Lens coding template

[chris_tribble]

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I have no commercial interest or involvement with the company, but have just bought their lens coding template and am blown away by how good it is. You can find it here: https://akaralabs.com/products/leica-m-mount-lens-6-bit-encoder

The Akara Labs code template is 3D printed, very precise, and let me code my Zeiss 85 f4 as Leica Macro Elmarit f4 (a really good approximation) and CV 15mm as Leica 16-18-21 (@16mm). This again works really well in post and manages vignetting very nicely. 
And of course - if you have un coded M lenses, this is just the job.

just thought I’d give a heads up 🙂

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[Al Brown]

Why would one pay for a template it if there is a FREE one made by our very own forum member who has given us the heads up for non-commercial use...
It is found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6595666

 

[TomB_tx]

I've printed the Thingverse template and it works very well.

[rogxwhit]

The Akaralabs one is a physical template.  The thingiverse offer seems to be an instruction set for a 3D printer, which not all of us possess ...

[Al Brown]

7 minutes ago, rogxwhit said:

The Akaralabs one is a physical template.  The thingiverse offer seems to be an instruction set for a 3D printer, which not all of us possess ...

There is always a local 3D printer available in almost anybody's neighborhood. The cost for such print is about 1-2 euros/dollars/pounds, but never more than 5.

[GlennS]

I bought one off Akaralabs and it's good. I used it to code my two lenses and my only issue was with my decision to use paint rather than a pen. Next time I'll use a decent marker as it'll be a lot less messy. 

[yukosteel]

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I had a great conversation with author of Akaralabs 6bit template, and just to clarify that while I'm not affiliated with them, it's good to see new product. I think it is a great effort on re-making 6bit coding template more accessible to Leica owners by providing polished and tested product to photo community. While I didn't try it personally (because having 3D printer), but they are also providing customer support and have printed template tested on lenses. From that perspective I think it worth paying a bit more for the final tested product. By that way you are not just buying the 6bit coding template, but support future effort an energy on creating more Leica accessories for a reasonable price.

Coincidentally I was also interested in having more precise 6bit template and was performing independently and not knowing about Akaralabs effort. Well, I'm still on the journey of designing template more tolerant to print errors. Main challenge with my 3D model is - yes, you can print it cheap locally or by online 3D printing order, but it's hard to say if it's precise unless you have coded Leica M lens, or by directly trying to code lens.

Taking that into account, if you don't have 3D printer, I'd personally recommend buying from Akaralabs, for higher chance to receive very accurate template and effortless coding.

Please stay tuned, I'm designing a self-calibrating 3D model version of 6bit coder, that should tolerate print precision errors. If that effort is successful, you'll have more chance to get very accurate 6it template from print order. Anyway, I keep sharing 3D models for free as a "Thank You" back to the community for all the hints and helps I received in the past, and also due to it's my hobby and I don't want to convert it to a paid job. But it's also very valuable effort if someone is running commercial way of producing new useful and affordable Leica accessories. I'm looking forward to see what Akaralabs will offer in future.

BTW, a fun fact (or maybe not very fun). Even though I posted 3D model of 6bit coder on Printables and Thingiverse for free non-commercial use, but these days it's not possible to track that usage rules. Last week I saw a 3D printed copies of it are selling on eBay from Hong Kong. It's interesting to learn that someone is printing my model in metal, which I was never thinking as an option : )

Edited June 6, 2024 by yukosteel

[yukosteel]

2 hours ago, chris_tribble said:

 

The Akara Labs code template is 3D printed, very precise, and let me code my Zeiss 85 f4 as Leica Macro Elmarit f4 (a really good approximation) and CV 15mm as Leica 16-18-21 (@16mm). This again works really well in post and manages vignetting very nicely. 
And of course - if you have un coded M lenses, this is just the job.

just thought I’d give a heads up 🙂

Thank you very much on sharing examples of Leica-to-ZM/CV mapping.

Regarding uncoded M lenses, just to remind that these 6bit templates do not work for flat mount surfaces.

[TomB_tx]

1 hour ago, yukosteel said:

Regarding uncoded M lenses, just to remind that these 6bit templates do not work for flat mount surfaces.

