DIY 6-bit coding on Voigtlander...what am I doing wrong?

[cbgrey]

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I'm a newbie to the M world starting with an M240 and one Leica lens (50mm Summilux). I've gotten a few Voigtlander lenses to fill out my kit and have tried to manually 6-bit code them using a variety of materials and techniques I've seen around the web. Printed templates on paper and transparency. Manually lining up marks using tape around the mount.  Sharpie pens. Paint-based pens. I've tried to be as accurate as possible and tried to do this at least a dozen times. Every time the camera just says "Uncoded Lens". 

I'm trying to code a Voigtlander 35mm f/2 as a 35 'Cron. 

I've seen other posts saying how easy this was to do but not for me. Photos of one of my recent attempts attached. 

Any advice? 

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[andybarton]

YOur stripes are probably too wide. There needs to be definition between them.

 

See if you can find a guide to assist getting them right.

[cbgrey]

Thanks for the advice Andy. I'll try some thinner stripes. I've tried a couple of templates I downloaded but nothing has worked great. It seems companies used to sell pre-made kits for doing this long ago but I can't seem to find any now. 

[vanGeist]

I have coded a lot of lenses (Zeiss, Canon LTM and Leica) that way and I don't care about spaces. You need 000110 to code as a Cron 35 so don't try to paint single dogs, paint a solid block for 11 and keep adding some paint left and right if it does not work. I can provide some pictures of my codes when I'm back home.

[cbgrey]

I should have been more specific on the code I'm aiming for... 35 'Cron ASPH which I believe is 011110. 

 

Would love to see some examples of what you did @vanGeist if you have the time to share. 

[plaidshirts]

011110 is correct. Try a block across the 4 black spaces instead of dots, taking care not to encroach into the white spaces. It's probably an issue with alignment.

[lct]

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23 hours ago, cbgrey said:

I'm trying to code a Voigtlander 35mm f/2 as a 35 'Cron.

Your coding seems correct if you mean Summicron 35/2 asph. I suspect the problem comes from the black paint or sharpie you've been using. My DIY coding of the CV 35/2 is far from clean but it works perfectly on both my M240 and digital CL with black nail polish. 

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[vanGeist]

This is how my coding looks like on a 90 Cron pre-ASPH, 35 Cron V3 and Zeiss ZM Planar 50. Simply done with a black Edding 3000 and some masking tape. Did also work on various LTM adapters, Minolta M-Rokkors and converted Canon-LTM lenses.

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[Edax]

There is a template in the post above, see picture how I cut it. Place it around the mount and align it carefully to the lens release slot. I painted the black areas(only in the recess of the Voigtlander lenses) with Tamiya XF-1 matte acrylic paint, by means of a sharp-ended wooden toothpick.

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[cbgrey]

oooh. Some good template suggestions. I'll try those out. I have tried a variety of pens but I've seen people mention POSCA paint pen because it dries fairly matte. I have that and will try. Thanks for all the help so far!

[mmradman]

On 12/3/2021 at 5:35 PM, lct said:

Your coding seems correct if you mean Summicron 35/2 asph. I suspect the problem comes from the black paint or sharpie you've been using. My DIY coding of the CV 35/2 is far from clean but it works perfectly on both my M240 and digital CL with black nail polish. 

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+1

It's the pant that makes all the difference, matt variety would probably work better than shiny marker pen.

I did replacement flange (eBay/Chinese) with milled pits few years ago, worked well with M9 using "Humbrol" aircraft modeller matt black paint, my google search suggest shade 033 or 33.  Try local hobby stores or big South American river place.  As per LCT's picture, I think Voigtlander M lenses have flange groove sufficiently deep for a layer of paint to be applied and not to be rubbed off by lens attachment/detachment.  

[Al404]

Trying to code too but having issue since the camera doesn't recognize 

I'm using a an alcool base sharpie, @cbgrey did you find the issue?

[cbgrey]

@Al404 I had some luck with POSCA paint pens but had to do both black and white while many said they just needed to do black. Unfortunately it seems to wear off quite easily so in the end just gave up. I have resigned myself to manually changing the lens coding or (most often) just forgetting and having wrong lens info. 

I wish I had a better solution. 

[lct]

I suggested black nail polish above. Works fine on all my ZM and CV lenses. Black only is enough. 

[Al404]

the problem with nail polish is that if you do it wrong is way harder to remove and it may get thick pretty quickly 

I guess I will just give up to

[lct]

Cannot be easier to remove. Just use acetone or similar nail polish remover. 

[250swb]

'Sharpies' are a waste of time. I mean well all know the sort of thing a 'Sharpie' is, but there are so many variations and most of them don't work, even the ones that say 'Sharpie' on them. Tamiya matt black acrylic or Humbrol matt black enamel both work if your lens has the narrow rebate machined in the mount like the Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses or you've used a Dremel to gouge the coding rebates into the mount, or alternatively buy a replacement flange with coding rebates already machined for coding.

[cp995]

I use a black edding 780 pen.
https://www.edding.com/products/edding-780-paint-marker/
Don't know if it is available worldwide?

The deepening of the CV lenses is simply great for permanent coding!

And: You can combine the fields into one larger field without spaces, if they are next to each other - That's mor easy to paint

@TO it's enough to code the lens within the deepening (see your 1st picture)

Edited February 6, 2022 by cp995

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[cbgrey]

On 2/6/2022 at 8:34 AM, lct said:

I suggested black nail polish above. Works fine on all my ZM and CV lenses. Black only is enough. 

Tried that too...didn't work for me.