Trimming a 135 film for use in a Barnack Leica This is also an issue for the later III model and if you want to use an old Leica, look at this video from ‘Mr Leica’ for the correct trimming (with a scissor) and loading. A special film trimming template was useful to cut the first 10 cm of the film to fit and wind correctly in the body. In the thirties users could load the Leica with their own film, spooled up in a dark room or daylight loading spools, not the 135 film cartridges we know and were used later.
The universal rangefinder and the range of lenses for the Leica II Specs Leica II (model D), produced between 1932-1948 (40.000 made in black, 37.000 made in Chrome) What journey has the camera made and will it make, hopefully also long after me? Leica II, model D The only question that remains is who has already taken photos with this. Maybe they need to be lubricated after ninety years, maybe the rangefinder needs adjusting. But inside, the heart beats on.The indestructible shutter, entirely mechanical with miniscule parts of springs, screws, cog wheels. A lived-in look as it ages, discolored so that the brass shines through the black paint. The camera exudes an unprecedented purity. Leica II with all the characteristics of a Barnack, the catching shutter dial, the accessory mount for finders (later called flash shoe), the small rewind knb on the left and the big film winding knob with automated film counter.Ī Leica is a feeling (as we called it in our previous review of the Leica III).
E LEITZ WETZLAR FILM CAMERA SERIES
The Barnack Leica is and remains the most legendary camera and his successors continue to work in style with his basic idea on the later M series which is still popular today, albeit in digital form. His legacy however lives through history. The IIIa is the last model made before his death. In 1936 Barnack unfortunately died of pneumonia. The changes were so fast that the Leica numbers were accompanied by a sub number for noticeable innovations (e.g. Barnack’s enthusiasm is great, his creativity and inventiveness endless. First he created the Leica’s alphabetically, starting with the A with a fixed lens, till the first ‘standardized’ C model (Leica I) with interchangeable lenses and soon the Leica II (D-model) and III (F-model) quickly followed one another. Barnack is allowed to continue developing. Initially approached with disbelief, he manages step by step to convince Leitz of the potential of this miniature camera and after a successful visit of Leitz in New York where he used and showed the Leica the press responds enthusiastically to this little German toy. Oskar Barnack dreams of a ‘Lilliputter’ camera for the general public in Ernst Leitz’ microscope factory. The history of Leica reads like an exciting boys’ book.
Barnack dreamed of a compact camera that could use a film roll, that was portable. Also they could only use plates, each plate making only one picture. Barnack himself was a passionate travel photographer, but the cameras that existed were big and heavy and only used on tripods. It has all it takes to live and love photography.Īlready back in 1913 the UR-Leica was invented by Oskar Barnack, engineer at the Ernst Leitz Optische company. More of the same of something unique (again)? Leica II.
At least, it was in the opinion of Leitz and Barnack. It ends up in Granddads drawer and is finally passed on to a next generation. Your most precious moments caught with this small companion. In those days a camera deserved a second life, even after 20 years. All carried out by by Leica professionals. I look at my Leica IIIa, a beautiful 1934 chrome version, converted in 1954 to a leica IIIf, in an at that time very common process for hardware updates in cameras to modern, new technology, such as a faster shutter speed or a connection for flash. It would change the history of the Leitz company forever. Following the Leica I with a simple viewfinder, Oskar Barnack succeeded in integrating a rangefinder into his camera. In the central German town of Wetzlar, the first Leica IIs roll off the production line.