For those with 35mm Summilux V2 lenses

[Crem]

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I received my brass rim kit today. The kit is beautiful, directions very clear, and of course I was very excited to install it. I ordered the black version (not brassed) so my comments are specific to this version. Color matches my mint v2 very well.

Install took about 15 minutes and I've never worked on a lens before. The screws are extremely small. You will want to cry if you drop one. I highly recommend anyone installing this kit does so on a large tray, a flat floor, or something like that to catch them. You will drop one or more I promise. You will never find these screws if you drop one on a carpet. Also make sure you have good eyes for close up vision and you do the install in good bright light. Do not lose your stock screws. Again you will cry if you do... you will never find them and I doubt Leica will sell you one.

First problem is I see significant vignetting even though I used the recommended UV filter. The filter was purchased brand new from BH Photo about a week ago. I believe it is 100% authentic. I'm waiting for a reply from the makers because I can't believe they would miss this. The lens was made for something like ~25 years (or more?) so I wouldn't be surprised if my late German model is different from an early Canadian model. Either way, I can't use this kit with this level of vignetting. Another possibility is Leica slightly changed their UV filters or I screwed up the install somehow. I'll report back when the makers tell me what to do. I really hope this is user error on my part as I love the idea behind this kit.

Second problem is that one of the 3 screw holes won't accept a screw. I've tried two different screws (they provide a spare). I need a magnifying glass to check the threads in the hole, but I assume they are the problem. Clearly something is wrong because the other two holes accepted a screw very quickly. Again it's possible I am doing something wrong so we will see what the makers say.

In summary I am quite disappointed, but I knew what I was getting into. I really hope others post here and have better luck. Feel free to download and compare my files side by side and tell me what you think. These are very quick snaps taken with a SL2-S, a late Germany v2 (serial 353xxxx), and a white door in my house with really poor lighting. Definitely not a scientific test, but the best I can quickly do. Camera settings are the exact same: ISO 200, 1/125, f1.4, IBIS enabled.

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Edited October 1, 2024 by Crem

[69xchange]

1 hour ago, Crem said:

I received my brass rim kit today. The kit is beautiful, directions very clear, and of course I was very excited to install it. I ordered the black version (not brassed) so my comments are specific to this version. Color matches my mint v2 very well.

Install took about 15 minutes and I've never worked on a lens before. The screws are extremely small. You will want to cry if you drop one. I highly recommend anyone installing this kit does so on a large tray, a flat floor, or something like that to catch them. You will drop one or more I promise. You will never find these screws if you drop one on a carpet. Also make sure you have good eyes for close up vision and you do the install in good bright light. Do not lose your stock screws. Again you will cry if you do... you will never find them and I doubt Leica will sell you one.

First problem is I see significant vignetting even though I used the recommended UV filter. The filter was purchased brand new from BH Photo about a week ago. I believe it is 100% authentic. I'm waiting for a reply from the makers because I can't believe they would miss this. The lens was made for something like ~25 years (or more?) so I wouldn't be surprised if my late German model is different from an early Canadian model. Either way, I can't use this kit with this level of vignetting. Another possibility is Leica slightly changed their UV filters or I screwed up the install somehow. I'll report back when the makers tell me what to do. I really hope this is user error on my part as I love the idea behind this kit.

Second problem is that one of the 3 screw holes won't accept a screw. I've tried two different screws (they provide a spare). I need a magnifying glass to check the threads in the hole, but I assume they are the problem. Clearly something is wrong because the other two holes accepted a screw very quickly. Again it's possible I am doing something wrong so we will see what the makers say.

In summary I am quite disappointed, but I knew what I was getting into. I really hope others post here and have better luck. Feel free to download and compare my files side by side and tell me what you think. These are very quick snaps taken with a SL2-S, a late Germany v2 (serial 353xxxx), and a white door in my house with really poor lighting. Definitely not a scientific test, but the best I can quickly do. Camera settings are the exact same: ISO 200, 1/125, f1.4, IBIS enabled.

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Try shooting with filter at f16 (shutter speed and hand held or tripod doesn’t matter, just make sure it’s aim at white wall) to see if you see the hard edges. Shooting at wide open is difficult to tell because wide open naturally produces vignetting for any lens. 