A good black marker can code a flat surface - I've done it for years with my Match Technical template on my old Leitz lenses. It does wear off with repeated unmounting, but easy to re-ink again.

[lct]

I've used both Match Technical and Akara Labs templates. Been doing fine on CV and ZM lenses so far. I use black ink with both after marking the coding pits with a sharpie. FWIW

https://markal.com/products/dura-ink-5

 

[chris_tribble]

11 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Why would one pay for a template it if there is a FREE one made by our very own forum member who has given us the heads up for non-commercial use...
It is found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6595666

 

Thanks for info on this - I wasn’t aware…. However, as I’ve no 3D printer, the Akara works for me. I also followed there advice on pen for marking and found the list of codes they send very useful.  It’s nice not to have to remember to select the lens when you change from coded to uncoded.

[Al Brown]

9 hours ago, yukosteel said:

It's interesting to learn that someone is printing my model in metal, which I was never thinking as an option : )

I have an older coding template laser cut from thin brass.

[yukosteel]

Speaking of list of codes, here's more complete one, compiled by Thury from FredMiranda forum, and then reformatted for easier look/sorting

If you notice any mistake or have extra info - please let me know and I'll update document. Thanks!

Leica M lenses 6bit codes list

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited June 7, 2024 by yukosteel

[lct]

Great work 👏 The M version of the Elmarit 135/2.8 has always had the 11829 catalog number AFAIK. 11827 mentioned by Leica Wiki was the Visoflex version of the same lens.

[yukosteel]

UPDATE: I'm going to expand document soon with another column - the mount "coded" framelines for the lens (35/135, 50/75, 28/90).

The "001100" code duplicate in current document is leading to the discovery that Leica M is also reading framelines value, and using it in addition to scanned 6bit code. So for the "001100" 6bit code, e.g. M10-P is showing for different framelines:

35/135 - "1.4 / 35mm"
55/75 - "Uncoded"
28/90 - "2.2 / 90mm"

[Segal]

Just used the Akaralabs template to code my lenses with a Sharpie pen. Worked like magic!

[tedwill]

I have a 90 APO Summicron M. Suddenly it's no longer 6 bit coded. It was when I bought it used.  I plan to get the template and recode myself, but I'm wondering what happened to the original coding? I didn't look at it that carefully, but was it a sticker? How does it suddenly disappear?

[lct]

You may wish to check if the flange of the lens and the lens mount of the camera are both perfectly clean. A dirt could be read as a coding pit for instance and the resulting code would not be recognized by the camera.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[RobW0]

11 hours ago, tedwill said:

I have a 90 APO Summicron M. Suddenly it's no longer 6 bit coded. It was when I bought it used.  I plan to get the template and recode myself, but I'm wondering what happened to the original coding? I didn't look at it that carefully, but was it a sticker? How does it suddenly disappear?

If it is an older non 6-bit coded lens the lens mount is smooth. If you put paint or marker on the mount it will get rubbed off from mounting and demounting the lens.  This could also potentially have a detrimental effect  on the 6-bit reader on the camera. 

[tedwill]

10 hours ago, RobW0 said:

If it is an older non 6-bit coded lens the lens mount is smooth. If you put paint or marker on the mount it will get rubbed off from mounting and demounting the lens.  This could also potentially have a detrimental effect  on the 6-bit reader on the camera. 

It's the model 11184.  It used to have 6 bit coding.  I'm very careful with my lenses. I generally don't bathe them in cleaning fluid.    

I did send it to Leica USA to calibrate it about a year ago.  If I look at the metadata from my photos from more than a year ago, it shows the lens and the lens model number. But any photos that I've taken with it in the last year or more recent have no medadata at all, and there is no six bit coding anymore on the lens.  

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

Any recent photos shows it as an "R-Adapter M".  That's the nearest approximation light room was able to come up with. I don't own that adapter. I'm simply mounting the 90 APO Summicron on an M11 P.

 

 

I did a screen capture of an exact same model for sale on eBay and it shows the six bit coding. Next to it is a photo I just took of my 90 mm lens same model number and there is no coding.

Just curious how the coding goes away. Was it originally a sticker that came off? Again, I am very gentle with my lenses.