marknorton Posted March 1, 2007 Share #1 Posted March 1, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Regular readers will know I've been looking at a solution for mounting an IR cut filter inside the lens hood of the WATE instead of using the clunky filter holder and 67mm filter which posts elsewhere show there are some issues in use. That, and the facts there's no lens cap with it on and the lens does not look like it's designed to constantly swap between one and the other. Not complete yet, but some initial progress... I bought a B+W 52mm filter from Foto-Huppert - excellent service - and cut through the filter rim to release the glass. This filter glass pops right into the back of the lens hood and, when the time comes, a thin bead of epoxy applied around the rim with a steady hand (need to lay off the Rioja for a few days) will hold it in place. So that's one piece of good news, the filter is exactly the right size. I had visions of having to grind down the filter glass and/or grind down the thread of the hood but neither was necessary. The second piece of good news is that when I hold the hood/filter up to the front of the lens, held so that it just clears the front lens element with the lens set to 16mm, there's no mechanical vignetting that I can see. Lots - lots - of cyan though, less with lens detection enabled even on 1.09. The next stage is to make use of one of the filter holders (when I can get one) cut down with the hood glued on the front to space it forwards from the lens. 7mm is all I need... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 1, 2007 Posted March 1, 2007 Hi marknorton, Take a look here WATE Filter/Hood - Some Progress. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
albertknappmd Posted March 1, 2007 Share #2 Posted March 1, 2007 way to go, Mark.... Don't you think SK Grimes will be able to help us at this point? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share #3 Posted March 1, 2007 I'll be happier working with them once they've taken a look at the lens and all the ins and outs of that thread... In the meantime, I'm looking to get to the stage of a workable solution, even if the cosmetics are not top notch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted March 1, 2007 Share #4 Posted March 1, 2007 Mark- I really wonder why Leica is not working on htis issue as we speak... Afterall, THEY are the ones who brought these issues to light (rather IR light :D) and they should take the lead in resolving this issue. I am tempted to defer my purchase until the Mk2 lens shows up in the future. I love my polarizer and am wondering how I will be able to combine BOTH filters on the WATE. I doubt I can but let's see if there is a solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsteve Posted March 2, 2007 Share #5 Posted March 2, 2007 Mark- I really wonder why Leica is not working on htis issue as we speak... Afterall, THEY are the ones who brought these issues to light (rather IR light :D) and they should take the lead in resolving this issue. I am tempted to defer my purchase until the Mk2 lens shows up in the future. I love my polarizer and am wondering how I will be able to combine BOTH filters on the WATE. I doubt I can but let's see if there is a solution. Albert: B+W is a company that will make custom filters. I bet you could ask them to make a UV/IR 486 polarizer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted March 2, 2007 Share #6 Posted March 2, 2007 Actually, I did call my contact in Germany at B+W, Marie-Odile Helfrich. I have dealt with her for many years and she is a delightful woman who has been extremely helpful in the past. She looked into the feasibility of such a combined filter and they concluded that it was technically impossible... :mad: That is why, I suspect that this problem will require a slim polar stacked on top of a 486 (UV/IR). Any further thoughts... I cannot be the only one in Leicaland concerned about this issue !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_l Posted March 2, 2007 Share #7 Posted March 2, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Albert- this isn't like the version one TriElmar issues - this one can be solved with a new hood/filter that mates with the crazy threads on the WATE. A simple extender to get you above the glass, that would take a normal filter and hood (e.g., from the 21mm, which is what the WATE is on the M*), would do it.... Of course, another "fix" would be to add the linkage to the frame lines, for more accurate cyan correction, but that may be unneeded - the different focal lengths may be close enough for one average correction to work....and the mechanical change would take them a very long time to put in......a total redesign of the mechanics of the lens...I'll work with the one I ordered and switch if another ever becomes availlable (this one can always be sold to a film user.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_l Posted March 3, 2007 Share #8 Posted March 3, 2007 Mark- The reason that I suggest using a hood from a 21mm rather than the WATE hood as a hood for the filter solution is that the 16mm FOV allowed by the WATE hood will allow significant extraneous light (i.e., flare) into the 21mm FOV that the lens actually provides...so although the 21mm hood is big and intrusive, it probably is needed to actually perform its function... On the other hand, if it blocks too much of the finder view (depending on which finder you use, perhaps), it may be a better solution to use the WATE hood as a basis and put up with some flare.... It sure would be nice to hear from Leica on this, even just to know if they are working on the issue. Or even it they realize that it is an issue...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 3, 2007 Author Share #9 Posted March 3, 2007 Steve, yes, the same can be said for all the lens hoods because they are set for 35mm use, not cropped use. I agree that the WATE hood does not provide much "hood" function I have a spare 21 hood and I'm going to try it when the filter holders arrive, but it is quite big and it's not obvious to me yet how the filter might attach. So, I see 4 different attachments to try - standard hood, filter holder + 67mm, 21mm hood + 55mm, standard hood + 52mm. I doubt very much that Leica are going to do anything about this and we'll see what they do with the firmware. Separately, my first experience of IR filters has got off to a bad start. I bought a 43 for a pre-ASPH summilux and the clip on hood will not fit over the filter.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrc Posted March 3, 2007 Share #10 Posted March 3, 2007 If you read these forums long enough, you get the feeling that half of Leica users are engineers, who buy Leicas because they enjoy tinkering with machines. Would Mark Norton *really* be happier if everything fit perfectly and worked well? JC Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted March 3, 2007 Share #11 Posted March 3, 2007 John-- It'll be bad when Leica hires him and we lose his insights to 'company policy.' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_l Posted March 3, 2007 Share #12 Posted March 3, 2007 Mark- What I'm going to try first is the filter holder, with a 67-to-55 stepdown ring, and a screw-in 55mm third party hood....that will use the filters I already have, and keep the hood to a reasonable size.....but I'd rather see a more elegant solution, that will look stupid. I don't think the filter holder will stick out further than the hood, but it will still be odd... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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