Leica cameras

Summary
Description A Leica IIIf with a 50mm f/1.5 lens on it, and the external viewfinder





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 × 36 mm. Barnack believed the 2:3 aspect ratio to be the best choice, leaving room for a 36-exposure film length (originally 40 exposures, but some films were found to be thicker).

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 30. The camera was an immediate success when introduced at the 1925 Leipzig, Germany Spring Fair as the Leica I (for Leitz Camera). The compactness of the camera, and its reliability and excellent lens, made it a success. The lens was the 4-element Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 objective designed by Dr. Max Berek at Leitz, influenced by the Zeiss Tessar. The focal plane shutter had a range from 1/20 to 1/500 second and Time (marked Z for Zeit).

In 1930 the Leica I Schraubgewinde with an exchangeable objective system based on a 39 mm thread was produced, with a 50 mm normal lens, a 35 mm wide-angle lens and a 135 mm telephoto lens 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 a double image which was properly focused when it became one image). The Leica III added slow shutter speeds down to 1 second, and increased rangefinder magnification to 1.5× for more accurate focusing. The model IIIa, introduced in 1935, 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 framelines, similar to the M3 finder, but still with the separate viewfinder 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. All remain perfectly usable today if serviced properly.


In 1954 Leitz unveiled the Leica 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 (with time automatic) and MP (fully mechanical), both of which have viewfinder 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. In 2006, Leica Camera released the M8, a digital successor to the M3–M7. The M8 requires the use of an infrared filter when shooting scenes containing certain materials, most notably synthetic black fabrics, due to its high sensitivity to infrared light.

Leica also produced a series of SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras beginning with the Leicaflex in 1964, followed by the Leicaflex SL and the Leicaflex SL2. Each of the Leicaflex models featured a mechanical shutter and electronic lightmeter, initially with non-TTL ("through-the-lens") light-metering, but with TTL metering from the SL onwards. The Leicaflexes were followed by the Leica R series, starting with the R3, which were initially made in collaboration with the Minolta Corporation. All R-series SLRs have an electronic shutter, except for the all-mechanical R6, whose only electronic part is the lightmeter. The R8 was re-designed and manufactured by Leica, with a larger body and a new, distinctive look. The R9, first manufactured in 2002 and current as of January 2008, has an optional Digital Module back. The Leica SLRs were well-received, but less successful than the company's rangefinder models. The optics were excellent, but more limited in variety than those offered by Leica's Japanese competitors in the SLR marketplace. Leica's SLRs also lacked the newer features of many Japanese cameras; models with through-the-lens metering and auto-exposure arrived later than their competitors, and Leica never made an auto-focusing camera. These issues and the extremely high price of Leica SLR cameras and lenses made them unattractive to working photographers.

Leitz was the first company to use aspheric, multicoated, and rare earth lenses, and many other important innovations. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Leica competed with the German Contax camera to be the best camera on the market. Leica lenses developed a mythology—it was said that photographs taken with them were distinguishable from photographs taken with other lenses. There has been much controversy about this.

Leica optics are well-known for superior performance at large apertures, making them well-suited for available-light photography. In particular, the high speed Noctilux 50 mm f/1.0 lens is famous in this regard. It was introduced in 1976 and is still being made. The Canon 50 mm f/1.0L USM for the EOS system has been discontinued; the Canon 50 mm f/0.95 is marginally faster but notoriously less sharp. See the article on lens speed for further information.

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 screwmount 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 groundglass 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; the mirror reflex box permitted the use of much longer 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 it places Leica among the 35 mm SLR pioneers. Until the 1964 introduction of the Leicaflex, the PLOOT and Visoflex were Leica's only offerings using SLR viewing. 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 screwmount 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, providing additional focal lengths at the cost of some loss of image quality. 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 (screwmount) 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 Screwmount 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 airforce carry very high premiums. As a consequence there are many fake Leica cameras, usually based on Soviet cameras, with the Leica name engraved on the top-plate. Sought-after models include the IIId (the first Leica with integrated self-timer, made in very small numbers), the IIIc with unusual red shutter material and the last of the line, the IIIg with parallax-adjusting viewfinder brightlines for 50 mm and 90 mm lenses.

Leica cameras, lenses, accessories and 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[1] 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 Camera AG became an independent company in the Leica Group and 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 remaining Leica Group split into 2 independent units: Leica Microsystems and Leica Geosystems.

The Leica Camera 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, professional digital cameras, digital compact cameras (in association with Panasonic) such as the Leica Digilux 2 / Panasonic DMC-LC1, the newer Leica Digilux 3, binoculars, and spotting scopes.