Leica UV/IR cut on uncoded lenses?

[barbican]

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I've searched the forums without finding an answer. Maybe it is commonly known.

 

I've just received my Leica IR filter through the mail the day before I head off travelling so I don't have time for extensive tests. I'm shooting with an uncoded 35/2 asph. Should I

- Not use the filter

- Use the filter, 'lens detection off'

- Use the filter, 'lens detection on, uv/ir' (I guess not this one).

 

Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

[scott kirkpatrick]

If you want accurate colors in scenes with people, fabrics etc, use the filter. (There's a debate on whether the sensitivity to IR in grass and foliage outdoors is a problem or not. I would use it outdoors as well.) 35mm lenses have only a slight red vignetting, which you may not see at all. You may be able to use a black marking pen to temporarily code your lens. Go to Leica M8 Lens Codes for the code for your lens and for links to descriiptions to how this is done. It is not hard, if you are careful, but the markings do wear off and need to be refreshed from time to time. Then you can use either ON (which corrects for ordinary vignetting in the corners) or ON+UV/IR (which corrects for green casts in the corners). Or you can use the filter with lens detection OFF and live with an occasional color shift at the edges of the field.

 

Either way, have a nice trip. That's a great lens.

 

scott

[robsteve]

If your only lens is the 35mm Summicron ASPH and it will always be on the camera, you should try the magic marker coding of your lens. If I remember correctly, the code has three black marks in a row, so a black stripe in the right spot will trigger the proper code. It is one of the easier lenses to code.

 

Once coded, shoot with the coding on/uv-ir option.

 

If you don't want to try coding it, just shoot with the filter on and if you do get any cyan corners that bother you, correct them in post processing.

 

 

Robert