[LRflex] ...M8 Photos & Infra-Red (for Ted)

Ted (who has trouble counting, early in the morning, asked:


>David I have to ask one question about this IR stuff?
>
>Where does one find this happening and under what light conditions?. Sorry 2
>questions
>
>ted

Good Mornin' Ted!

The problem is that Leica, for whatever reason, neglected to put a 
sufficiently strong IR filter in front of the M8's sensor.  (The M8 
does have an IR cutoff filter coated onto the senor's protective 
plate. The problem is that it is not strong enough, and still passes 
significant amounts of IR.)  This means that when you photograph 
black objects (black absorbs and radiates heat faster than other 
colours) which are substantially warmer that their surrounding 
objects (Black pants or T-shirts on a warm day might be a good 
example), show up as a blue-black or even deep purple.

This happens because the IR radiation is picked up, along with the 
visible light. The IR (which is invisible to the naked eye) makes the 
image slightly 'overexposed' in those spots, thus lightening the 
image.  Because of the nature of the Bayer filter, the result is not 
just a wee bit lighter, but a small colour shift.

As for the severity of the problem... I took hundreds of shots with 
the two M8's I've tried (one of which I believe you also had a chance 
to use), and not found the problem.  Others, like Tina Manley, do not 
seem to have any problems with it, either; while others, on various 
lists, are reporting automated corrections are possible in C1, the 
software which shipped with the camera.   Still, some feel that this 
is a monumental problem.

Certainly, it is a problem which never should have occurred, for ALL 
sensors are IR sensitive, and the wavelength response of each one is 
well known to all camera makers - including Leica.

There has been a ton of discussion on this, primarily on the LUG, as 
there are more rangefinder users there.  There have also been sample 
photos posted there, but a quick scan of the LUG archives yielded 
nothing after October...and the discussions have all been this 
month.  You're on your own, there!

An extreme example of the problem can be seen on the web page of that 
paragon of accurate info, Pop Photo:

http://www.popphoto.com/popularphotographyfeatures/3403/marooned-leica-lovers.html

A better description of the problem (though with what are, I think, 
somewhat misleading photos), can be found at:

http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/free/Infrared/InfraredContamination/InfraredContamination.html

There are, undoubtedly, better examples of the problem out there, but 
these are the ones I could quickly find.  A few minutes with Google 
might do you well.

The unofficial (and I stress - unofficial) response from Leica was 
reported this morning, by Bill Abbott, and is, essentially, as follows:

>1. The "Banding" and "Mirror/Ghost" effects have been thoroughly 
>investigated and the root cause has been identified and eliminated. 
>The remedy will enable every M8 to meet and exceed Leica performance 
>standards. All customers that have purchased and taken delivery of 
>an M8 will be entitled to an upgrade performed in Solms, free of 
>charge. Specific measures will be taken to enhance customer loyalty 
>that will be outlined in detail in the memo's issued Monday. In 
>summary, every one of these customers will be entitled to purchase a 
>new M lens at a 30% discount directly from the factory in Solms.
>
>2. The above average sensitivity for infrared light can be 
>compensated by using an IR filter. Leica will make available two 
>free IR filters of any size (there are 7 filter sizes for the 
>current M lenses) for M8 purchasers. Delivery of these free of 
>charge IR filters is to commence in February, 2007.

So, the good news is that everyone will get two free filters... which 
"should" handle the majority of any one users's lenses.  These will 
undoubtedly be combination UV/IR  low pass filters.  The bad news, is 
that you'll need one for every lens you own, if you don't want to 
have to bother swapping filters around!  That, and your camera will 
need a quick trip to Solms (or, possibly, New Jersey)!

Apparently, shipments of the M8 will resume sometime next week.

Whether these measures will be accepted by the Leica community or, 
for that matter, buyers now coming to Leica gear for the first time, 
will remain to be seen.

Personally, I think that Leica should be exchanging the sensors when 
they recall the cameras to Solms to fix the banding problem.  This 
would be a more expensive solution, but one which will do a lot more 
to solve Leica's image problem.

In my crystal ball, I see am M8.2, with a "real" IR filter installed, 
in Leica's future!

Cheers!


---

David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA

Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt




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