1949 Leitz Centenniel Book Part III
As part of LHSA’s 50th Anniversary Year, we are featuring a special translation of Erich Stenger’s history of the Leica Camera, originally published in 1949 in German for the E. Leitz Company’s 100th Anniversary. The translation was arranged for by Fred and Jo Mazzulla, and issued in a limited edition volume with side-by-side German and English language pages. The first two parts were printed in Viewfinders 50-2 and 50-3. Here is the third and final part. Illustrated are two sets of pages from Mazulla’s composite book: the Title Page, and page 57 which comprises only text. One can see the rather rough-and-ready appearance of the right-hand side of the typed (probably mimeographed) translation, contrasted to the rather elegant font of the published German edition. Scans courtesy of Doug Drumheller, from the LHSA archive.
A pioneer of the leica
As no one else, Dr. Paul Wolff, who hailed from Mulhouse in Alsace (born l887), worked for the recognition of the LEICA as a miniature, for its wide distribution, and for the proof of its usability in the various branches of photography. His enthusiasm for photography led him to the LEICA, for whose recognition he fought with words and pictures, in lectures in Germany and abroad, and with excellent publications. Through this miniature camera, which he handled masterfully, he gave a new meaning and showed new ways to photography, which had been in danger of stagnating. He showed that the small LEICA negative could do the same as and in many cases more than the large camera. It was also Dr. Wolff who opened up the field of color for the LEICA. His merits for the LEICA are so well-known that this short reference is sufficient here. Paul Wolff ‘s book “My Experiences with the LEICA” has appeared in several large editions, reaching a considerable number of readers in German. and foreign languages (English, French, Japanese). He was the scout and trail-blazer for the now comprehensive LEICA literature, which, concerning itself with the technical use of the LEICA or with its pictorial results, now extends to all civilized countries. Thus, also, LEICA periodicals, LEICA clubs, and LEICA study courses sprang up here and abroad.
What the leica has brought us
Almost shyly the LEICA entered life; the announcement of its arrival in the various photographic periodicals was unadorned and reserved, almost exaggerated in its bare objectivity. The oldest advertisement [Photo-Woche 15, 1925 S. 300] I found appeared in May 1925. In keeping with the universal enthusiastic acceptance, the LEICA could soon proclaim: “The LEICA means a revolution in photography”.
The following brief data may show that this statement was well justified.
In keeping with the precision-standards of microscope building of the firm of Leitz, the LEICA was built by experienced mechanics with a degree of precision hitherto unknown in any camera; the same also applies to its many accessories. Therein lies the assurance of the perfection of all its results, even under the most exacting requirements of scientific research.
The LEICA brought the coupling between shutter and film advance and between range finder and lens.
The LEICA brought a large number of interchangeable lenses which gave it a hitherto unknown versatility as far as focal length, picture angle and light-passing power were concerned.
The LEICA brought a rigid camera body, without which exact measurements are impossible.
The LEICA brought a large number of accessories making a universally usable camera out of it, and opened up new possibilities in the field of scientific and technical photography.
The LEICA brought an improvement of the negative film regarding fine grain and high sensitivity, an improvement benefiting the entire field of photography; and subsequently, intensifying processes which did not affect the fine grain. Here, also, a revolution took place.
The LEICA was trail-blazing to an extent that for a number of years even cameras with considerably larger negative formats have made use of its technical improvements.
Thus it could be stated in the introduction to a catalog of the firm of Leitz entitled “The LEICA in Science and Engineering, 1939: “No other camera in recent times has been so epoch-making in the field of photography and has broken with traditional practices to such an extent as the LEICA.”
And in a collective volume, “The LEICA in Industry and Science”, which was published in 1941 with the cooperation
of outstanding experts and gave a cross-section through the LEICA-capabilities, Heinrich Stöckler wrote in the introduction:
“We have witnessed a truly stormy development in the course of which this camera, which at first elicited so many indulgent smiles, was not content to be only a tool in the hands of amateurs but, systematically and irresistibly, managed to invade territories which were so far held to be the undisputed domain of the large cameras. After the conquest came the even more important problem of proving itself in the most critical work of photography, scientific research.
That the LEICA could not only successfully compete with other models here but even showed itself to be vastly superior to the traditional methods is perhaps the best proof that this is a mature construction, equal to the special requirements of the tines. Even so, the development is by no means finished.” Thus the LEICA Created a true photographic ‘revolution’; the LEICA process conquered all fields. If another proof were required we need only refer to the countless adherents of the Leica, its users on the one hand (production figures later) and its imitators, in regard of the format or the construction, on the other. Oskar Barnack wrote as early as 1931:
“The future of the miniature is shown by the new models of various construction which keep appearing on the photo market. I do not consider them as a competition for the LEICA; on the contrary, they are all serving the new cause: ‘Small Negative, Large Picture’. It is true, however, that anybody wishing to draw the final conclusion from years of experience with different types of cameras will probably stick with the LEICA!”
some leica statistics
The camera created by Barnack was the UR-LEICA, which to this day has been preserved in its external form for all subsequent LEIGA models; it was merely improved upon. Permit me to retell here what Oskar Barnack himself told me, namely that then, in 1924, production on the first line of LEICAS was started with six units and that soon afterward the venture was extended 500 cameras. The LEICA’s appearance at the 1925 Spring Fair in Leipzig marked the beginning of its unprecedented triumph. This victory cannot be represented more graphically than by plotting a curve of the annual production of LEICAs from 1925 to 1948. As I am writing this, LEICA No. 468138 is passing through my hands!
The second curve shows the share of the LEICA export in the total turnover of the firm of Ernst Leitz in the years 1925 to 1940. The third picture is a graphic representation of the increase of the number of workers and employees in the Leitz Works since 1925, that is, since LEICA production was started. The fourth picture draws a graphic comparison between the negative sizes which were, at various times, considered to be “miniature negatives”. We begin with the turn of the century, when the serious photographer only with reluctance accepted the 9 x 12 camera; we have to wait about 15 years until the negative size 4.5 x 6 cm. makes its entrance; it took another 10 years until the LEICA introduced the 24 x 36mm format. If the diminution of the negative size had continued at the pace shown by the curve, the format used by C. A. Steinheil as early as 1839 would not only have been reached by now, but would be generally accepted and even furtherreduced. In the following, table the diminishing negative areas are represented, assigning a proportional number to each, expressing the relation to the LEICA format which is given the number 1. The curve clearly shows that the course of the reduction of the negative size leaves little room for further diminution beyond that of the LEICA format.
Oskar Barnack had chosen the LEICA negative-size as being best suited on the basis of mathematical computations, as we learned earlier from the account of Professor Berek. ∙
The author Professor Dr. Erich Stenger born in Aschaffenburg on August 5, 1878, belonged to the Institute of Applied Photochemistry at the Technical University in Berlin-Charlottenburg since 1905 and until 1945 was owner of this institute and chair... His historical-photographic works and his writings on the history of photography are well-known. He had lived in Kreuzwertheim am Main since the end of the war. He died in 1957 – Editor