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We already have a very extensive 'Mandler Magic' topic, but as much I am keen on Mandler's signature look and his contribution to the "Leica glow", there is another very distinguished gentleman in the 'House of Leica' that as a leader of Leica's optical design team since 2002 gave us a bunch of new high performance M-Lenses and pushed the terms FLE, ASPH and APO towards modern Leica perfection. He was the guy that had the balls to say Dr. Mandler's 75mm Summilux 1.4 was his *least* favorite design and went on to "Make Summilux great again" - all the way down to 21mm. Show us some of the "clinical look" of the Peter Karbe magic and do tell what lens he designed is your favorite...

About 100 yers ago, Leitz company issued a set of theatre binoculars in gold (BINAR and BITUR, according to Laney). It was a thing of class and the luxury edition adorned their catalogue until the WWII. The logical choice was to try and implement the gold mystique to the Leitz cameras as well - and thus in 1929 the "Luxus" Leica (LELUX, LESSALUX) was born. Although never a huge commercial success, the cameras (less than 100 made according to Rogliatti et al.) remains a collector favorite. Fast forward to the M era. There were several attempts to revive the glitter with custom golden M3's, but the biggest golden boom was created after the M "revival" with the special edition M4-2 in 1979, commemorating the 100 years anniversary of Oskar Barnack (1879-1979). There were 500+500 cameras made in 1979 and 1980 in Canada for the occasion (1527201-1527700 and 1528151-1528650 respectively) with 24-karat gold plating. After that, there were several more editions in gold - for the Sultan of Brunei (I know of two variants, first was the 25th Anniversary of accession to the throne of Sultan of Brunei on 1st October 1992), for the commemoration of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the access to the throne of HM The King Bhumiphol Adulyadej of Thailand (1996) and the Leica MP Gold "60 years PRC" (2009). Several very nice golden M2, M3 and M4s surface on eBay now and then, but they are all custom repaints. No golden M was made in digital era, only brass - M10P for Thailand S.C. ASSET comes to mind. Please feel free to add any additional information! And do write how you feel about golden Leicas. You know what they say - anything useful to you is pure gold, regardless of the material used... (Pictured here: my personal M4-2 with Leica catalogue production number 10420 from 1980 with the Summilux dating from 1977.)

I happened to discover this online essay today - the author offers some interesting insights into the M246 Monochrom and why it is still a viable choice: Why I bought a Leica M246 Monochrom https://mwwphotography.co.uk/blog/leicam246monochrom

Brauchbare Videos mit der Leica M 240 durch Videostabilisierung? Vor einem Jahr habe ich mir eine Leica M, Typ 240 zugelegt. Es sollte genau diese (!) Kamera sein: Sie hat einen Vollformatsensor, war mittlerweile erschwinglich, hat eine legendäre Akkulaufzeit und last but not least - sie hat einem Video-Modus! Da im Vergleich zu den neueren Kameras, auch zu den M-Modellen, die Sensorempfindlichkeit nicht mehr zeitgemäß sei, war die 240 unter Nerds allerdings umstritten. Da ich bei einer meiner Lieblingskameras, einer Olympus E-M1.1, einer 16 mPixel-Kamera als maximalen ISO-Wert 3200 ISO eingestellt habe und damit recht gut zurecht komme, traute ich der Leica M, deren Sensor mit einer Auflösung von 24 mPixel daher kam, durchaus auch zu, meinen Ansprüchen zu genügen. Ich habe Zeiten aktiv erlebt, als man ohne Scheu Filme mit maximal 400 ISO eingesetzt hat. Die wurden bei Selbstentwicklung um 2 bis 3 Blenden gepuscht - und gut war‘s! Was das anbelangt, habe ich heute mit der Leica M wenig Probleme: Eine von der zahlreichen Aufnahmen, die ich ungeniert mit der Leica M mit ISO 6400 aufgenommen habe: . . .

Did Leica do à la carte programme for lenses as well? I have seen several M10 cameras with matchy matchy lenses (lettering color etc.), I guess Wetzlar did many things if persuaded (although they do not want to sell me silver parts from Safari for my black parts Reporter)...

