Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/07

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Subject: [Leica] A tripod, an M8, and two candles
From: rsphotoimages at comcast.net (Bob Shaw)
Date: Sun Jan 7 13:52:27 2007
References: <022e01c73278$97cf2d70$6401a8c0@FrankDell2>

Frank:

I see lens flare.  And of course it's in the same spectrum as the other 
IR artifacts.  The flare is no surprise with the Noct at that angle of 
approach.

And yes, the Leica M8 has a problem with IR.  I think we've all seen an 
abundance of evidence on this since December.

I suppose owners could make lemon out of lemonade and come up with some 
interesting images that take advantage of IR sensitivity.

Not an owner, but I still think it's a lovely machine.  Just wish 
they'd vetted the IR thing before launching production.  I wonder if 
someone in Product Management or Engineering raised a red flag and was 
overruled in favor of getting them on the street for Christmas.  We've 
all seen this before with a wide range of products.

I gotta believe they're losing sleep in Solms over this one, and that, 
even with "seasonal adjustment", M8 sales have probably leveled off as 
many would-be buyers wait to see what the long-term fix will be.

Right now - assuming I had the cash - I'd be wanting to buy one big 
time but I'd wait.  A lens-mounted external IR Filter is too much of a 
band-aid solution for an institution such as Leica.

Meanwhile, it's a dynamite outdoor camera.  One of the best.


Bob in Seattle.



On Jan 7, 2007, at 8:26, Frank Filippone wrote:

I notice the magenta glow in the candle wax... but I also notice the 
color of the wall behind as being different.....   Is this also
a white balance issue we are seeing?

Anyone have a MacBeth Color chart to use to separate out the WB?

The candle flame is different than we have seen before.  It does look a 
bit off sharp focus, seemingly in back of the flame as the
picture frame looks sharper,; it does have a wonderful pen-umbra ( or 
whatever you call the stuff around a point light source that
gives it a halo like effect); and it does not show off color.  It is 
definitely not a technical shot of the flame in clear sharp
focus.  The bottom of the flame shows blue, as you would expect and the 
flame itself is clean in color.  Personally, I do not see a
color shift in the flame at all, nor a roundish ball of light , as 
Tina's first pictures indicated.  I do see a flame that is
dreamy... which I like, but I think is the purpose of the exercise.... 
is it IR/sensor related or something else....

I think that focus is till not counted out.  Brian, can the results be 
repeated with the flame NOT in focus at all and then again in
really tight focus?  Make the focal plane behind the flame by a few 
feet ( as in Tina's picture).  Then again with the focus getting
progressively closer to the flame.

Second... do you have a 486 filter ( no not the uP, the glass type...)?
Third... was the WB held constant?
#4.. what about flare?  Is this also a component?  ( I got to thinking 
about he pen-umbra....)  Different lens same FL, different
results?

Frank Filippone
red735i@earthlink.net



> Don't you think it has to be the IR sensitivity? It seems reasonable
> to me that this effect represents an IR halo around a candle, rendered
> as purple by the M8.

I do, but someone has been suggesting that these halos were primarily 
just focus problems, and I wanted to find out whether that is
true. I don't think it is true.




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In reply to: Message from red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] A tripod, an M8, and two candles)