For those with 35mm Summilux V2 lenses

[Crem]

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2 hours ago, fil-m said:

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  

Definitely looking forward to you checking again since you purchased both from an official Leica store. It sounds like you have two Leica filters like I do and they have different tints similar to mine? Do you know the purchase dates?

[Hamish Gill]

Again, just to clarify I am not necessarily suggesting counterfeit. From experience both within my own businesses and dealing with a wide variety of manufacturers over the years I can tell you for free that product variance within what appears to be a single product lifecycle can be significant. Especially when we are dealing with very small tolerances. Even within Omnar over the short time we have been running we have moved suppliers for some quite significant parts - in fact, a key supplier closed down on us just a couple of years ago. Fortunately we managed to find a new supplier with the exact same make and model of cnc machine just a few miles from where Chris moved house to. Very handy for keeping a close eye on quality, but even with that close eye there are some very subtle differences. 

So... it might be that Leica has changed something. Or, as someone else has mentioned it might be an issue at B&H. I am certainly not pointing any blame at this stage though, nor will I if it does turn out to be fake - an upstream supplier B&H could be the cause. There might even be some sort of issue at Leica. Who knows.

For us, it is all just useful data. As mentioned, we will always look after our customers, but this sort of information will help us inform customers better before purchase. And if it turns out we need to make adjustments to the product, that is a potential option too. 

[fil-m]

4 hours ago, Crem said:

Definitely looking forward to you checking again since you purchased both from an official Leica store. It sounds like you have two Leica filters like I do and they have different tints similar to mine? Do you know the purchase dates?

So here we go, and until further notice, I am not crazy, which could be good news  The two Leica (FR) store E39 UVa II filters that I bought display different reflection tints under multiple light sources, and I have tried many back home. The silver one shows a blue sometimes slightly greenish tint, the back filter shows a definite, constant and strong green tint. 

I bought the black one September 23, and the Silver one February 24 as we can see below (invoices + sample of light reflection).

Either their supply chain has been compromised with fakes which is unlikely, or the characteristics have changed.

As we are most probably in the second case, the real question is whether this change keeps the filter within Leica's specs in terms of image rendering and neutrality or not. And the second question would be, whether Leica's been made aware (from their filter manufacturer) of this change or not. I know that sometimes they modify the coating during a given lens lifecycle (and people become crazy about a serial number range whose coating is different leading to a magical rendering beyond the realm of the living), but I am not sure if this applies to the filters too  We shall tag them now with serial numbers and hunt the different coatings  

Jokes aside, I had tried the black filter with the Omnar ring for my v2 (which looked magnificent!) but noticed the slight vignetting. I will try later the silver one to see if it makes a difference. But I won't do it soon as I mounted back the original ring and I'll be a bit busy until the weekend.

 

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Edited October 2, 2024 by fil-m

[LocalHero1953]

Worth contacting Leica? If only to refer them to this thread (which they may be reading anyway), and ask them how we can tell real from fake.

[69xchange]

1 hour ago, fil-m said:

So here we go, and until further notice, I am not crazy, which could be good news  The two Leica (FR) store E39 UVa II filters that I bought display different reflection tints under multiple light sources, and I have tried many back home. The silver one shows a blue sometimes slightly greenish tint, the back filter shows a definite, constant and strong green tint. 

I bought the black one September 23, and the Silver one February 24 as we can see below (invoices + sample of light reflection).

Either their supply chain has been compromised with fakes which is unlikely, or the characteristics have changed.

As we are most probably in the second case, the real question is whether this change keeps the filter within Leica's specs in terms of image rendering and neutrality or not. And the second question would be, whether Leica's been made aware (from their filter manufacturer) of this change or not. I know that sometimes they modify the coating during a given lens lifecycle (and people become crazy about a serial number range whose coating is different leading to a magical rendering beyond the realm of the living), but I am not sure if this applies to the filters too  We shall tag them now with serial numbers and hunt the different coatings  

Jokes aside, I had tried the black filter with the Omnar ring for my v2 (which looked magnificent!) but noticed the slight vignetting. I will try later the silver one to see if it makes a difference. But I won't do it soon as I mounted back the original ring and I'll be a bit busy until the weekend.

 

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Wow, that reflective coating on the black filter is similar color to the both filters that I purchased of eBay & aliexpress. 

Do you have a kitchen scale by any chance to weigh and compare the weight of the two filters? Also can you take a picture of the two box’s side by side with the authenticity decal facing up and pointed towards the camera? I want to see if there are any obvious telltales. 

Edited October 2, 2024 by 69xchange

[hdmesa]

Upstream suppliers are one issue, but so are "customers" who buy genuine and return the fake ones. This happens a lot on Amazon, so I don't see why B&H or even an official Leica store would be immune. Also none of them are immune from more organized criminal activity (on a small scale) to intercept and replace goods.

For what it's worth, I've never seen a genuine Leica filter that came with a white box inside. I would call that one counterfeit. 

[fil-m]

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3 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Worth contacting Leica? If only to refer them to this thread (which they may be reading anyway), and ask them how we can tell real from fake.

Yes I agree, if anyone knows how to get in contact with a Leica representative and ask for an opinion in reference to this thread, given all the info and pictures given herein. It is the only way to reach a reliable conclusion. 