So back in 2010 Cameraquest published this comprehensive compilation of Leica M analog special editions and some ratings on how well they would do as an investment. https://www.cameraquest.com/minvest.htm While I do agree with some ratings, I on the other hand completely disagree with others. How well in your opinion did this list age?

Hello! We are offering a free 1 hour tutorial session on the Leica M-Monochrom (typ 246), here at our store in Bristol, on Baldwin Street. The session will be a great opportunity to get to know the Monochrom if you haven't had a chance to use it yet, and as long as the weather permits us, give you some time to use it around the harbour side with our resident Leica expert Tom Greetham. Those who attend our free tutorial session will get the chance to partake in some exclusive Leica offers as well! We are pretty flexible regarding dates and times for this session, so please let us know if you're interested and we can try to find a time that suits you. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! If you wish to book a place on the course, please email bristol@lcegroup.co.uk or call 0117 9291935. We look forward to seeing you there. Lucan

I really love taking random street photography like this. Camera: Leica M-P (typ 240) Lens: Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 ASPH. Location: Dubai - Jumeirah Beach Residence Welcome 2016

Hello all A few months back I finally fulfilled my dream and got myself the M 240. The digital Leica M body I always have wanted. So far it's been stunning experience and I love shooting with it. M 240 and SEM 21 are particularly a special combo together. What the M has brought me for the first time I truly enjoy shooting street photography. However, I have always enjoyed landscape shooting the most. I was aware of the drawbacks of M 240 when I purchased it. If you don't know what I am talking about I mean the following problems: - One minute maximum exposure = It's a disgrace to even call it bulb mode - No way to turn off LENR (Long exposure noise reduction) = practical disadvantage: try shooting fireworks when the guy next to you is going to get twice as many shots as you are - Long exposure with high ISO is even more limited = astrophotography is impossible - Inability to move the focus point on live view when zoomed in I am aware there are plenty of discussion about the aforementioned issues on these forums. As we all know anyone who is serious about landscape shooting these issues render the M almost useless. Which is in so many ways so sad. We are talking about a 6000 € camera, we have the best ultra wide lens ever (SEM 21) - and yet it can't be used to it's full potential because of these limitations. This makes me just sad. For me this is frustrating beyond all ways to describe it. To have the digital M body you always wanted, yet you are limited by such limitations. Right now I have three options: 1) Pray and hope Leica would release a firmware update to fix the issues (or perhaps a firmware hack could enable this? 2) Forget all kind of long exposure shooting with the M. 3) Get a second body for landscape shooting. Right now for me the only option would be the Sony A7r. Which I already owned once. Sad news at the time the performance with certain M wides was not acceptable. The good news now is by modifying the camera it appears we can get good performance even with SEM 21 (source: Diglloyd.com). Now I most certainly would not want to choose option number 2). So what I want to know is there a way we can reach Leica directly and get answers about these issues? Has Leica ever explained the reasoning to disable long exposures on the CMOSIS sensor? I simply can't believe an overheating would be a problem. If yes, how come no other camera manufacturer doesn't have the same problem? My guess is they want landscape shooters to invest into S-system. Or perhaps Leica's vision is perfection: hot pixels are not tolared. I say this because even the Leica T has the same technical limitation. And we all know the T has a Sony sensor which is perfectly capable for long exposures without any issues, yes again Leica has not allowed it. What ever the real reason for this is I find it ridiculous. Every DSLR I ever had (since Canon EOS 300D) has had a bulb mode. Hot pixels have never been a problem. And if they are turning LENR on removes the problem. I realize the game is probably lost by now for the M 240 and Leica is already probably working on the next generation M body. But I just want Leica to be at least aware of these drawbacks. And that the next generation Leica M body would not have such disadvantages for those who enjoy landscaping with Leica glass the most. M9 is not an option for me, because I think live view is a mandatory property for a landscape shooter. And I don't think I would be satisfied even with the 240 seconds. Any comments? Thank you for reading this... P.S. I am aware some folks seem to be bit over defensive when it comes to criticizing Leica M bodies here, but I truly believe these issues are serious drawbacks for each and everyone of us. And only together we have a chance to get answers from Leica. I certainly am hoping that a future firmware update is possible to fix some of these issues.

