In the pantheon of 35mm Leica cameras over the past century the Leica M3 of 1954 stands supreme. Only the prototype Ur Leica of 1914, the first production Leica (model A) of 1925, and the Leica II (model D) the first screw-mount Leica with built-in coupled...
They say Leica lost money on every one it made, so they just quit making it!Back in the late ‘90s Leica thought they had a brilliant idea, namely unveiling a short-range (2:1) moderately-wide-to-longish constant-f/2.8-aperture zoom lens for R-mount...
The original Leica I (model A) created a sensation the instant it was unveiled at the Leipzig Fair of 1925. Its phenomenal success was based on its ingenious and forward-looking design concept, superb mechanical and optical execution, amazing image...
When he found out that I was writing about Kurt Kühn and Photographia, our friend Lars Netopil from the German Leica Historica notified me that he had some related materials. What he has sent me included scanned images of several cameras and accessories...
Who was Snyder and what connection did he have to Leitz Wetzlar? Indiana native Paul Snyder served with the United States Army in the European Theatre (France from 1944). A few days after Wetzlar, Germany was liberated, Lt. Snyder was assigned to be the U.S....
The May-June 1937 publication Leica News & Technique from E. Leitz (London) illustrates a device labeled The Leitz Propaganda Projector.The article, reproduced here, details the applications for this unusual Leitz accessory.The Leica Dealers...
The 1980 PHSNE (Photographic Historical Society of New England) show in Boston featured a number of unusual items for the collector. I encountered a tiny Voigtländer folding camera equipped with a horizontally mounted range- finder. The rangefinder...
A short, pithy excerpt from an endless ongoing sagaLeicas always were, and still are, produced in much smaller quantities than, say, Canons and Nikons. That makes the number and percentage of renowned photographers who’ve shot with Leica cameras...
It may have been the greatest Super 8 camera of all time but did it have fatal flaws?The Leicina Special (Spezial auf Deutsch) of 1972-1977 wasn’t Leica’s first official venture into the wonderful world of cinema—it was preceded by the nicely...
Did you ever wonder how Eisenstaedt got that famous available light shot of the girl in the box at the La Scala Opera House with such a nice flat field when using his wide angle lens wide open? Or Stackpole's wide angle shot of the Mayor of Paoli reading...
