Leica UV lens Filter.

[Skyerocket]

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I have just bought into the SL system and have coupled my SL3 with the Leica 24 -90 Medium Zoom.  The zoom was purchased used from a reputable dealer and to protect it I have added a Kase Revolution filter which compliments my filter kit .

On occasion I have noticed that  some  images  have not always been sharp as expected. I have read on the web that only a Leica made filter should be used with Leica lenses. At £300 plus  for a Leica filter this is quite a huge pill to swallow. I mainly shoot with auto focus though can will  manual when necessary and I have noticed this lack of sharpness in both focussing modes. It is a rare occurrence and I wonder if any other members have any thoughts on this. I mainly shoot landscape so there is little movement to confuse the focus choice.

 

Edited Saturday at 11:18 AM by Skyerocket

[Chris W]

1 hour ago, Skyerocket said:

I have read on the web that only a Leica made filter should be used with Leica lenses. 

 

Who states such things? I have Leica filters, plus B&W and Heliopan. I can't see a difference in the final results. As long as the filter is professional quality.

Maybe shoot for a couple of weeks without a filter. A lot of people don't use lens protection at all. As long as you have a lens cap and don't abuse your kit you should be fine (for at least a couple of weeks). See if the soft focus is still happening.

 

Edited Saturday at 12:55 PM by Chris W

[Photoworks]

2 hours ago, Skyerocket said:

I have just bought into the SL system and have coupled my SL3 with the Leica 24 -90 Medium Zoom.  The zoom was purchased used from a reputable dealer and to protect it I have added a Kase Revolution filter which compliments my filter kit .

On occasion I have noticed that  some  images  have not always been sharp as expected. I have read on the web that only a Leica made filter should be used with Leica lenses. At £300 plus  for a Leica filter this is quite a huge pill to swallow. I mainly shoot with auto focus though can will  manual when necessary and I have noticed this lack of sharpness in both focussing modes. It is a rare occurrence and I wonder if any other members have any thoughts on this. I mainly shoot landscape so there is little movement to confuse the focus choice.

 

what you can expect from a filter is some protection, but you don't need a leica filter. In any case, they are not made by leica in japan. 

You can introduce reflection, softness, and color shifts with filters. But in most cases, they work well.

I use some of these filters https://breakthrough.photography/collections/all

, but in some situations I will remove them before I shoot, in the Studio over a white background, or when shooting into a light or sun to avoid double images.

The 24-90 is a lens that has hard front glass with Dura Coding for dust and water repellent.
In any case, I would check the technique of focusing; the 24-90 has a tendency to miss focus, and that happens in various situations. This can be your issue, too.

It is not a defective lens, I had a few of these lenses over the years.

[Stuart Richardson]

Unless your filter is visibly damaged or opaque, it is unlikely to produce any softness. It is not part of the optical system in that sense. I expect you are experiencing more like camera shake or shutter shock, rather than unsharpness from the filter. Or just the natural unsharpness of zooms, no matter how expensive. The 24-90 is very good, but it is not very good in the edges and corners wide open, for example. 
The combination of handheld images with stabilization and mechanical shutters at lower speeds can cause some strange unsharpness at times. Keep in mind that lots of things are moving: the camera body itself, the optical elements in the lens, and the sensor inside the body. They are all trying their best to cancel each other out, but it is not always perfect. Combine that with the vibration of the shutter itself and the movement of the focus mechanism and it is a small miracle it works as well as it does. 
The best way to get a sense of the real performance is to put the camera on a tripod, turn off stabilization, turn on the electric shutter only and set a self timer for 2 or 12s and see how it performs. Pretty sure you will see the filter has no effect unless it causes flare or ghosting with strong light sources. 

[Photoworks]

There are Lenses where a filter is not recommended.

The Noctilux 0.95 with a filter introduces drastic chromatic aberration wide open.

On the other hand, the older Vintage lenses had a softer front glass, and cleaning would mark the glass over time.

[LD_50]

Provide example photos with description of settings and technique. There’s exactly nothing here to suggest a filter is an issue. 

[Skyerocket]

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Okay thanks everybody I will take on board what has been said and review .

[jaapv]

6 hours ago, Skyerocket said:

I have read on the web that only a Leica made filter should be used with Leica lenses.

Complete bollocks. Leica does not make filters, simply sells  Leica branded filters by Schneider-Kreuznach and others -good quality admittedly, but nothing special.
UV filters are not optimal for protection as they are designed to umm... filter UV, which is not really needed in normal light on post-1950 lenses, but often used nevertheless.
Better are the dedicated protection filters like B+W 007 ( "pro" and Nano-coated). The glass is more thin but still stronger, leading to fewer aberrations, and the quality is from the top line. The same for Heliopan and others.

[PhotoCruiser]

I consider a UV Filter as obsolete on a digital camera and for protection there are better filters.
The only filter for protection i use on the Sigma 28mm 1.4 is the Sigma WR Ceramic Protection Filter
I usually don't use protection filters but when i photograph on a windy day on the shore wind may blow fine salt spray on the lens, and the filter is much easier and safe to clean than the lens itself.
Chris

[RBB]

The only filters I use are ND and polarizer, mostly from breakthrough (because of brass instead of aluminum, when it's cold you can hardly get aluminum off). UV for protection I don't use, keep the lens hood always on for protection.

[jdlaing]

Yes. You must use Leica branded filters on Leica brand lenses. Everything else would be……………………charlatan.

[jaapv]

I once broke a "for protection"UV filter on an APO-Telyt 280 4.0 R. The only damage was a deep scratch in the front element caused by a glass shard... from the filter.🥵. Pretty expensive, I can tell you. And then filter shattered on a piece of wood that would possibly  not have harmed the lens.

[Markey]

I have the habit of always using Leica UV filters on all my lenses.

[jaapv]

Great! Leica comes no.1 However, the difference in transmission between no.1 and no. 11 is 0,5 %. ( i.e. 99.5% to 99.7%). The price difference between Leica and other filters is more than 400%. (Leica 225 $, B+W 45.50 $ - for essentially the same quality filter) 
In addition,I am sure that these figures only represent tolerance between batches and measuring, as the glass comes from the same manufacturers. (for instance Schott, or Marumi (who provided the glass for Leica's UV/IR filters as Schott - supplier to Leica and B+W) was unable to. 

If you are going to use a protective filter (there is no need to use a UV light filter when you are below 3000 m or so of altitude) I would suggest to use a protective filter of any good brand - and make sure that it is nano-coated. At least it will stay clean. 

 

[Stuart Richardson]

As far as I recall, Leica’s lens coatings already cut out UV, so UV filters are basically about protection only. At least I remember a Leica rep saying that to me once. I could be misremembering. Personally I rarely use them. They are good for blowing sand or blowing sea spray, but otherwise I find they just tend to add flare and ghosting. 

[jaapv]

Most lenses since the Fifties use Absorban to glue lens elements together. This is UV opaque. Only a few lenses that consist of single elements only like the Elmarit 90 rely on coatings. The last lens to be suitable for UV photography was the Summarit 1.5/50. Sensors in general are UV sensitive.