[blackdot]

FYI - @Greenhilltony's adapter does not cause any vignetting with a Leica UVaII. 

[Crem]

9 minutes ago, 69xchange said:

Try shooting with filter at f16 (shutter speed and hand held or tripod doesn’t matter, just make sure it’s aim at white wall) to see if you see the hard edges. Shooting at wide open is difficult to tell because wide open naturally produces vignetting for any lens. 

If I install the Skyllaney/Omnar brass rim again I'll make sure to test at f16. That's definitely a valid concern. I clearly see vignetting even at f1.4. I'm waiting on the seller to respond as I need to return it. No way I'm keep it with only two working screws. The 3rd screw hole seems to be incorrectly machined and none of the supplied screws will thread into it.

I fully uninstalled/reinstalled the rim a second time just to make sure I did it right. My second round of vignetting tests looked just like my first. Clearly there is vignetting and it's very obvious if I flip between the two files quickly or compare them side by side in Lightroom at 100%. I really can't imagine BH Photo sold me a counterfeit filter so I'm be curious to read what Skyllaney/Omnar have to tell me.

[69xchange]

1 hour ago, Crem said:

If I install the Skyllaney/Omnar brass rim again I'll make sure to test at f16. That's definitely a valid concern. I clearly see vignetting even at f1.4. I'm waiting on the seller to respond as I need to return it. No way I'm keep it with only two working screws. The 3rd screw hole seems to be incorrectly machined and none of the supplied screws will thread into it.

I fully uninstalled/reinstalled the rim a second time just to make sure I did it right. My second round of vignetting tests looked just like my first. Clearly there is vignetting and it's very obvious if I flip between the two files quickly or compare them side by side in Lightroom at 100%. I really can't imagine BH Photo sold me a counterfeit filter so I'm be curious to read what Skyllaney/Omnar have to tell me.

I see, if you look at the Leica 39mm uva ii filter sent to you by B&H, the glass should reflect a light yellowish tint. From my experience, the counterfeits reflect a hard green tint. 

[Greenhilltony]

6 hours ago, Crem said:

If I install the Skyllaney/Omnar brass rim again I'll make sure to test at f16. That's definitely a valid concern. I clearly see vignetting even at f1.4. I'm waiting on the seller to respond as I need to return it. No way I'm keep it with only two working screws. The 3rd screw hole seems to be incorrectly machined and none of the supplied screws will thread into it.

I fully uninstalled/reinstalled the rim a second time just to make sure I did it right. My second round of vignetting tests looked just like my first. Clearly there is vignetting and it's very obvious if I flip between the two files quickly or compare them side by side in Lightroom at 100%. I really can't imagine BH Photo sold me a counterfeit filter so I'm be curious to read what Skyllaney/Omnar have to tell me.

The V2 produces substantial vignettes at 1.4 without a filter, so dark that you would doubt if it is physically blocked in front, so that’s why we recommend you test at smaller aperture. A more direct way is screw and unscrew the filter when the Live View is on. 

 

8 hours ago, Crem said:

The screws are extremely small. You will want to cry if you drop one. I highly recommend anyone installing this kit does so on a large tray, a flat floor, or something like that to catch them.

My experience and advice are you don’t need to fully unscrew them, just a few turns are enough to let the rim free to be lifted up, while the screws still sit in the rim.

[Greenhilltony]

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6 hours ago, blackdot said:

FYI - @Greenhilltony's adapter does not cause any vignetting with a Leica UVaII. 

Thanks for the feedback! I believe that’s why the original steel rim uses E41 and our custom steel rim uses E43. The larger diameter avoids blocking the light paths. E39 could be trouble free for the summicrons due to the smaller physical hole from the F2, but not enough large for F1.4 at 35mm.

[Crem]

I receive a reply from Omnar. They are willing send me another brass rim to try (to fix the screw hole issue). They also mentioned only using 2 screws might impact vignetting as the tolerances are so tight that the rim might distort. They also said this:

Using some modern Leica filters, they may reduce the periphery illumination slightly wide open, but none should induce any hard vignetting, which can be tested by setting the lens to f/16 and taking some shots.

