Lens recognition M262

[FlickM]

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Hi Everybody, just to introduce myself, plus a question. I started my life as a photographer with film, then moved to digital when it arrived. I've been through a number of different systems over the years, and now have a Fujifilm system and a Q2. I'm totally new to the M system and have just bought an M 262, which will be arriving next week. After going down a LOT of research rabbit holes, I just bought a lightly used black Voigtlander Heliar 40mm Aspherical VM. I know the limitations of the frame lines, but i really like this focal length - and have 28mm with the Q2 and 50mm equivalent with my Fuji system - so am prepared for the limitations of judging composition and framing using the 50mm frame lines. What i can't find precise info on, after days of combing online, including this forum, is whether the camera will read the coding on the lens, and whether I need to set the lens recognition to auto, manual or off for this lens ... the manual, when i finally managed to track one down, gave dire warnings about using the wrong setting. Also any hints about range finder focusing with my old lady eyes: I don't walk around with reading glasses on, and taking them on and off to focus is a pain, so I guess I should look into contact lenses; I'm guessing i can't use a VF-2 as the camera has no live view, and anyway, I want to experience the full rangefinder focusing experience before i start putting accessory aids on the camera. So, any help would be much appreciated.  

[strangeboy]

Hello, and welcome.

I own the Pentax-L 43 mm LTM lens. I never bothered trying to code it for anything, and most of the time I just select a 50mm f2 lens profile in the camera. When I see the frame lines, I know that I've got just a little bit more content in the photograph. Works fine.

For you: Unless the lens has been manually coded for 35 or 50 (since Leica doesn't do 40mm frame lines) the camera won't automatically recognize it. Even then, the EXIF data from M cameras is not very reliable, since the lens doesn't actually communicate with the camera in that fashion. It's an approximation.

Finally, if you're shooting RAW, none of that really matters, since you can make any corrections for vignetting and so on in the post-processing software of your choice.

Good luck!

[jaapv]

There are no correct codes for non-Leica lenses, just approximations by corresponding Leica ones. For the image you don’t need them, only to get the focal length on EXIF. Personally I don’t bother. 

[FlickM]

5 minutes ago, strangeboy said:

Hello, and welcome.

I own the Pentax-L 43 mm LTM lens. I never bothered trying to code it for anything, and most of the time I just select a 50mm f2 lens profile in the camera. When I see the frame lines, I know that I've got just a little bit more content in the photograph. Works fine.

For you: Unless the lens has been manually coded for 35 or 50 (since Leica doesn't do 40mm frame lines) the camera won't automatically recognize it. Even then, the EXIF data from M cameras is not very reliable, since the lens doesn't actually communicate with the camera in that fashion. It's an approximation.

Finally, if you're shooting RAW, none of that really matters, since you can make any corrections for vignetting and so on in the post-processing software of your choice.

Good luck!

Thank you for this. Yes, I always shoot RAW, so that side of thing doesn't matter, as you say. So do I understand that you select manual then select 50mm to get the framelines? Or can i select 35mm as I've read repeatedly that that's nearer? This is all very exciting - a strange mixture of modern technology with a step back in time to my early photography days

[FlickM]

2 minutes ago, jaapv said:

There are no correct codes for non-Leica lenses, just approximations by corresponding Leica ones. For the image you don’t need them, only to get the focal length on EXIF. Personally I don’t bother. 

Thank you, this is all an interesting learning curve. Then I use manual or off for lens recognition? I guess i will see when i get the camera, but I'm a bit wary after the manual threatened me i could do damage if I used the wrong lens setting ... gulp ...

[jaapv]

The framelines are mechanical and don’t need coding 

[FlickM]

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25 minutes ago, jaapv said:

The framelines are mechanical and don’t need coding 

But i thought the camera read the lens then brought up the nearest match. I'm confused 

Edited January 16, 2024 by FlickM

[jaapv]

No it does not The mechanism dates back 70 years. Not an electron in sight. The framelines are set by a mechanism that reads a notch on the lens bayonet - mechanically-   The coding itself, however, reads out the position of the frameline mechanics.  Just the other way around. 

[FlickM]

2 minutes ago, jaapv said:

No it does not The mechanism dates back 70 years. Not an electron in sight. The coding itself, however, reads out the position of the frameline lever. Just the other way around. 

Ah, ok, thank you. I'm sure things will all fall into place when the camera arrives. 

[strangeboy]

58 minutes ago, FlickM said:

Thank you for this. Yes, I always shoot RAW, so that side of thing doesn't matter, as you say. So do I understand that you select manual then select 50mm to get the framelines? Or can i select 35mm as I've read repeatedly that that's nearer? This is all very exciting - a strange mixture of modern technology with a step back in time to my early photography days

Yes. Select which ever is most comfortable for your eye. With your 40mm lens, I would probably choose 35, as well. With my 43mm lens, I select 50, because that works for my brain 🙄.

[FlickM]

1 minute ago, strangeboy said:

Yes. Select which ever is most comfortable for your eye. With your 40mm lens, I would probably choose 35, as well. With my 43mm lens, I select 50, because that works for my brain 🙄.

Brilliant, this is the answer I've been looking for. Thank you so much! 

