Which UV/IR Cut filter with 15mm Heliar - B+W or Leica?

[doubice]

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Has anybody used the 15mm Heliar with the B+W UV/IR cut filter? Or - had a chance to compare the results when used with the B+W and/or Leica filter?

 

I have the Milich adapter and unfortunately only one Leica 39mm UV/IR cut filter, but quite a few B+W ones. My dilemma is which lens to use the Leica filter with - the 15mm Heliar or, the 35mm Summicron? Which of the two lenses will benefit more from using the Leica filter – the Heliar or the Summicron?

 

I am using the Leica filters on the 21mm Elmarit ASPH and Zeiss 28mm Biogon (55mm and 46mm). The 50mm Summicron will probably be OK with the B+W, as will the 90mm Summicron. I am aware that the longer lenses might not benefit much from the filters, but want to keep everything uniform with the M8 set to Lens Detection On + UV/IR - that way my feeble brain has less things to remember....

 

Leaving for a short trip soon and just want to make sure the right filters are on the right lenses.

 

Thanks for any input,

 

Jan

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[gwelland]

I would put the B+W on the Summicron, Leica filter on the 15 and code it as a WATE.

 

The filter correction for the 35mm lens is a lot less critical than the wide angle performance of the Leica/B+W and associated correction. You should find that the B+W and Leica filters produce identical results with this lens.

 

Using the B+W on the 15 and using it coded with UV/IR detection on is more likely to result in the cyan being under-corrected and hence leave some residual colour pollution. The Leica filter isn't as strong and corrects better in camera.

[Guest tummydoc]

Regardless of which brand of filter or which lens, the in-camera correction is perfect in only a narrow set of lighting circumstances, and tapers off in acceptibility the farther from those circumstances the light deviates. It's similar to depth-of-field, where one deals with the concept of "acceptible sharpness", i.e. although many people mistakenly believe that everything within the lens' DOF scales will be equally sharp, in fact sharpness is always on a single plane regardless of the aperture.

 

I don't own B+W filters nor a 15 CV, but I have borrowed one to compare it to my WATE. I found that the cyan drift of the 15 CV is more pronounced than the 16mm setting of the WATE, therefore the in-camera correction is already a little too weak even for the Leica filter. Use of a Heliopan filter in that case exacerbates the situation and I would consider it contraindicated. If the B+W filters are stronger than Leica's, the same would hold true.

[AGeoJO]

I would use the Leica filter for the CV lens. Did you check Sean's review of the various IR-cut filters?

[doubice]

Thanks Joshua and Graham,

 

I also assumed that the Leica filter would be more suitable. After having read Sean's article on Leica ultra wides, it is confirmed. I guess I should have read it before posting.....

 

I already reversed the Leica filter in its mount, so that it is oriented correctly in the Milich adapter; the B+W will live on the 35mm Summicron.

 

Best,

 

Jan

[doubice]

Regardless of which brand of filter or which lens, the in-camera correction is perfect in only a narrow set of lighting circumstances, and tapers off in acceptibility the farther from those circumstances the light deviates. It's similar to depth-of-field, where one deals with the concept of "acceptible sharpness", i.e. although many people mistakenly believe that everything within the lens' DOF scales will be equally sharp, in fact sharpness is always on a single plane regardless of the aperture.

 

I don't own B+W filters nor a 15 CV, but I have borrowed one to compare it to my WATE. I found that the cyan drift of the 15 CV is more pronounced than the 16mm setting of the WATE, therefore the in-camera correction is already a little too weak even for the Leica filter. Use of a Heliopan filter in that case exacerbates the situation and I would consider it contraindicated. If the B+W filters are stronger than Leica's, the same would hold true.

 

Vinay,

 

Yes, I am familiar with DOF theories and with the "acceptable sharpness" concept (in proper terms - circle of confusion). I truly appreciate your input - you don't own the 15mm Heliar, nor do you own B+W filters. I think I will probably go with Sean Read's assessment, who has done extensive testing of both filters on a lens he actually owns.

 

Best,

 

Jan

[gesper]

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I am aware that the longer lenses might not benefit much from the filters,

 

Jan

 

I think the longer lenses benefit from the filters just as much as any of the others since the filter is to correct the IR issue. What isn't a problem with longer lenses is the software correction of vignetting and cyan drift. No problem if you leave the camera set to On + UV/IR. It will correct coded lenses and not correct uncoded ones, and you are all set as long as you use the filter under both scenarios.