Ladies and Gents, This is my first post as a newly-minted owner of the Leica T. I'm hoping you can help me sort out a future lens purchase. I picked up the T, along with the 23mm F2.0 Summicron and the M adapter, mostly for travel. I also own a Ricoh GR with the 21mm adapter. With the GR and the T my wide-angle (35mm, 28mm, and 21mm) shooting needs are covered for now, but I'm planning to take a close look at the Leica 11-23mm F3.5-4.5 once released. I also have a Leica M3 with the 50 F2.0 Jahre Anniversary Summicron. I'm shooting less film nowadays - roughly 80/20% digital to film - so the 50mm is used primarily on the T with the adapter, which makes it a perfect portrait lens with an effective focal length of 75mm. This travel set-up gives me everything I need except for a long, fast telephoto (something around the 200mm mark). So I'm looking at two lenses: 1) the Leica 135 F3.4 APO Telyt and 2) the Zeiss 135mm F2 APO Sonnar (ZF.2) with a Novaflex adapter. I like that the Telyt is reasonably fast, can be easily affixed via the M adapter, and would make for a relatively compact package. I don't like that the Telyt costs nearly $4000K. I like that the Sonnar is very fast, has a unique signature, and costs less than $2500K with the adapter. I don't like having to stack adapters and the size/weight is a real concern, not having held this lens in person. I'd very much appreciate any and all feedback. Does anyone have experience with either of these lenses on the T or another mirrorless camera to share? Any general thoughts on the two options? Any other recommendations? Regards, Vintage Digital

Liebe Community, ich bin Jugendbuchautorin und sitze gerade an meinem dritten Buch. Eine der Figuren trägt eine Leica M4 mit sich herum, die sie im Keller gefunden hat und für ein Erinnerungsstück an ihren Vater hält. Nun habe ich, um die Fakten richtig zu kriegen, einige Fragen. Diese betreffen - das Einlegen des Films - das Geräusch, das beim Drücken des Auslösers zu hören ist - den weiteren Transport des Films - sowie das Zurückspulen Falls hier ein Leica-Profi Lust darauf hat, sich meinen Fragen zu stellen und mir weiterzuhelfen, würde ich mich sehr über eine Nachricht freuen. Beste Grüße Lena

Hallo zusammen, um mal eben schnell Fotos vorzeigen zu können, habe mir gedacht den Selphy 900 zu kaufen und hätte da die ein oder andere Frage: - Kann der Drucker die großen JPEGs der M lesen (ich mache immer DNG + JPG) und verarbeiten? - oder sogar die DNGs, ich würd' die Kompression dann abschalten. - ich würd gern ohne PC die Karten direkt lesen lassen. Kann der Drucker SDHC-Karten lesen? - hab ich noch was übersehen? Vielen Dankl Th

In Peking wurde meine Leica M240 black 10770 Fabrik Nummer 04701707 mit Summilux M 1:1,4 35mm ASPH black 11663 Fabrik Nummer 4163652 gestohlen. Falls diese Seriennummern bei einem Verkauf auftauchen sollten, lassen Sie es mich bitte wissen! Vielen Dank! My Leica M240 black factory number 10770 was 04,701,707 with M 1:1.4 35mm Summilux ASPH black 11663 serial number 4163652 was stolen in Beijing. If these serial numbers should appear in a sale, please let me know Thank you very much!

