of the bunch, but even the more standard ones give me trouble.

 

I tried to code them myself but the templates I found were off and I had to exaggerate the code sizes very much. Also the marker I used wore off in just two lens changes.

 

I think I'll research the software options next to see which one works for me.

[Dougg]

Why not just have your lenses coded properly and be done with that, and get on with photography?

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[tobey bilek]

Corner fix works perfectly. Nothing else does. I tried to hack around with radial gradient masks in photoshop and color filters. Got close, but no cigar. Just do cornerfix.

 

Get a clean white board from an art supply store and do the photos of it filling the frame . Every lens 35 and wider at every f stop because they are all different. That becomes the data base for the correction. If the board has an imperfection, that will get imaged on every photo, so take care to keep it in good condition.

 

Use a North light outside or two at 45 deg like a copy set up. The copy set up is best. It need not be in focus, in fact better if not. I used infinity

 

The quality of the fix will depend on the evenness of the light so take great care to get this right. If wrong, every photo will show the error. Take a meter reading of the board, then open 1.5 stops to keep it white.

 

All that said, you are best off to code the lens for convenience. The camera correction is still not perfect, but close enough for most photos. For perfect, make a data base of the white board with the camera correction doing the bulk of the work. You will see when you do the first snow scene how good this is.