Successful lens coding job

[Sam]

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Using a template I downloaded and printed, I have successfully coded my 35mm f2 Summicron ASPH.

 

I used the template to locate the dot placement and did a trial run with a Sharpie marker first. It took a few tries and ultimately worked with a blacker colored marker (Sharpies are a weird bluish black color).

 

I then used a 0.5mm dental ball bur in a micromotor handpiece (similar to a Dremel by 10x the price). A larger bur would have been fine but that's what was in the handpiece and I'm comfortable with that size so I used it.

 

After excavating the metal I filled it with Rust Oleum flat black paint and the camera recognizes is perfectly.

 

The hardest part of the entire job was using a scalpel to make a precision template. And as careful as I was, it still has more play than I would like.

 

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[bocaburger]

I hand-coded my lenses (35mm and wider) in a similar manner.  I used a #1558 fissure bur in a Schick dental handpiece.  I did not use a template, I made marks with a fine-point sharpie on the outer camera flange lip at both ends of the reader, xfered the markings to the outer lip of the lens flange, then divvied the area in between into 6 equal segments.  After the miling was completed I used an alcohol swab to remove the sharpie marks. And I only bothered milling the black pits, as the chromed lens flange acts the same as the white pits.  Has worked perfectly since my M8 days. 

[gotium]

So where does one get a dental ball bur and a micromotor handpiece?

[tobey bilek]

Dental supply house

[Exodies]

Ooh look - a Leica owner who isn't a dentist!

[Sam]

Ooh look - a Leica owner who isn't a dentist!

 

I'm a hand engraver and use micromotors for certain things. In addition to dental burs, I also use burs used by jewelers.

 

Gotium: An inexpensive Dremel tools is probably what you want.

[Sam]

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I hand-coded my lenses (35mm and wider) in a similar manner.  I used a #1558 fissure bur in a Schick dental handpiece.  I did not use a template, I made marks with a fine-point sharpie on the outer camera flange lip at both ends of the reader, xfered the markings to the outer lip of the lens flange, then divvied the area in between into 6 equal segments.  After the miling was completed I used an alcohol swab to remove the sharpie marks. And I only bothered milling the black pits, as the chromed lens flange acts the same as the white pits.  Has worked perfectly since my M8 days. 

Ah, that's a good idea bocaburger. I hadn't considered transferring the reader location on the camera to the lens.

 

I also coded a Voigtlander 50mm 1.5 as a Leica 1.4 lens. I just used the sharpie on that one because it was more of a test than anything, and I'm not sure if that's how I want the camera to see it.

[bocaburger]

Ooh look - a Leica owner who isn't a dentist!

LOL not a dentist.  Nor a manicurist nor a dog groomer nor a jeweler...3 other professions who make use of dental handpieces. 

[Exodies]

Ha. I've nothing against dentists, in fact my dentist is, well, a dentist.

 

A dentist friend was drilling out the root canal of another friend. Half way through he said "I haven't given you much anaesthetic so we can go straight to the pub after".

[Printmaker]

LOL not a dentist.  Nor a manicurist nor a dog groomer nor a jeweler...3 other professions who make use of dental handpieces. 

I worked with a master shipwright who had a fistful of dental picks and burrs he used to clean up the bleeding iron fasteners holding the planks to the boat's ribs. I still have a few in my wooden boat repair kit. Useful buggers.