I followed all their directions and purchased a brand new UVa II 13030 Leica filter. The paper directions clearly state to use a UVa II 13030 filter. For me any "reduced periphery illumination" is vignetting. I don't care if it's hard or non-hard. I don't want to "decrease illumination" wide open. I wouldn't have purchased the product if they said this statement upfront.

It's a super cool product and the quality is very high, but there is no way I want to deal with “decreased illumination” as I plan to use this on film bodies. They are now recommending vintage UVa filters in their email (not what the directions say) as supposedly those are shorter and "preserve the peripheral illumination integrity wide open". I really don't want to deal with vintage filters so I'm sending it back. Cool product, but the tolerances are just too narrow for 39mm filters.

Live and learn!

Edited October 1, 2024 by Crem

[Hamish Gill]

Hi all, Hamish here from Omnar Lenses - I just wanted to add a few select thoughts, since we are still in conversation with @Cremabout where to go next. 

As I have said in our most recent email to Crem, our point about older filters is simply that they may - in theory - cause less of a vignette than modern filters simply because they are smaller. We still recommend the modern Leica filters as in our testing, with the filters we have here, there was no perceptible increase in fall off of light.

The comment that Crem alludes to about filters that "... may reduce the periphery illumination slightly wide open" was again meant to be understood as a hypothetical statement as, to repeat, we are yet to experience any genuine Leica filter that has this negative impact.

The fact that Crem has obtained said Leica filter from B&H and that it does cause a vignette is of concern to us. We are so concerned in fact that as well as offering a full refund on his rim kit purchase, and all shipping charges, we have also offered to purchase the filter off Crem for the full price he paid plus any shipping costs he has incurred. 

It is our belief that this filter is an anomaly, and we are very keen to investigate further.  

I'd also like to reassure anyone reading this that customer service, and product of the highest possible quality are of utmost importance to us. We are a small business with tight margins manufacturing low volume products in the UK. We are doing this for the passion behind the products, and so we won't have any of have customers remain unsatisfied. If anyone ever has an issue with any of our products, please do get in touch and we will do everything in our power to remedy your issues. 

[69xchange]

14 minutes ago, Hamish Gill said:

Hi all, Hamish here from Omnar Lenses - I just wanted to add a few select thoughts, since we are still in conversation with @Cremabout where to go next. 

As I have said in our most recent email to Crem, our point about older filters is simply that they may - in theory - cause less of a vignette than modern filters simply because they are smaller. We still recommend the modern Leica filters as in our testing, with the filters we have here, there was no perceptible increase in fall off of light.

The comment that Crem alludes to about filters that "... may reduce the periphery illumination slightly wide open" was again meant to be understood as a hypothetical statement as, to repeat, we are yet to experience any genuine Leica filter that has this negative impact.

The fact that Crem has obtained said Leica filter from B&H and that it does cause a vignette is of concern to us. We are so concerned in fact that as well as offering a full refund on his rim kit purchase, and all shipping charges, we have also offered to purchase the filter off Crem for the full price he paid plus any shipping costs he has incurred. 

It is our belief that this filter is an anomaly, and we are very keen to investigate further.  

I'd also like to reassure anyone reading this that customer service, and product of the highest possible quality are of utmost importance to us. We are a small business with tight margins manufacturing low volume products in the UK. We are doing this for the passion behind the products, and so we won't have any of have customers remain unsatisfied. If anyone ever has an issue with any of our products, please do get in touch and we will do everything in our power to remedy your issues. 

Now this is above and beyond customer service. This company is even willing to purchase the filter of crem for full price to test for themselves and stand behind their product.  Some camera brands should take note *cough cough*.

Edited October 1, 2024 by 69xchange

[Crem]

2 hours ago, Hamish Gill said:

Hi all, Hamish here from Omnar Lenses - I just wanted to add a few select thoughts, since we are still in conversation with @Cremabout where to go next. 

As I have said in our most recent email to Crem, our point about older filters is simply that they may - in theory - cause less of a vignette than modern filters simply because they are smaller. We still recommend the modern Leica filters as in our testing, with the filters we have here, there was no perceptible increase in fall off of light.

The comment that Crem alludes to about filters that "... may reduce the periphery illumination slightly wide open" was again meant to be understood as a hypothetical statement as, to repeat, we are yet to experience any genuine Leica filter that has this negative impact.

