Show us some Karbe Magic

[Cobram]

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@Al Brown What a beautiful photo. Eva in paradise? 🙂 Very sensual, erotic and natural. Congratulations!

@pippy very nice. Your photo is a proof  how suitable is Summarit 75 as a landscape tele lens... 

@Keith (M) Marvelous. The SEM photo so impressed me I just checked your Flickr account. Your B&W landscape work is impressive. Usually Leica BW photos shine and pop but your photos pop even more. Congratulations also on your post processing. 

[didier]

8 hours ago, Steven said:

Great thread. 

It's making me ask myself a question. Not wether I prefer Karbe or Mandler, I already know the answer to that. But wether I can love both, or have to pledge allegiance to one. 

I think you can love both.

evikne uses both lux 50s, Mandler and Karbe for very different drawings.

i like my ‘lux 75 for portraits even I seldom use it. I love it as much as my APO-50.

but for different things and styles

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[sebben]

7 hours ago, Kwesi said:

No one lets you drop focus where you want it like Peter Karbe.

In that sense his lenses are quite cinematic when you want them to be.

Summicron 28/2, v2 on the Monochrom Typ 246

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The thing with the 28mm summicron is that it is designed by Michael Heiden...

[me111]

It's too difficult to decide. Karbe's lenses are punchy and Wow. Mandler's lenses are gentle.

 

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Karbe's 50mm Summilux ASPH (cropped a little)

 

Mandler's 50mm Summilux E46

[didier]

On 1/24/2021 at 6:15 PM, Al Brown said:

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...

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Thanks for the great Picture, and for the so far absolutely captivating Thread 

 

[me111]

50 Summilux ASPH is my most go-to lens. It delivers so predictably every time.

 

50mm Summilux ASPH (cropped) w/ M typ240

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[evikne]

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My classic 35mm Summilux can be very sharp when stopped down, but Karbe's FLE will exhibit the same sharpness wide open.

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[Dennis]

2 hours ago, Cobram said:

I just checked your Flickr account. Your B&W landscape work is impressive. Usually Leica BW photos shine and pop but your photos pop even more. Congratulations also on your post processing. 

 

2 hours ago, Cobram said:

Keith, I just checked your Flickr account. Congratulations also on your post processing. 

+1 🙌

[Steven]

7 minutes ago, evikne said:

My classic 35mm Summilux can be very sharp when stopped down, but Karbe's FLE will exhibit the same sharpness wide open.

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Wow. 
is the Pre fle also a Karbe lens ? 

[evikne]

5 minutes ago, Steven said:

Wow. 
is the Pre fle also a Karbe lens ? 

According to the Leica Wiki the pre-FLE was designed by Walter Watz in 1993. But the sharpness is practically the same, except at shorter distances, where the FLE has an advantage.

[Stuart Richardson]

I love the 120mm 2.5 APO Macro Summarit S. It is one of those lenses that is essentially beyond criticism. It is tack sharp from corner to corner from wide open until diffraction becomes an issue, the bokeh is smooth and lovely and natural, there are no visible aberrations, no visible distortions, it is great from infinity to 1 to 2. I think the only reason it is not talked about all the time is that there are so few S system users.

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[Steven]

Is this ciné line Mandler, karbe or non ? 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1456020-REG/leica_11_433_35mm_m0_8_f_1_4_lens.html/overview

[evikne]

37 minutes ago, Steven said:

Is this ciné line Mandler, karbe or non ? 
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1456020-REG/leica_11_433_35mm_m0_8_f_1_4_lens.html/overview

I think these are all originally Karbe lenses, but adapted for moving-picture by CW Sonderoptic.

Edited January 25, 2021 by evikne

[Steven]

11 minutes ago, evikne said:

I think these are all originally Karbe lenses, but adapted for moving-picture by CW Sonderoptic.

Thanks, makes sense. Definitely more of a Karbe kind of guy then. 

[Steven]

Q2 is designed by Karbe too ? Cause to me it’s one of the most unique rendering in a lens. Very particular, but incredibly impressive. 

[pippy]

2 hours ago, sebben said:

The thing with the 28mm summicron is that it is designed by Michael Heiden...

To paraphrase some film or other; "We're Going to need a New Thread..."...

It's interesting because, having looked through the list of Mandler lenses and checked Herr Karbe's timeframe, the majority of my Leitz lenses were designed by neither of those gentlemen.....

Food for thought.

Philip.

Edited January 25, 2021 by pippy

[Herr Barnack]

I like what the Karbe lenses do when paired with a digital M camera.  I also like what the f/1.0 (Mandler) Noctilux does, whether on a film or digital M body.   I feel no need to "commit" to either the Karbe or Mandler ethos.  Each has its place at the table and each can be used effectively for specific subject matter or subjects.

For a given body of work, it seems a good idea to use one specific lens in order to produce a cohesive rendering. 

That's not to say that using a Karbe lens for project "A" and a Mandler lens for project "B" is sacrilege.  Choose your lens wisely with the desired result in mind. 

JMHO...

[Kwesi]

4 hours ago, sebben said:

The thing with the 28mm summicron is that it is designed by Michael Heiden...

That is correct, regarding the 28/2 v1 (11604) Michael Heiden is no slouch and has quite a few patents under his belt to prove it.

My comment was in reference to the v2 (11672). Optimized by or under the supervision of Peter Karbe.

 

[Kwesi]

Apo Summicron M 75/2,  Monochrom Typ 246

 

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[AZach]

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M240, APO-Summicron-M 75