Leica- "The Grandfather of 35mm Photography"
The Leica was the first practical 35 mm camera. The first prototypes were built by Oskar Barnack at E. Leitz Optische Werke, Wetzlar, in 1913. Barnack used standard cinema 35 mm film, but extended the image size to 24 x 36 mm. Barnack believed the 2:3 aspect ratio to be the ultimate choice, leaving room for a 36-exposure film length.
Barnack's words, "Small negatives -- large images", would soon change the world of photography.
The concept was developed further, and in 1923 Barnack convinced his boss, Ernst Leitz II, to make a prototype series of 31. The camera was an immediate success when introduced at the 1925 Leipzig, Germany Spring Fair as the Leica I (for Leitz Camera). The Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 objective (a 4-elements design influenced by the Zeiss Tessar) was designed by Dr. Max Berek at Leitz, and was one of the reasons behind the success of the camera, the others being its compact size and reliability. The focal plane shutter had a range from 1/20 to 1/500 second, in addition to a Z for Zeit (time) position.
In 1930 came the Leica I Schraubgewinde with an exchangeable objective system based on a 39mm thread. In addition to the 50 normal lens, a 35 wide angle and a 135 mm telephoto objective were initially available.
The Leica II came in 1932, with a built in rangefinder coupled to the lens focusing mechanism. This model had a separate viewfinder (showing a reduced image) and rangefinder (showing an enlarged double image which was properly focused when it became one image). The Leica III added slow shutter speeds down to 1 second, and the model IIIa added the 1/1000 second shutter speed. Also significant about the IIIa is that it is the last model made before Barnack's death, and therefore the last model he was wholly responsible for. Leitz continued to refine the original design through to 1957. The final version, the IIIg, included a large viewfinder with frame lines, similar to the M3 finder, but still with the separate view- and rangefinder. These models all had a functional combination of circular dials and square windows that was quite esthetically pleasing, although somewhat busy in appearance.
In 1954 Leitz unveiled the M3, a bayonet lens model, considered by many to be a design miracle for its combination of simple appearance with functional flexibility. It combined the rangefinder and viewfinder into one large, bright viewfinder with a brighter double image in the center, and introduced a system of parallax compensation. In addition, it had a new rubberized focal-plane shutter, which is known for reliability and is probably the quietest focal-plane shutter ever made. This model has continued to be refined (the latest versions being the M7 and MP, both of which have frames for 28, 35, 50, 75, 90, and 135 mm lenses which show automatically upon mounting the different lenses); but the basic quality and simplicity of design has not changed.
Leica also produced a series of SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras beginning with the Leicaflex, followed by the SL, the SL2, and then the R series from R3 to R7, which were made in collaboration with the Minolta Corporation. The R8 was designed and manufactured by Leica. The current model is the R9, which now has an optional Digital Module back. The Leica SLRs were well-received. The optics were excellent, but Leica was slow to produce an auto-exposure model, and never made a version that supported auto-focusing. This and the high price of the optics made them less attractive to working photographers.
Leitz was also responsible for numerous optical innovations (first use of aspherical production lenses, first use of multicoated lenses, first use of rare earth lenses, to name a few). From the 30s to the 50s, the Leica competed with the German Contax camera to be most sophisticated and best built camera on market. Leica lenses developed a mythology -- that photographs taken with them were recognizable from photographs taken with other lenses. There has been much controversy about this.
Leica optics are particularly well-known for superior performance at maximum aperture, making them well-suited for natural-light photography. Leica has in its stable a particularly remarkable lens, the Noctilux 50 mm f1.0. Introduced in 1976, this ultra-high speed lens is still being made today. No other lens has matched the Noctilux in its combination of speed, quality and longevity.
A number of camera companies built models based on the Leica rangefinder design. These include the Leotax, Nicca and early Canon models in Japan, the Kardon in USA, the Reid in England and the Fed and Zorki in the USSR.
Conceptually bridging the Rangefinder Leicas and the SLR Leicas was the Leica Visoflex System, a mirror reflex box which attached to the lens mount of Leica rangefinders (separate versions were made for the screw mount and M series bodies) and accepted lenses made especially for the Visoflex System. Rather than using the camera's rangefinder, focusing was accomplished via a ground glass screen. A coupling released both mirror and shutter to make the exposure. Camera rangefinders are inherently limited in their ability to accurately focus long focal-length lenses and the mirror reflex box permitted much longer length lenses.
The earliest Leica reflex housing was the PLOOT, announced in 1935, along with the 200 mm f/4.5 Telyt Lens. This date is significant because that it places Leica among the 35 mm SLR pioneers. Moreover, until the 1964 introduction of the Leicaflex, the PLOOT and Visoflex were Leica's only SLR offerings. A redesigned PLOOT was introduced by Leica in 1951 as the Visoflex I. This was followed by a much more compact Visoflex II in 1960 (which was the only Visoflex version available in both LTM (screw mount) and M-bayonet) and the Visoflex III with instant-return mirror in 1964. Leica lenses for the Visoflex system included focal lengths of 65, 180 (rare), 200, 280, 400, 560, and 800 mm. In addition, the optical groups of many rangefinder lenses could be removed, and attached to the Visoflex via a system of adapters. The Visoflex system was discontinued in 1984.
Leica's sometimes arcane catalogue of accessories belies a comprehensive if sometimes haphazard systems approach to photography. As an example, LTM (screw mount) lenses were easily usable on M cameras via an adapter. Similarly Visoflex lenses could be used on the Leicaflex and R cameras with an adapter. Furthermore, certain LTM and M rangefinder lenses featured removable optical groups which could be mounted via adapters on the Visoflex system, thus making them usable as rangefinder or SLR lenses for Visoflex-equipped Screw mount and M rangefinder cameras, as well as being usable on Leicaflex and R cameras. Leica also carried in their catalogues focusing systems such as the Focorapid and Televit which could replace certain lenses' helicoid mounts for sports and natural-life telephotography.
Very early examples of Leica cameras and rare accessories are highly sought after by camera collectors and can fetch extremely high prices. Cameras carrying markings that show they were issued to the German Army or Air Force carry very high premiums. There exist many fake Leica cameras, usually based on Soviet cameras, with the Leica name engraved on the top-plate.
Leica cameras, lenses, accessories even sales literature are almost fanatically collected by enthusiasts. There are dozens of Leica books and collector's guides, perhaps the best known is the massive 3-volume Leica an Illustrated History by James L. Lager, a former Leica employee. The Leica Historical Society of America is the largest Leica collector and user group, boasting 2,000 members.
In 1986, the Leitz company changed its name to Leica (LEItz CAmera), due to the strength of the Leica brand. At this time, Leica moved its factory from Wetzlar to the nearby town of Solms. In 1996 Leica Camera separated from the Leica Group and became a publicly held company. In 1998 the Leica group split into 2 independent units: Leica Microsystems [1] and Leica Geosystems.
The Leica company still produces a range of expensive, very high quality optical products, including compact cameras, M-System rangefinder cameras (direct descendants of the first Leica), R-system single-lens reflex cameras, digital cameras (in association with Panasonic) such as the Leica Digilux 2 / Panasonic DMC-LC1, binoculars, and spotting scopes.