Lens confusion!

[mazzawivalazza]

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Hi all

 

I bought a used 240 a couple of weeks ago and have a new 35/lux, a used 90/Elmarit and a new 50mm/Sonnar. Brilliant combo and loving it.

 

Here’s my confusion. I have set-up user profiles for each of the above lenses and have been religiously swapping between them as I change lenses because only the 35mm is 6-bit. BUT, I have just noticed that if I leave the user profile lens detection on auto, it differentiates between the lenses and seems to detect that I have a 50mm, 90mm etc. I didn’t expect this, I thought this would only be with 6-bit ...... what am I missing, why would this be !???

 

Many thanks

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[Gobert]

I think it remembers only the last uncoded one. So, if you use the coded onr it applies the correct lens. If you switch to uncoded it goes back to the last uncoded used.

[ianman]

Maybe it's connected to the frameline selection mechanism.

[mazzawivalazza]

I think it remembers only the last uncoded one. So, if you use the coded onr it applies the correct lens. If you switch to uncoded it goes back to the last uncoded used.

Yes, I thought of that too, but if I cycle through all of my the lenses (the heady number of 3!!,) it will always ‘pick’ the correct lens..... obviously I am delighted with this but I just can’t work out why it is doing this ...... it just shouldn’t be !

[mazzawivalazza]

Maybe it's connected to the frameline selection mechanism.

[mazzawivalazza]

Maybe it's connected to the frameline selection mechanism.

Possible ... the frame lines are correct for the lens & if I take a frame the info records the correct focal length and the lens’ max f-stop ...... if what you suggest is correct why have 6-bit?

[jdlaing]

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Be aware the f stop is only a guess on the camera’s part.

[jdlaing]

Put the 50 on and select the user profile for the 35 and see what’s recorded in the exif.

 

The frame lines are selected mechanically by the mount and should still be correct for the lens mounted.

[ianman]

 if what you suggest is correct why have 6-bit?

Because a 28mm Elmarit is not a 28mm Summicron.

Anyway, what I initially thought could not be correct because the framelines come up in pairs, so without coding the camera does not know if your are mounting, for example, a 28mm Summicron or a 90mm Tele-Elmar (28mm and 90mm frames are displayed together) and thus the mechanical system could not pass on info to the cpu.

[sblutter]

I've never used the lens profile stuff - or needed it.  I turned it off & never looked back.  I'm a 40+ yrs professional, learned on & made a lot of $ with 4x5 doing technical work for years

 

The very rare times I need corrections with the 240, Photoshop

 

I've got abt 20 M / LTM lenses, am not abt to waste my time on stuff that makes no difference in final prints

 

What is important?  Master your favorite lens length, shoot a lot, enjoy yourself - unless you like fiddling around, which is an entirely different activity

[jaapv]

Because a 28mm Elmarit is not a 28mm Summicron.

Anyway, what I initially thought could not be correct because the framelines come up in pairs, so without coding the camera does not know if your are mounting, for example, a 28mm Summicron or a 90mm Tele-Elmar (28mm and 90mm frames are displayed together) and thus the mechanical system could not pass on info to the cpu.

Nearly, but not quite correct, because the camera uses the frameline setting as an extra data point to recognize the lens. This is needed to distinguish the three positions of the MATE.

Steven is quite right to stress the relative unimportance of lens profiles.

[pedaes]

Agree not important, but very useful in Exif if checking to see what you used where.

[jaapv]

Hah! I've got a photographic memory for that!

[Gregm61]

In a perfect world, I'd turn the lens coding system off too for all pictures and just be happy, but it IS nice having the information within the image data and I take way too many pictures to recall with 100% accuracy so I leave it on for all the Leica glass I do own with the 6-bit codes and just deal with no lens data when I start using the Voigtlander optics with no coding.

[mazzawivalazza]

In a perfect world, I'd turn the lens coding system off too for all pictures and just be happy, but it IS nice having the information within the image data and I take way too many pictures to recall with 100% accuracy so I leave it on for all the Leica glass I do own with the 6-bit codes and just deal with no lens data when I start using the Voigtlander optics with no coding.

[mazzawivalazza]

Thanks everyone for their advice and responses. With these I have finally got my head around what is going on.

 

So what confused me was that every time I changed lenses I was getting the correct frame lines for the lens in the viewfinder. I thought you had to manually change the lens type each time to get this. I didn’t appreciate that the range finder mechanics did this (not helped by a confusing & unclear user manual).

 

This is what I was trying to achieve by flipping over the user profiles each time I changed a lens. I am not too fussed about the exif data etc. But I do notice that if I do set the correct lens, it does appear to make some in camera adjustments to the files. Eg vignetting. But I am sure you guys all know that ... noobie stuff for me

 

Loving the reconnection & deliberation that is now needed with the target subjects that the new rig is giving me, wish I had made the jump years ago

 

Thanks again everyone

[a.noctilux]

Since my M8 (ten years ago !), and having a bunch of lenses in LTM and M mount, I decided not to "code my lenses" and discover that was liberating.

 

Bonus, those lenses with characters keep those characters unchanged without "vignetting/color corrections" decided by the camera software.

 

But with wide-angle lenses, those corrections can give "better colors", so when required, I put the lens type manually in each case.

Edited May 25, 2018 by a.noctilux

[sblutter]

I can see where having the exif data would be helpful if you commonly use many lenses of similar length & are having trouble with your results like CA, focus etc & need to confirm which lens is the culprit

 

I doubt a veteran is going to mistake a shot made with a 28 for one done with a 75 > 135 tho.  But one by a 40 for a 50 could be tricky to discern

 

(I do love the 40 Summi-C - especially the size / weight.  May be why Ebay prices have been creeping up.)

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[pico]

Even if you shoot with no lens selected, is it helpful to use almost automatic PP lens correction?

I only have earlier Photoshop, but it does have lens correction and updates the profiles regularly.

(I usually do this in batch)

 

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[sblutter]

From vast experience (I print about 400 different 'finals' to 17x22" per year for many years) - no, it doesn't make much difference

 

Was makes huge differences in your output, is what you do with the picture within Photoshop.

 

I would get the latest PS version (monthly subscription price only abt $10/month) - and do a multi-day workshop.  I guarantee your pictures will greatly improve.  Mine did, especially on Piezography (B&W only)

 

Note:  Camera, lens etc don't matter at Photoshop workshops.

 

Of course there are are camera / lens / shooting workshops too - but that's a different activity