Infrared Photography with the Leica Monochrome Camera

Goats Peak Park (No. 387) Urth 720nm IR filter. 1/2-second exposure, 21mm Voigtlander lens. 

 

 

Lately I have been playing around with infrared filters on my Leica M246 Monochrom. I have tried out a few different filters on my Voigtländer lenses.  With all of these often very dark infrared filters, I had to use the electronic viewfinder for the M246. 

 

 • Flic Film IR Filter (720nm) : This was the least expensive of the ones tried, at $25 (CDN) for the 39mm filter size. It worked well, but I found it had longer exposure times compared to the others I tried. 

 

• Urth Plus + filter (720nm ): This filter was about $80 (CDN) for the 39mm size. My tests showed that it was a full stop faster than the Flic Film filter. This can be significant when exposures are 1 sec or more.   The difference comes down to the quality of the glass and the advanced chemical coatings used by each manufacturer. 

 

• B+W 092 IR (695nm) filter:  This filter was about $95(CDN) for the 39mm size. It was very close to the Urth filter, maybe a touch faster in speed and has a little less infrared effect. B+W call it a dark red filter. When looking through it, it’s very dark. The filter has a much nicer attachment ring made out of brass compared to the aluminum ones from Urth and Flic Film. Plus, my lens hood for my Voigtländer 35mm ƒ2 lens fits over this filter. With the other filters, when screwed onto the lens, the lens hood will not fit over the filter. I find it’s my most-used filter, top quality and produces a nice subtle IR effect. 

 

• B+W 093 IR (830nm) filter: This filter was about $170(CDN) for the 39mm size. It’s a true infrared filter. The exposures are very long, often in the 60-second range. Also, not all lenses work with this filter. Some of my newer Voigtländer lenses would not work all that well due to severe flaring from the internal lens elements on modern lenses. One of the best lenses that works well with this filter is a vintage 50mm Leica Elmar ƒ3.5 lens from about 1954, probably because it has no internal coatings. I found pretty good results from the Voigtländer  21mmColor-Skopar ƒ4 and the TT Artisan 28mmƒ5.6 lens. The Voigtländer lenses that didn’t work well were the 35mm Ultron ƒ2, 50mm Color-Skopar ƒ2.2 and the 90mm APO Skopar ƒ2.8. Even with the old 50mm Elmar and the B+W 093 filter, there were occasional flare issues. The B+W 093 IR (830nm) filter is the most difficult to use but also produces the most dramatic IR effect.

 

 • I prefer the B+W 092 IR (695nm) filter because the exposures are shorter. Also, with this filter, I could not use the electronic viewfinder (EVF) as the filter was so dark that I could barely see an image with the EVF. Through testing, I found that the focus shift was at the ƒ11 mark on the old 50mm Elmar lens. I used the frame lines in the optical viewfinder on the M246 to compose my picture on a tripod, of course. Then focused with the rangefinder focusing system. Then moved the focus over to the ƒ11 mark. I hit the right focus consistently. 

 

Comparison between the B+W 091 (695nm) filter (top) and the Urth 720nm IR filter (bottom). 

 

 

Powers Creek (No. 122) Flic Film 720nm IR filter. 60-second exposure, 50mm Voigtlander lens. 

 

 

Royal Roads Ponds (No. 232) Flic Film 720nm IR filter. 3/4-second exposure, 50mm Voigtlander lens. 

 

 

Tower Point (No. 262) Flic Film 720nm IR filter. 2-second exposure, 35mm Voigtlander lens. 

 

 

Witty’s Lagoon Park (No. 277) Urth 720nm IR filter. 17-second exposure, 50mm Voigtlander lens. 

 

 

Goats Peak Park (No. 394) B+W 830 IR filter. 60-second exposure, 50mm Elmar lens. 

 

 

Tower Point (No. 575) B+W 695nm IR filter. 6-second exposure, 21mm Voigtlander lens.