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Fisherman's Cove, Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia.
Leica M8, ISO 320, 28 mm f/2.8 Elmarit ASPH at f/4.8 and 1/90 sec.
A visually opaque Leitz Infa-Red filter was used.
Shortly after the Leica M8 was introduced, it was realized that the camera had "excess infra-red sensitivity". The symptom usually cited was that some dark fabrics photograph as brown or purple. Some - including Leica - tried to minimize the effect, suggesting that the problem would be encountered rarely, and could be removed in post-processing. Soon, however, Leica realized they had a "problem" and offered every owner of an M8 two infra-red blocking filters. I my own view, the problem was far from "minimal"; it seemed that everyone I photographed was wearing purple! But there is a silver lining: the Leica M8 can be used quite successfully as an infra-red (IR) camera. I don't believe I ever read this or saw this cited, but in my experience, the camera even meters properly with a visually opaque IR filter over the lens! An...

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Harold Merklinger
Harold Merklinger
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Harold Merklinger is a retired scientist living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. As a teenager he considered photography as a career, but after talking to a few professional photographers, he decided that there were probably other careers that would afford a better chance to appreciate photography as a hobby. His interests tend to be somewhat technical. In 1990 he wrote a book on photographic depth of field and followed that with a second one in 1993 on view camera focus and depth of field. Both books are currently available for download from his web site:http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/download.html
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