Coding kit

[marcg]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Does anyone happen to know where I can get a lens coding kit, please.

 

I'm in Europe and I would prefer it to come from UK but frankly anywhere will be fine.

 

I can find lots of references to two coding kits – but I can't seem to find any of them for sale.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Rus]

I bought mine off UK e*bay several years ago. Just searched it and none came up. 

 

You might try your luck with http://www.matchtechnical.com/Pages/coderkit.aspx

 

They have their London retailer listed on their website. 

[marcg]

Thanks for that reply.

 

Unfortunately the London reseller says that they don't do any more. He said that they used to have loads of trouble with them and they discontinued them.

 

I'm not sure how one could have problems with the kit. It seems fairly straightforward.

[Rus]

My experience with the kit is positive on the whole, but not without minor annoyances. 

 

The first thing to note while using the kit is that you must use the finer end of the sharpie/marker pen because the holes in the coder bracelet are rather small.  I bought the coder kit second-handed and it came with a marker pen whose finer end has dried already. So every time I used the kit I had to use the thicker end, which when partially pressed through the holes can only leave small dots on the lens flange. I had to remove the coder bracelet and rework the small dots into proper six-bit codes in order for them to work properly. This needs to be done carefully to make sure that each coded strip stays within their limits, since if they extend too much into the neighbouring area they render the codes ineffective. 

 

Another thing is that this is temporary, and the length of time they remain effective depends on a variety of factors, including how tightly the lens mounts on the camera and how frequently you change lenses. My Summicron 50mm Collapsible mounts quite tightly onto the camera and as a result, the codes get erased after a single cycle of mounting and dismounting action. The codes on a few of my other lenses can withstand 5 to 6 cycles. The code on my Summicron-C 40/2, to my great surprise, has stayed effective after countless cycles, mainly because the lens mount has a screw in the coded area, whose recess holds the marker pen's paint and keeps it from rubbing against the camera's mounting surface. 

 

These aside, it works alright. But since I mainly shoot 35mm, 40mm, and 50mm, I do not find it to be something indispensable. A more reliable method to enjoy the in-camera lens profiles, as many do suggest, is to create a separate user profile for each of the lenses you use, with the appropriate lens profiles selected and saved.

[Rus]

Oh and, I do happen to live in the UK, so you are very welcome to borrow mine and try it out a bit if you like

[marcg]

That is extremely kind of you – and of course I'd like to accept your offer.

 

I'll send you a private message – but maybe you could send me your phone number and I'll call you.

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

 

I'm not sure how one could have problems with the kit. It seems fairly straightforward.

 

 

In fact the Match Technical's coding kit works fine on M8 and M9 bodies but less so on M240's. Reason could be that the latter has less tolerance to the slightly faulty design of the coding kit the holes of which are straight instead of curved as you can see here. Just a guess though. 

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!