Leica 18mm Super Elmar M - Filters

[Alan J]

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Is there a solution for using filters for this lens? With or without the 14 484 Filter Holder?

This lens has a 58mm male thread which is on the outside of the lens (barrel) and not the typical screw-in type thread.

I am wanting to somehow adapt and use a 2 or 3-slot type (75 or 100mm) filter holder for long-exposure photography.

Has anyone found a solution or have suggestions?

Edited May 19, 2023 by Alan J

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[Jean Louis Louis Granier]

Il y a une solution : bague filetée 58 - 67 et filtres N 67 mm. Du fait de la bague, le (ou les filtre) 67mm ne touche pas la lentille frontale de l'objectif, et comme la bague est bien plus grande que le diamètre de l'objectif il n'y a pas de vignetage, cqfd

On peut même mettre un filtre UV permanent, avec un bouchon d'objectif en 67....

[andybarton]

Translated:

 

There is a solution: threaded ring 58 - 67 and N filters 67 mm. Because of the ring, the 67mm (or filters) does not touch the front lens of the objective, and as the ring is much larger than the diameter of the objective there is no vignetting, cfd

You can even put a permanent UV filter, with a 67 lens cap....

[overexposed]

i use a 58 female to 58mm female adapter, from there i use a set of step up rings to various filters i use, works like a charme, filter ordered on ebay from britain

 

[jaapv]

You can also cobble something up using step-up and step-down rings to create distace from the front element But any solution will be sub-optimal as the curvature of the front lens will introduce aberrations. 

[RexGig0]

My “solution” was to shift my attention to 21mm, and then opt to buy a Voigtlander Nokton 21mm f/1.4 VM lens, which accepts normal threaded 62mm filters. I am not advising that anyone should abandon 24mm, or any other favored focal length, but adapting filters can become a cumbersome, expensive project. I already liked 21mm, anyway, and so it was a matter of buying one more-suited to night-time long exposures.

Actually, I did not abandon the 24mm focal length. I simply opted to indefinitely postpone buying a 24mm Summilux, and, instead, last year, acquired the Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH, in spite of its “slow” aperture, and ordered two different Nokton lenses from Cameraquest, with a specific intent to use the Nokton 21mm for long exposures.

I am not any kind of experienced expert, regarding long exposures with any kind of filters. I have shot long exposures, without filters, for serious purposes, when evidentiary/forensic/crime scene photography was one of my duties, working at night. I had some formal training in shooting long-exposure IR (infrared) with IF-pass filters, but IF never became important, while I was working patrol, so, I did not keep an IR filter in my kit, and the Canon DSLRs in my duty kit were not good choices for IR shooting, anyway. (I used an older Nikon DSLR for the IR training.)

Edited July 11, 2023 by RexGig0

[rtai]

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My solution was to look for a Zeiss ZM 18mm. For b/w I prefer to have a yellow or orange filter on the front so if Leica makes it difficult then I’ll move on. Same with the WATE. I ended up with a 15mm Voigtlander.