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Exposed 6-bit lens identification sensor: are we concerned?


ibogost

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When using an LTM lens on the M8 with one of the more common L-to-M adapter rings, the 6-bit lens identification sensor is exposed in the indented area of the adapter at the bottom of the lens. See below for an example of this.

 

As has been noted previously, this makes self-coding of LTM lenses harder, since you can't draw a code directly on the adapter ring. Old Leica rings occupy the entire mount area, but they are very hard to get a hold of. Sean Reid has talked about having his own adapters machined with indentations for coding, but, well, that's not yet a reasonable option for everyone.

 

But, I have a different question: is anyone is concerned about exposing the sensor to the elements when using an adaptor such as this? The optical features and recognition method of the sensor really couldn't be simpler, but I suppose it's possible to imagine that prolonged exposure to dust, dirt, or other conditions could scratch the sensor cover surface and (hypothetically) affect its ability to read 6-bit codes on coded lenses. The lens depicted below is a CV 50/1.5 with the standard Voigtlander 50/75 L-to-M mount. I don't really care about the lack of coding on this focal length anyway, but I'd hate to discover after, say, a year of heavy CV shooting that the software might start having trouble recognizing a 35 or a 28 where the correction is really needed.

 

There are simple and complex solutions if this is a legitimate concern. A simple solution is just to tape over the sensor with a strip of electrical tape for protection without affecting the adapter ring. A complex solution (ok, just an expensive one) is to see this another reason to choose Leica glass (or at least M-mount glass, but really...).

 

Opinions? Do we even care?

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