The fact that Crem has obtained said Leica filter from B&H and that it does cause a vignette is of concern to us. We are so concerned in fact that as well as offering a full refund on his rim kit purchase, and all shipping charges, we have also offered to purchase the filter off Crem for the full price he paid plus any shipping costs he has incurred. 

It is our belief that this filter is an anomaly, and we are very keen to investigate further.  

I'd also like to reassure anyone reading this that customer service, and product of the highest possible quality are of utmost importance to us. We are a small business with tight margins manufacturing low volume products in the UK. We are doing this for the passion behind the products, and so we won't have any of have customers remain unsatisfied. If anyone ever has an issue with any of our products, please do get in touch and we will do everything in our power to remedy your issues. 

Hi @Hamish Gill,

Thank you again for reaching out. As I mentioned in my email reply, I really appreciate your offer to buy the filter for your own testing. As @69xchange said above, your customer service really is above and beyond. I've never run into another company like this so thank you.

My strong hope is that this is just a filter anomaly like you said. Attached are photos of the filter sold to me by BH Photo. I'll definitely include it in the package that I ship back to you.

 

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[69xchange]

2 hours ago, Crem said:

Hi @Hamish Gill,

Thank you again for reaching out. As I mentioned in my email reply, I really appreciate your offer to buy the filter for your own testing. As @69xchange said above, your customer service really is above and beyond. I've never run into another company like this so thank you.

My strong hope is that this is just a filter anomaly like you said. Attached are photos of the filter sold to me by BH Photo. I'll definitely include it in the package that I ship back to you.

 

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This is very interesting. Most counterfeit filters (purchased on eBay/aliexpress from china) includes that “white” box. I don’t believe genuine Leica filters come with that box. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. 
 

If this filter is indeed counterfeit, I am very surprised B&H sold that to you. 

[Crem]

1 hour ago, 69xchange said:

This is very interesting. Most counterfeit filters (purchased on eBay/aliexpress from china) includes that “white” box. I don’t believe genuine Leica filters come with that box. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. 
 

If this filter is indeed counterfeit, I am very surprised B&H sold that to you. 

I really can’t imagine BH selling counterfeit. I’m happy to post the receipt here if anyone wants to see it. 

[69xchange]

11 minutes ago, Crem said:

I really can’t imagine BH selling counterfeit. I’m happy to post the receipt here if anyone wants to see it. 

Can you take a picture of the filter with a reflection like this? 

Left is counterfeit and right is genuine.

You can spot the obvious difference by color of reflection and the inside diameter.

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Edited October 2, 2024 by 69xchange

[Crem]

2 hours ago, 69xchange said:

Can you take a picture of the filter with a reflection like this? 

Left is counterfeit and right is genuine.

You can spot the obvious difference by color of reflection and the inside diameter.

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@Hamish Gill can you please take a look at this? I'll email you also, but based on what @69xchange said this has me concerned that BH Photo sold me a fake filter. I own two "official" Leica filters:

• Silver filter: e46 UVa II purchased ~2022 from Leica Store SF. Black letters are recessed. Blue tint.
• Black filter: e39 UVa II purchased 9/19/24 from BH Photo. Receipt is attached for proof. Silver letters are recessed. Green/yellow tint.

I normalized the photos the best I can. Same white balance, ISO, shutter speed, focal length, etc.  Taken on a SL2-S + 24-70 so I'm positive I got the best shot I can get considering the lighting (indoor LED).

I also see that Skyllaney says: the following (https://www.instagram.com/p/DAGLphLoawA/?img_index=2)...

The counterfeits are also laser engraved (instead of machined) and have green coatings (whereas the genuine ones have more of a deeper blue coating).

Does this mean BH Photo sold me a fake filter? I find it extremely hard to believe, but I guess anything is possible. I don't know how to tell laser engraving vs machined.

 

Edited October 2, 2024 by Crem

[69xchange]

1 hour ago, Crem said:

@Hamish Gill can you please take a look at this? I'll email you also, but based on what @69xchange said this has me concerned that BH Photo sold me a fake filter. I own two "official" Leica filters:

• Silver filter: e46 UVa II purchased ~2022 from Leica Store SF. Black letters are recessed. Blue tint.
• Black filter: e39 UVa II purchased 9/19/24 from BH Photo. Receipt is attached for proof. Silver letters are recessed. Green/yellow tint.

