edwardkaraa wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, the 7 o'clock position coincides with 1 o'clock position on the sensor plane. That would indicate a light leak from the VF, which is very common with Leica M bodies. Of course, the most probable reason of the leak is a screw position.
Btw, M bodies have never been a good option for long exposures. The VF light leaks have been well documented since the early M film bodies.
Thanks Edward. I was not aware that there were issues with light leaks through the VF on M's. I knew about this with DSLRs and I often covered up the VF during longer exposures. Will have to research this one further.... And yes, I realize that M's are not the best tool for longer exposures. However, whenever I hear such claims it makes me want to try it out for myself.
Following is the response from Zeiss-Germany in case anyone is interested.... Guess I will need to steal a scrunchie from my daughter.
This problem has two basic reasons which in addition lead to a massive light incidence/ fogging : We call it "Light Leakage"
1. The first is the Leica M- mount :
The M- mount has some weakness respect to light leakage , since in parts of the mount the light protection is just given by the bayonet flange. At these places the cylinder of the lens bayonet has no contact to the camera mount. Thus analogue LEICA bodies have a shielding mask. The top right hand corner is the weakest point due to the rangefinder coupling lever (which means the bottom right side of the image). Just look at a M9 body and you will recognize that the rangefinder coupling lever mechanism take the place for a effective light protection.
2. Screw positions of ZM lenses :
We`ve changed the screw position of our ZM lenses due to some demands of digital cameras ( coding). Now one screw position is directly at the weakest point of the camera bayonet flange. That is a possible entrance for light when doing some extreme applications like long exposure images at bright sunshine ( using ND filters). The light which surrounded the camera crawls through bearing area between camera flange and bayonet flange.
We can`t change the bayonet on a current ZM lens (with "new" screw position) because there is no place for further screw holes.
There are two ways to avoid this fogging :
Use a little piece of black velvet over the bayonet groove when taking such pictures.
Or some black sealing compound over the screw head which is face to face to the rangefinder coupling lever.
You see this application is very critical and not only a problem of our ZM lenses (Some Leica lenses show the same leakage).
But critical applications call for unusual solutions. And the two advices ( especially the first one) will avoid the fogging in the best way.
Great info there Gary, TY for sharing. Also love that last B&W with 35 cron. Would love to see some long exposure and maybe tell us if/what filters, etc.
@xenon gorgeous!!
@Lostinjapan, beautiful mood you make at the beach!
Last nite I rode my mtn bike to here and started walking around L1021125 by unoh7, zm18 @f/4 I'm not at infinity here, but focused on the sign.
L1021160 by unoh7, zm18 @f/11
The lens is incredibly strong at f/11.
Long time no see guys I'm about 500 pages behind in this thread but really awsome shots on the past few pages.
I have not been doing much photography lately, mostly because I've been too busy changing diapers - our son August was born end of July and my focus has been entirely on that.
Anyway, we took a road trip to Denmark a couple of weeks ago to show him to the family (my wife is Danish) and I brought along the M9 and actually took some photos.
In somewhat random order:
Bjertorp manor, north of Gothenburg where we spent a night on the way home, featuring August, 8 weeks old:
Two vehicles this road trip... :
To be honest, as a first time parent what shocked me the most was the absurd logistics when travelling with a baby. Our car is not exactly in the small department and yet we had problems with fitting all the stuff in. I'm hoping that things get a bit better when he gets older...
Anyway, Egeskov castle on Fyn in Denmark where we did the only touristing this trip:
A few pictures from my sister in law who lives in Jylland in a very traditional Danish farm house:
Finally two mandatory baby pictures, as that is what I'm doing mostly these days
It's not always easy being a baby ...
Anyway, I'm hoping to get more photo time in the future.. I'm thinking that stroller walks are ideal for bringing a camera along.
Congratulations denoir! I like to think of child accessories at an S curve... Lots of large items when they are teeny, then a nice respite when they are small boys, but then a huge upswing when they hit sports and extra friends. Fortunately with technology, you'll only ever really need an iPad to keep them entertained while traveling.
Edward, street dentist? Are they there everyday? Interesting.
Charlie, what's a Karaagon 35/2? Enjoying your Fall color sets, really nice.
Gary, those earlier ZM18 shots are fantastic, especially the one with the boats on the bottom right and the other on p.1044. How does this lens resolve compared to 21SEM? Are those graffiti pics from downtown Calgary?
Luka, congrats on your baby! Excellent pics and processing as always.
Michael, excellent set with 35CronV1. All really nice.
Even CharlesK has been missing lately?
Photokina, specifically Leica's recent announcement of new products could have perked my interest in photography slightly. M60 is a nice concept but I think I can live with switching off shot preview on M240 to save some $$?. X(Typ113) looks beautiful and tempting. Finally Zeiss releases ZM 35 1.4, maybe a ZM 50 1.4 next?
Hey Joe! The ZM18 is a great lens and is exceeding my expectations. It is super sharp, corner-to-corner from WO onwards. Still a bit of residual color cast in some situations but in most cases it is unnoticeable. I like my 21SEM just a little bit better but they are actually quite close in performance and also the level of contrast between the two. The grafitti shots are from a recent trip to Budapest and I'm sure most are starting to get a bit tired of them. We don't get much good grafitti here in Calgary so I really enjoyed it. I may as well break the news to you - Mr. Charles K sold both his M240 bodies. Don't take it too hard, I'm sure he will be back - just a matter of time.
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