[fil-m]

2 hours ago, 69xchange said:

Wow, that reflective coating on the black filter is similar color to the both filters that I purchased of eBay & aliexpress. 

Do you have a kitchen scale by any chance to weigh and compare the weight of the two filters? Also can you take a picture of the two box’s side by side with the authenticity decal facing up and pointed towards the camera? I want to see if there are any obvious telltales. 

The two Leica boxes look similar and the authenticity seal similar even if it is hard to make them look alike with my iPhone due to the reflections. Same weight, 7g. No differences except for the tint as shown in my previous snapshots.

NB: there is no "white box" for either.

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[pedaes]

16 minutes ago, fil-m said:

except for the tint

They will just have come from diffwewnt filter manufacturing plants. If you need a thin rim try B+W,

[hdmesa]

52 minutes ago, fil-m said:

The two Leica boxes look similar and the authenticity seal similar even if it is hard to make them look alike with my iPhone due to the reflections. Same weight, 7g. No differences except for the tint as shown in my previous snapshots.

NB: there is no "white box" for either.

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Counterfeit Leica filters and other small counterfeit items like Leica M thumb grips come in boxes that look identical down to the holographic sticker — however, there are always slight differences in the fonts and font kerning of the counterfeits.

[Crem]

1 hour ago, hdmesa said:

Upstream suppliers are one issue, but so are "customers" who buy genuine and return the fake ones. This happens a lot on Amazon, so I don't see why B&H or even an official Leica store would be immune. Also none of them are immune from more organized criminal activity (on a small scale) to intercept and replace goods.

For what it's worth, I've never seen a genuine Leica filter that came with a white box inside. I would call that one counterfeit. 

I received my B&H filter with a white external box (with that little viewing window) as the outer box. Inside that is the silver box. I too was surprised to see it. I'm going to email Leica customer care, send them my photos, and see what they say.

[hdmesa]

32 minutes ago, Crem said:

I received my B&H filter with a white external box (with that little viewing window) as the outer box. Inside that is the silver box. I too was surprised to see it. I'm going to email Leica customer care, send them my photos, and see what they say.

Hmm. Maybe they arrive at the dealers like that and are removed from the white box before being put into stock. That might explain why the counterfeits have them, too: trying to exactly copy what Leica does.

[Crem]

5 minutes ago, hdmesa said:

Hmm. Maybe they arrive at the dealers like that and are removed from the white box before being put into stock. That might explain why the counterfeits have them, too: trying to exactly copy what Leica does.

Yeah I am hoping it’s a simple explanation like that. Email has been sent to Leica customer care. I imagine it will be some days before they get back to me.

[69xchange]

3 hours ago, Crem said:

Yeah I am hoping it’s a simple explanation like that. Email has been sent to Leica customer care. I imagine it will be some days before they get back to me.

Keep us posted. I’m curious about the white box too. 

[69xchange]

5 hours ago, fil-m said:

The two Leica boxes look similar and the authenticity seal similar even if it is hard to make them look alike with my iPhone due to the reflections. Same weight, 7g. No differences except for the tint as shown in my previous snapshots.

NB: there is no "white box" for either.

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If they are the same weight, I am going to say it’s genuine then. I guess coating color doesn’t really matter at this point and cannot be used to differentiate counterfeit vs genuine. 

The box hologram is hard to differentiate from the picture but based on my observation from the past, the counterfeit hologram shows the shutter/aperture blade and icons (such as flash logo) in the small little squares more vs the genuine hologram. The genuine shutter /aperture blades and icons are more faint and can only be seen at certain angles.

Edited October 3, 2024 by 69xchange

[69xchange]

3 hours ago, hdmesa said:

Hmm. Maybe they arrive at the dealers like that and are removed from the white box before being put into stock. That might explain why the counterfeits have them, too: trying to exactly copy what Leica does.

Very possible, just like how the Patek watches arrive to dealers in a different /cheaper box.  
 

@Crem is your Leica 39mm uva ii filter also 7g in weight?

[Crem]

5 minutes ago, 69xchange said:

Very possible, just like how the Patek watches arrive to dealers in a different /cheaper box.  
 

@Crem is your Leica 39mm uva ii filter also 7g in weight?

Unfortunately I can't find my scale to check.

[69xchange]

Here is an example of a typo from the 39mm uva ii silver filter on a counterfeit box. I can’t say the same for the black filter as I personally never purchased a black genuine or counterfeit 39mm uva ii filter to compare.
 

Counterfeit on eBay:

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genuine:

 

Refer to the typos on the silver filter box texts circled in red.

Edited October 3, 2024 by 69xchange

[Thomas Mansell]

I am designing a lens hood for the V2, and I have tested a number of E39mm filters all of which cause vignetting except the native Leica filter, and this is what Omnar say, Someone linked to an Instagram post where they go into detail about the filters. Something I wish I had read before purchasing and testing a handful of filters.

I will thread the hood with a 43mm thread so 43mm filters can be attached and thus eliminate the vignetting issue with 3rd party filters.

But this product by Omnar looks great.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[blackdot]

Does anyone have the specifications or know of an off the shelf replacement for the little grub screws that hold the original front rim of the V2 in place? I did a steel rim adapter mod like is being discussed here, and cannot find my original screws to reverse it.