My 75mm Color Heliar Review So I finally got this review up. I have been spending a lot of time with this lens since the fall. I have completed a huge project with this lens exclusively. An ebook of the work is coming too. I have completely fallen for this lens in a major way! For me personally, I would choose this lens over the new Heliar every time. The rendering on the Color Heliar is so unique! I would love to spend time with a 75mm summicron and see how it really compares in the long run. Any opinions on this lens versus the Summicron 75? http://gallery.ancientcityphoto.com/photos/i-CFFNLsK/0/L/i-CFFNLsK-L.jpg

Hallo an alle Leica Fans, wahrscheindlich tue ich gerade was unueberlegtes und verruecktes aber wieso auch nicht?! Ich verkaufe mom. bei Ebay mein ganzes Canon DSLR Equipment, welches ich ueber die letzten 2 Jahre("hart" = BWL Student) angesammelt habe. \ Der Motivator war der Wunsch in eine hoehere Klasse aufzusteigen. Am Anfang meines Fotografielebens habe ich 2 Jahre lang ausschliesslich nur analog fotografiert, dann 3 Jahre Digital... Es fing mit einer Yashica FX-D Quarz an und ging durch Yashica Mat 124G bis zu einer Russischen FED Spionkamera:rolleyes:Im digitalen Hype hatte ich Canon 50D mit diversen Objektiven, Blitzen und co. Egal! jetzt ist es weg! Ich habe mir immer eine Leica M gewuenscht, denn eine Leica gilt fuer mich als die Fotografie pur(analog) Ich habe praktisch alles ueber Leicas und andere Messsucherkameras gelesen und war begeistert! Nun weiss ich nicht ob ich diesen Schritt wagen soll und koplett in den "Wahn" der Leicas eintauchen soll, denn ich koennte mir von dem Geld eine M6 im A- Zustand leisten... Haette aber dann nicht das Geld fuer eine auch gewuenschte DSLR( Canon EOS 7D)... Hattet ihr schon mal aehnliche Erfahrungen gemacht? Wenn "Ja" bereut ihr das? (.....NIACHT:p)? Mann ist das alles verrueckt hier !!! Danke!

Some other black and white photos are at BigBigLens.com - Cincinnati...

Hi, I'm trying to import Leica M240 video files (MOV) into Apple Aperture (v 3.5.1) without success. Does anyone have any kind of relevant information that might help me with this? It's as if Aperture does not recognize the files as video. Thanks a lot. Martin.

Checking out the used Leica lens selection at my local dealer - Service Photo in Baltimore - and one of the staff mentioned that they have a new Silver M body (M240) in stock, with no one officially waiting for it. I guess that it will be a Leica Christmas for someone - but probably not me.

Here are some of the reviews I have wrote for Leica M lenses, including some exotic and unique ones such as the Zeiss 15mm ZM, Leica 75mm F1.4 Summilux, MS-Optical 50mm F1.1(Stay tuned for this one): Photography Reviews — JERRY BEI GALLERY

Leica M 240 and 35 f/2 Summicron High Res: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/13300580983_6507e9de8e_o.jpg Nice Sunset on Maui high Res: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/13236334744_50b4ca8cbe_o.jpg Whale Watching High Res: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/13258043975_33cc8af35b_o.jpg High Res: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/13257973745_a7231ced52_o.jpg

