Filters for Leica M

[Dr.KOL]

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Good evening,

 

Now when I have decided about the lenses, I have one question about the filters:

 

Leica's UVa or UV/IR and why?

 

Thank you all in advance.

 

Best, KOL

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[jaapv]

None.... You don't need them. Except maybe in exteme IR for 100% colour fidelity you might want to mount an IR cut filter.

[Dr.KOL]

I am thinking also to protect the surface of the lens...

 

Best, KOL

[kokoshawnuff]

B+W MRC Clear 007 or UV MRC 010 are the same glass as Leica filters (Schott) and very reasonably priced protection. You won't see degradation to the resolution of your image, but it may make the lenses more prone to flare, especially at night, so be conscious of that.

[jaapv]

Personally I find a good lens hood to be more effective.

[UliWer]

I think the initial question is not really answered.

 

UV/IR-filters were necessary to solve a problem of the M8: it had no effective filter against ultraviolet and infrared rays in front of the sensor. Every light you use for photography has some infrared and ultraviolet components which interfere with natural apperception of colours in your pictures. With the M8 infrared rays caused strange magenta effects on black, earthen and especially textile surfaces or wrong greens. So you had to use UV/IR-cut-Filters for colour photography with the M8.

 

The M9 had a more effective filter in front of the sensor. The bad effects of UV and IR rays were reduced though not completely eliminated. If you are very critical towards these effects you might use UV/IR-filters with the M9 as well - though only with longer focal lengthes. Below 50mm you may have a cyan shift using these filters, surely with super wide angle lenses.

 

I don't know how the M works in this respect, though I'd expect it the same or less critical than the M9.

 

Traditional UVa-filters are just a tradition. You don't need them with modern lenses, only very old lenses showed some loss of contrast in situations with strong UV-light, e.g. on high mountains. Many people - like me - still use them to protect the lenses. You don't have to clean the lens, but just the filter.

 

Filters should be avoided if you have bright spots of lights - e. g. streetlamps - in your photo, as they cause reflections and you might have doubles of each lamp on your picture.

 

For black and white photography filters are a completely different story - a means to influence the grey scale of your photo.

[Dr.KOL]

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Thank you so much! You indeed answered my question.

 

Best, KOL

[250swb]

It depends how you work.

 

Yes, any filter can possibly cause some flare in the wrong sort of light. If you obsesses about using lens caps and work slowly no filter is necessary. If however you work quickly and change lenses as quickly as possible, then a UV or protection filter speeds things up considerably, meaning you don't need to constantly take off and put on a lens cap. I have never ever thought a good quality filter makes any difference at all to the image quality except, as said, in a small number of cases in a lifetime's work. And while lens hood's protect from impact, and should be used anyway to reduce flare, they don't stop grit and dust getting on the front element (especially from the camera bag), and that still needs to be cleaned off, and with a filter on the lens you can do it with your tee shirt and not miss the action.

 

Steve

[Ecar]

Personally I find a good lens hood to be more effective.

+1

But if you really want filters, make sure you get the slim ones - at least with wide angles - or you'll risk inducing vignetting.

[jaapv]

It depends how you work.

 

Yes, any filter can possibly cause some flare in the wrong sort of light. If you obsesses about using lens caps and work slowly no filter is necessary. If however you work quickly and change lenses as quickly as possible, then a UV or protection filter speeds things up considerably, meaning you don't need to constantly take off and put on a lens cap. I have never ever thought a good quality filter makes any difference at all to the image quality except, as said, in a small number of cases in a lifetime's work. And while lens hood's protect from impact, and should be used anyway to reduce flare, they don't stop grit and dust getting on the front element (especially from the camera bag), and that still needs to be cleaned off, and with a filter on the lens you can do it with your tee shirt and not miss the action.

 

Steve

Actually lens makers use extremely resistant coatings on their lenses nowadays, with some care you can use your teeshirt on your naked lens without ill effect as well.

[250swb]

Lens coating are very tough nowadays, but many Leica photographers use lenses from many different era's, so I'd tend to think filter them all and not worry, or think twice each time you spot some dirt.

 

But lenses are cleaned too much anyway. With a new expensive lens the instinct to clean a spot off the front element is primal in nature. But there could be many spots and nothing would happen to image quality, you could even throw in a good fingerprint as well. And you hear people say they put a filter on when they go to the beach, as if the beach is the only place you encounter small loose grains made from rock. And then there is rain on the front element, or lens cleaning fluid, and before you know it with dust, sand, grease, and water you made yourself an excellent grinding paste

 

Steve

[stephen.w]

Yesterday I bought a new 50 1.4 asph, and it walked out the shop with a B+W 010 MRC filter screwed in. Apart from dust and grit, there are drops and bumps which no modern coating, and even the sturdiest lens hood will do anything to protect your front element from.

 

Also, resistance to flare is an important consideration for me in deciding whether to buy a lens. None of my lenses flare, and I therefore leave the hoods at home. The absence of a hood reduces finder blockage and bulk. Things I value.

 

I don't have a camera bag - my camera is either in my hand or in my work bag (with one lens, minus the cap and hood) covered in a sort-of-sleeve-thing, ready to be pulled out and used.