[strangeboy]

14 minutes ago, strangeboy said:

Yes. Select which ever is most comfortable for your eye. With your 40mm lens, I would probably choose 35, as well. With my 43mm lens, I select 50, because that works for my brain 🙄.

Hold on... I misspoke!

For some reason, I thought you had the LTM version of this lens. I read your post again, and you clearly have the VM version. It's my understanding that that lens will bring up the 50mm frame lines. 

With the LTM version, you would have been able to choose either a 50mm or 35mm LTM adapter. The frame lines which show accordingly.

Apologies!

[jaapv]

8 minutes ago, strangeboy said:

Yes. Select which ever is most comfortable for your eye. With your 40mm lens, I would probably choose 35, as well. With my 43mm lens, I select 50, because that works for my brain 🙄.

That is not possible. The framelines are not user-selectable. 

[FlickM]

2 minutes ago, strangeboy said:

Hold on... I misspoke!

For some reason, I thought you had the LTM version of this lens. I read your post again, and you clearly have the VM version. It's my understanding that that lens will bring up the 50mm frame lines. 

With the LTM version, you would have been able to choose either a 50mm or 35mm LTM adapter. The frame lines which show accordingly.

Apologies!

No worries, I saw this earlier - after I'd bought the lens! So back to my original question - and assume total ignorance here, because that's where i'm coming from (bar some very frenetic googling) ... so I have my new camera in my hand - for which I'm getting wildly impatient btw - I attach the lens - then what? Do i just stick the lens on and the 50mm frame lines magically appear without any intervention on my part? Do i dive into the lens recognition part of the menu? If so, do I choose auto? Do I choose off? Do I choose manual then select any old 50mm lens from a list? In other words, what tells the camera to present me with the 50/75mm lines? Forgive me as i think I haven't phrase things clearly enough in the original post

[FlickM]

@strangeboy to add,  normally i would play around with the camera settings and work it out that way. The reason I've asked questions instead was because the user manual gave a very stern warning about the possibility of bricking the camera if using the wrong lens recognition settings 

[jaapv]

14 minutes ago, FlickM said:

No worries, I saw this earlier - after I'd bought the lens! So back to my original question - and assume total ignorance here, because that's where i'm coming from (bar some very frenetic googling) ... so I have my new camera in my hand - for which I'm getting wildly impatient btw - I attach the lens - then what? Do i just stick the lens on and the 50mm frame lines magically appear without any intervention on my part? Do i dive into the lens recognition part of the menu? If so, do I choose auto? Do I choose off? Do I choose manual then select any old 50mm lens from a list? In other words, what tells the camera to present me with the 50/75mm lines? Forgive me as i think I haven't phrase things clearly enough in the original post

Take the camera, pop in the battery, slap on the lens and start taking photographs.  Bar a few minor details like setting exposure and learn how to focus. There are no settings. Either Aperture priority or manual, aperture and shutter speed. 

[costa43]

As mentioned the framelines are triggered via the lens mounting, purely manual. I believe it automatically selects the 50mm lines with the Heliar.  The good news is, If you did want to ‘choose’ the 35mm framelines you are Iuck as Voigtlander sell this lens in ltm (leica thread mount) as well as M mount. By purchasing the ltm version, it affords you the option to use the 35/75 ltm to m adapter.

Edited January 16, 2024 by costa43

[FlickM]

9 minutes ago, costa43 said:

As mentioned the framelines are triggered via the lens mounting, purely manual. I believe it automatically selects the 50mm lines with the Heliar.  The good news is, If you did want to ‘choose’ the 35mm framelines you are Iuck as Voigtlander sell this lens in ltm (leica thread mount) as well as M mount. By purchasing the ltm version, it affords you the option to use the 35/75 ltm to m adapter.

 Thank you for clarifying and for being patient with someone new to the system! I must have missed or misunderstood the bit that said mount the lens and the framelines are triggered. That was why i was asking what menu setting i needed. Though if it's that simple, why the need to choose between off/manual/auto in the menu, which it now appears i don't need to do. I shan't buy the other version, having just purchased a very good, barely used copy of the lens. Thank you again 🙂

Edited January 16, 2024 by FlickM

[FlickM]

@jaapv please see my answer to @costa43

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[costa43]

17 minutes ago, FlickM said:

 Thank you for clarifying and for being patient with someone new to the system! I must have missed or misunderstood the bit that said mount the lens and the framelines are triggered. That was why i was asking what menu setting i needed. Though if it's that simple, why the need to choose between off/manual/auto in the menu, which it now appears i don't need to do. I shan't buy the other version, having just purchased a very good, barely used copy of the lens. Thank you again 🙂

Recent Leica lenses have a code on the mount which tells the camera which lens is mounted. Leica have designed a selectable profile for their older lenses that are not six bit coded from the factory. It allows users of these lenses to choose the relevant profile manually so it pulls through in the exif data. The profiles also apply some corrections, mainly vignetting/colour cast. Many who use 3rd party lenses will try and match their lenses with the closest Leica option. I like choosing a lens profile and sticking with it so I have the data in Lightroom. You can just leave it to off if you are not really concerned about this.

Edited January 16, 2024 by costa43