So a couple months ago I got my first ever Leica! Its an M6 classic, 1992 build, in nearly mint condition, and I got it for a good price I've now gone through about 6 or 7 rolls in it, and its been a whole lot of fun for me. Completely different from what I'm used to, which sort of brings me to my question, sort of. I've been shooting with a Canon EOS 50D for a few years and prior to that a Nikon consumer-level DSLR. I'm young, and really got seriously into photography as a hobby long after film had been replaced as the norm. I feel like spending time with film has begun to and will teach me a lot which can better me as a photographer. For example developing your eye so that you are really looking for what is important, learning more about the process for how photographs actually happen, etc. These sort of existential qualities that you get through using and developing film. My enormous Canon and I have been through a lot together, and I've done some pretty good things with it. The extreme "practical" aspects of using a digital SLR camera make it hard for me to take my M6 seriously as a professional tool. Before you gasp and stop reading hear me out here. My Canon is not all that valuable, and certainly not uncommon. To most people it looks like any old "nice camera" and I've never felt like it would be cause for someone to come up behind me at night with a knife. I don't have to load it, it doesn't "fog" at airport security, and when I get home, my pictures are ready for sorting and processing as soon as I am. These are all matters of convenience and as a camera I don't like it as much. It is big, clunky, heavy, loud, intrusive, laggy, etc. I once said I felt like I was walking around with a brick strapped to my neck and a mask over my face whilst clapping. Manual focusing it is difficult and inaccurate. I tend to spend lots of time "chimping", and I'm always frustrated by the sheer volume of "trash" photos I come back with at the end of a trip. I guess the point I'm trying to make is this. Later in the summer I'm planning a trip, maybe to Germany, but I'm not sure yet, my friend and I haven't fully decided yet. I'm trying to convince myself to leave the Canon, lenses, CF cards, etc. at home and take the Leica and some rolls of film. Sounds great, except I can't seem to shake this voice inside my head that says: "you're not actually going to take that as your only camera are you?" "you know its just going to get stolen." "your film is not going to stand up to 2014, USA-bound airport security and even if it does you're just going to screw it up in the darkroom when you get back." "something is going to go wrong and you'll be sorry." etc. I can't tell if these are stupid concerns or not. So what better place to ask for opinions than from a bunch of people who own exactly the same/similar camera right? Do you ever have these thoughts? What is your point of view/justification? discuss

Sometimes a photo gets a wrong capture time has anyone noticed this before? I have seen this 3 times already but cannot detect a pattern, the capture time is just a few hours wrong. (I have the latest firmware installed). Any help would be appreciated. If more people notice this we might get Leica's attention to fix this.

to whom it may concern: Novoflex-Makrosets für Leica M und S | photoscala das ganze ist auch für die S erhältlich

Hallo liebe Mitforenten, bei dem herrlichen Wetter heute, wollte ich einige Langzeitbelichtungen aufnehmen. Gesagt, getan... und so war ich einige Stunden draußen, um mit meiner Leica M240, einem Summicron 35mm ASPH und zwei ND Filter Langzeitbelichtungen zu erstellen. Dabei stieß ich auch ein komisches Phänomen. Um die vollen 60 Sekunden der M240 bei ISO 200 ausreizen zu können, nutzte ich zwei ND Filter. Einen B+W 10x und einen Hoya 3x. Insgesamt konnte ich so also 13 Blendenwerte verlängern. Meine Belichtungszeiten waren damit zwischen 30 und 60 Sekunden bei Blende 5.6, bzw. 8. Nun aber zum eigentlichen Phänomen. Die M240 scheint einen 'digitalen' Schwarzschild Effekt zu besitzen, den ich so bei noch keiner anderen digitalen Kamera gesehen habe. Foto Nummer 1 zeigt mein Motiv ohne Graufilter. Die Belichtungszeit betrug bei ISO 200 1/125 Sekunde bei Blende 5.6 Foto Nummer 2 ist das selbe Motiv nur mit den zwei ND Filtern (13 Stops). Die Belichtungszeit betrug 60 Sekunden bei Blende 5.6 oder 8. Auffällig ist hier, dass es Bereiche im Foto gibt, die absolut schwarz sind. In Lightroom ist selbst im RAW der Fotos nichts mehr zu retten. Der Screenshot aus Lightroom (Anhang 3) verdeutlicht das ganz gut. Die dunklen Bereiche sind tatsächlich absolutes 'Nichts'. Das Foto Nummer 4 ist schließlich ein anderes Motiv (DHL Tower in Bonn), welches auch mit den selben ND Filtern aufgenommen wurde. Einen 'abgesoffenen' Bereich gibt es hier nicht. (Und sagt mir jetzt bitte nicht, dass die Filter bei dem letzten Motiv sinnfrei sind. Mir fiel erst nach dem Foto auf, dass sich die Wolken in nichts aufgeflöst haben. ) Das Phänomen trat so (zum Glück) auch nur bei einem Foto auf. Dennoch, oder gerade deswegen, meine Frage in die Runde: Hattet ihr schonmal ähnliche Erfahrungen? Gibt es sowas wie einen digitalen Schwarzschild-Effekt?