Leica vs B&W filters

[IWC Doppel]

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Anyone know if there is a benefit of the relatively new filters from Leica, they do say for the monochrom ?

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[UliWer]

^{I don't think so. It has been said that Leica-Filters are actually made by B+W, though I can't prove this.} 

[wattsy]

Certainly a financial benefit to Leica (and maybe the dealer).

[wattsy]

^{I don't think so. It has been said that Leica-Filters are actually made by B+W, though I can't prove this.} 

 

Possibly more than one supplier. The UV-IR filters were apparently made by Hoya (they were certainly made in Japan). 

[IWC Doppel]

I think I'll try a yellow B+W and see how I get on

 

I have kept a small not particularly intelligent selection of lenses the rest are with ace cameras for sale shortly

 

For now I have three 35's ! One 50 one 28 and one 21

 

The 35 AA, my summicron mkIv and my summaron. The summaron is near mint, tiny and great on the MM plus not worth a great deal, the mkiv is mint was recently coded and serviced by Leica small and magic at f4, plus small too. I hope I never have to sell the AA....

 

The 28 summicron was my first lens on my M8 and has the lovely 12466 hood. Plus still amazes me for colour and clarity on the M9-P

 

The mandler 21 Elmarit is my wide keeper

 

And everyone needs one 50, the 50 E46 is fantastic IMO with the brokeh and clarity combination

 

The rest will go.....

[jaapv]

Possibly more than one supplier. The UV-IR filters were apparently made by Hoya (they were certainly made in Japan). 

Likely not Hoya, that was denied by Leica. The most likely suspect is Marumi. B&W was quite p***ed off at the time.

The story as told to me by s Schott insider:

UV-IR filter glass is made in  smallish batches according to demand and has a long lad time in ordering. Leica was in a tearing hurry to pacify their M8 buyers and not flush with funds. B+W could not deliver within the time frame through lack of glass, so they made Leica an attractive offer. Leica went on  a supplier quest and found a manufacturer in Japan with sufficient stock and a decent price. NNow the specific denial that it was Hoya may have two reasons. Either Leica bought them from probably Marumi (but why did't they say so?) or they wanted to avoid stirring up more trouble between their two major suppliers of optical glass.

[BjarniM]

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I don't know or own any Leica-filter(s), but i can speak about (and highly recommend) one of the alternatives - Heliopan SH-PMC coated filters.

 

I've been buying Heliopan SH-PMC Coated filters for many years for all my Leica-lenses, and they're just great. Heliopan is less than half the price of Leica-filters, and yet the quality is just great and superb.

[wattsy]

Yes, Heliopan are excellent.

[Chuck Albertson]

To answer your original question, I don't think there's much value in buying the Leica filters. But I recommend a medium yellow (K2, B+W 022, etc.) for the Monochrom, as you'll get better tones with its sensor. If you have a lot of lenses with different filter sizes you'll need to save money where you can.

[IWC Doppel]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm guessing the B+W 022 yellow is close enough to the 'specially created for use with the monochrome" Leica to be just as good. I have an E39 and E46 on order

 

I suspect they are remarkably similar and more than close enough for me to not notice !

 

I have now slimmed down my kit from 12mm,15mm, 18mm,2 x21mm, 24mm,28mm, 3 x 35mm, 4 x50mm, 75mm

 

To 21mm Elmarit (Mandler), 28mm Summicron, 35 Aspeherical, 35 Summaron,35 Summicron MkIV and 50 Summilux pre asph. (too many 35's I know but I LOVE those three.... double A wide open is magical, Summaron on the monochrome is stellar and wonderfully reportage and the MKIV at f4 is magic too)

 

By the way all my lenses are with Ace cameras in Bath all coded, serviced (Leica, or Malcolm Taylor) pouches, boxed and close to Mint apart from one lost box... I am tempted to keep the F1 Noctilux not sure, I only really use for Portraits tbh

[John Black]

I bought some Leica color filters in the E46 size and then other sizes in B+W.  If I had to guess the Leica filters are made of aluminum and the B+W of brass - the B+W have more heft.  In terms of use & optics, I don't know if there is appreciable any difference.  Neither has exhibited any benefit compared to the other.

 

My $.02 about yellow vs orange vs red - yellows don't do much for me.  There effect is quite subtle.  Red is definitely hypes the contrast, but it adds filter induced focus shift in a big way - thank heavens for LV & EVF's.  Orange is kind of the happy middle ground, but I prefer reds.  It's really easy to open up the shadows on the M-246 shadows if the contrast is too heavy (IMO).  But that focus shift is a SOB...  

 

Anyway, if choosing between Leica and B+W colored filters, I'd picked the B+W, save some money, and not think twice about it.