I normalized the photos the best I can. Same white balance, ISO, shutter speed, focal length, etc.  Taken on a SL2-S + 24-70 so I'm positive I got the best shot I can get considering the lighting (indoor LED).

I also see that Skyllaney says: the following (https://www.instagram.com/p/DAGLphLoawA/?img_index=2)...

The counterfeits are also laser engraved (instead of machined) and have green coatings (whereas the genuine ones have more of a deeper blue coating).

Does this mean BH Photo sold me a fake filter? I find it extremely hard to believe, but I guess anything is possible. I don't know how to tell laser engraving vs machined.

 

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It’s hard to tell, but I am leaning towards genuine based on the colour of the tint. Fake ones have a very dark green tint, while yours have a more yellowish tint.. but with that being said, the white box is suspicious. I’ll share some photos of a counterfeit box tomorrow when I get into the office. I believe another way to tell is the reflective authenticity decal on the packaging. 

[fil-m]

I have just compared two E39 UVa II purchased from Leica France, once black part number 13030 and the other silver part 13031. The black filter glass shows a rather green tint reflection which comes up quite easily, the silver one is a bit yellowish-greenish and is harder to "produce". Quite striking. Not sure to which extent the tint is a discriminator between genuine vs not genuine, but the weird part is that two filters which supposedly should be the same, demonstrate different characteristics. Does the "tint" influence the final image? no idea. 

I have none of these white boxes, the plastic filter case is just inside the Leica grey package.

[69xchange]

8 minutes ago, fil-m said:

I have just compared two E39 UVa II purchased from Leica France, once black part number 13030 and the other silver part 13031. The black filter glass shows a rather green tint reflection which comes up quite easily, the silver one is a bit yellowish-greenish and is harder to "produce". Quite striking. Not sure to which extent the tint is a discriminator between genuine vs not genuine, but the weird part is that two filters which supposedly should be the same, demonstrate different characteristics. Does the "tint" influence the final image? no idea. 

I have none of these white boxes, the plastic filter case is just inside the Leica grey package.

The colour tint would have something to do with the type of glass and/or coating that was used. It would affect light transmission and also ghosting/reflections when shot at light sources. If I were to buy an expensive lens, I wouldn’t want a cheap filter on there and I’d personally go for B+W if I cannot justify the cost of genuine Leica filters. 

Anyways, I have several genuine leica filters (purchased from Leica boutique) and counterfeits purchased from eBay and aliexpress to test them out. From my examination, the filters purchased from Leica boutique shows a blue tint while the other shows a yellowish tint. The filters purchased from eBay and Ali has the obvious deep green tint with the white and grey box and are counterfeits without question. 

[fil-m]

1 hour ago, 69xchange said:

The colour tint would have something to do with the type of glass and/or coating that was used. It would affect light transmission and also ghosting/reflections when shot at light sources. If I were to buy an expensive lens, I wouldn’t want a cheap filter on there and I’d personally go for B+W if I cannot justify the cost of genuine Leica filters. 

Anyways, I have several genuine leica filters (purchased from Leica boutique) and counterfeits purchased from eBay and aliexpress to test them out. From my examination, the filters purchased from Leica boutique shows a blue tint while the other shows a yellowish tint. The filters purchased from eBay and Ali has the obvious deep green tint with the white and grey box and are counterfeits without question. 

I understand 

My point is that both of my E39 UVa II were bought from the online official Leica store in France. The black filter shows the strong and easy to produce green tint while the silver one shows a quite different more subdued yellowish tint. At least I would have expected them both to display the same tint… and they are not eBay, they’re Leica france 

 

I will check again tonight to make sure I am not crazy  

Edited October 2, 2024 by fil-m

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[Anbaric]

B&H have I think been stung before by an upstream supplier, and allegedly had some dubious 'Nikon' batteries in their supply chain a few years ago. But it's hard to believe an official Leica store would have this issue. Is is possible Leica have switched, or are using more than one, filter manufacturer, so that 'different' doesn't necessarily mean fake? It's no secret that they don't make them themselves.