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Flare problems with M9 and/or Leica lenses...


giodic

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OK..... but this is an AI lens, not a modern lens with a recent kind of coatings..... and, maybe, this is my problem (with the Leica lenses I own).....

Your Leica lenses are amongs the best in the world and this is true about flare as well. Being lucky enough to own a bunch of them (as well as Nikons) i can assure you that flare is not a serious problem with your Summicron, if you own the current one at least. Using a filter will hardly address the situation though.

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Your Leica lenses are amongs the best in the world and this is true about flare as well. Being lucky enough to own a bunch of them (as well as Nikons) i can assure you that flare is not a serious problem with your Summicron, if you own the current one at least. Using a filter will hardly address the situation though.

 

Thank you..... I have not doubt that I have some of the best glass I can own, in fact I have purchased Leica mainly for its lenses... :)

Anyway, I never use filters on my lenses, except some time a polarizer or a ND/GND filter...

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Having thought about this thread, and having owned several 50mm Summicrons and NOT experienced untoward flare as you have shown, I wonder if your lens, like Mike's, needs an internal light baffle repainting or replacing. I wonder if it might just be worth sending a copy of the veiling flare photo to Leica along with a query to ask if it is worth them looking at the lens to see if it needs work to reduce this problem?

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This coloration is common with certain symmetrical wide angle lenses when used with AA filtered sensors. The low sun rays equate to the outer zone, low-incidence-angle wide angle coloration.

 

As for the second example, the cause is less clear.

 

Have you cleaned the sensor's surface? That possibility could cause the anti reflection coating on the sensor's surface to perhaps become more reflective––possibly leading to the central flare (In the fire truck crew) we observe.

 

Does the M9 have an AA filter?

 

According to the second example, we should ask too, if the lens surfaces were clean. Especially the surface at the back end.

 

Would a live view warn in these cases? I think, it would in case of the first example.

Jan

Edited by jan_kappetijn
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Well i'm not a techie at all but there is always more or less flare in my experience and coatings play certainly a role in their reduction. To take an example with the Summicron 50, the so-called fourth version does not render the same if it is a tabbed lens from the end of the seventies or a current one with built-in hood.

http://tinyurl.com/d8lwway

http://tinyurl.com/czq7p3q

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Having thought about this thread, and having owned several 50mm Summicrons and NOT experienced untoward flare as you have shown, I wonder if your lens, like Mike's, needs an internal light baffle repainting or replacing. I wonder if it might just be worth sending a copy of the veiling flare photo to Leica along with a query to ask if it is worth them looking at the lens to see if it needs work to reduce this problem?

 

The good new is that this afternoon, with a bright sun in the sky, I tried to reproduce the flares in every mode especially with the Summicron..... but I completely failed in my attempts..... ;) i tried to shot with the sun just outside or into the frame in various positions and the reflections from the floor too...... but NO flares at all..... :)

So, I'm thinking that the second image I have shown in this thread, the one taken with the Summicron, is the result of a very strange and unfortunate combination of factors, that is not so easy to reproduce......

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The good new is that this afternoon, with a bright sun in the sky, I tried to reproduce the flares in every mode especially with the Summicron..... but I completely failed in my attempts..... ;) i tried to shot with the sun just outside or into the frame in various positions and the reflections from the floor too...... but NO flares at all..... :)

So, I'm thinking that the second image I have shown in this thread, the one taken with the Summicron, is the result of a very strange and unfortunate combination of factors, that is not so easy to reproduce......

 

Yep I can understand where you are on this one. There is nothing so frustrating when you have an intermittent problem. Mine lasted for 18 months, from the first time I noticed things weren't right until when Leica eventually pinned it down to my 50mm Cron.

 

Still we got there in the end. I hope yours is sorted now!!!:)

 

Best wishes

 

Mike

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Well i'm not a techie at all but there is always more or less flare in my experience and coatings play certainly a role in their reduction. To take an example with the Summicron 50, the so-called fourth version does not render the same if it is a tabbed lens from the end of the seventies or a current one with built-in hood.

http://tinyurl.com/d8lwway

http://tinyurl.com/czq7p3q

 

Thanks.

Leica publishes MTF curves, data about distorsion and vignetting. They have to do with the lens design (geometrics). A measure for flare would be an interesting parameter for the IQ of the product too. This parameter is influenced by the production technology and the design.

 

The light sources of the test examples are very strong (in your link). But weaker light will also produce some flare. If a strong light (see the moon experiments of k-h-winkler) leaves its traces, a normal picture will leave its traces too.

 

Perhaps is this the reason of the flare in the second picture of giodic.

Jan

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I had other problems with both of my Summicron 50's but also had flare issues. I switched to a Zeiss ZM50 Planar. I am very impressed with the flare resistance of this lens and the only downside is that it is nearly twice the size of the very neat little Summicron.

 

Wilson

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Well i'm not a techie at all but there is always more or less flare in my experience and coatings play certainly a role in their reduction.

Agreed. The Summicron-R 50 I got with my SL in 1968 was very prone to flare / internal reflections. Later I saw an article in (the predecessor to) LFI about Leitz engineers marveling at the difference multi-coating made in the same lens design. I noticed the later Summicron-R 50 I got with my R4 was significantly better.

I don't think Leica ever really talked about multi-coating; they just did it.

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