Barnack constructed three Ur-Leicas between 1913 and 1914 (Pic: Leitz AG)
In 1913, Oskar Barnack, an inventor and visionary who labored within the microscope division at Ernst Leitz, captured the primary {photograph} with the Ur-Leica, the primary 35mm nonetheless digicam that will go on to outline the Leica model.
Stephen Dowling, founding father of KosmoFoto, has written up an article detailing the historical past behind the primary picture captured on a Leica digicam. In it, he particulars how Barnack, ‘an enthusiastic beginner photographer who usually took cameras with him on his travels, ’took inspiration from his work on Leitz’s first cinema digicam to develop a compact stills digicam that will, after a decade of tinkering, go on to turn into the primary Leica digicam.
Oskar Barnack
‘Barnack realized that by doubling the scale of [cinema] movie – 36mm as a substitute of 18mm – he might construct a digicam that was way more ergonomic and pleasing to make use of,’ says Dowling. ‘As an alternative of the movie being transported vertically, because it was in a cinema digicam, Barnack’s prototype digicam transported the movie horizontally. The perforated cine movie was a lot simpler to advance utilizing toothed rollers than the mechanisms in bigger cameras. The little negatives could be simple to make prints from in an enlarger.’
First picture taken from the Ur-Leica by Oskar Barnack 1913, Eisenmarkt, Wetzlar, Germany
The primary picture captured with that digicam, pictured above, was achieved so within the historic Eisenmarkt in Wetzlar, Germany. The {photograph} depicts ‘a crowd of customers in entrance of the Binding am Eisenmarkt’ and the situation of its seize is now marked with a commemorate plaque that showcases a top level view of the Ur-Leica and the phrases ‘First Leica image was taken right here 1913 by the inventor and visionary Oskar Barnack.’
A commemorative plaque marks the place the place Oskar Barnack first examined his Ur-Leica in Wetzlar.
To learn the complete story and study extra about Barnack and his Leica legacy, head on over to KosmoFoto:
The primary image taken on a Leica
About Movie Fridays: We have launched an analog discussion board and in a seamless effort to advertise the enjoyable of the medium, we’ll be sharing film-related content material on Fridays, together with articles from our pals at 35mmc and KosmoFoto.