Tag Archives: Leitz

the long and the short of it

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Those photographers wishing to get closer to their subject than their camera allowed had two choices: an auxiliary lens could be added to the front of the normal lens, or if the lens was interchangeable, the lens could be … Continue reading →

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making it big – making it better

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. We often hear that Leitz turned photography on its head with its revolutionary 35mm camera, the Leica. But then what? How could you make such tiny negatives into larger prints? Fortunately enlargers were around before the little marvel and … Continue reading →

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the good, the bad, and the ugly

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. When it comes to accessories for the Leica, the ZOOXY and its brethren are right up there as candidates for the ugly prize. The massive weighty thing is a focusing mount and extension tube that connects to an OOZAB … Continue reading →

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come a little bit closer…

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. …cried the Mexican girl in the ballad of the same name sung by Marty Robins back in the 1960s. The standard set by Leitz in its Leica lenses was a close-up distance of 1m or 39 inches. Spider legs … Continue reading →

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even educated fleas do it

Posted on July 13, 2019 by Robert

Toronto.   The title of this post is a line from a 1928 Cole Porter song (Let’s Do It). I first heard it in the 1950s on a Columbia LP of Noel Coward at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. … Continue reading →

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New York in 1914 with the prototype Leica camera

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. On the eve of the Great War, the son and namesake of Ernst Leitz, Ernst Leitz II, arrived  in the Big Apple with the novel tiny ur-Leica created by Oskar Barnack. Leitz took a number of street scenes with … Continue reading →

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phoenix rising

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Just over two weeks after touting its IIIf model, in the May 31, 1954 LIFE (p60). Leitz announced its most radical and eventually best selling Leica M3. The camera design began before the war and the prototype was field tested … Continue reading →

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the power of persuasion

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In its May 17, 1954 LIFE (p64) ad, Leica rested on its laurels as the driving force in kick starting the  minicam era.  The ad featured its newest camera, the IIIf with the f/2 collapsible Summitar lens that replaced the … Continue reading →

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metal spiders and close-up photography

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. I bought Herbie over a half century ago in this fair city. Herbie is a lucky Danish spider and once had a thread from its tummy for hanging it vertically. Spider legs (and filaments) were also used in photography. … Continue reading →

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easy as I, II, III

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Did you ever wonder why the original Leica I with a “hockey stick” infinity lock and a non-interchangeable 5cm lens (or any I or II for that matter) is so darn hard to find? The answer lies with the … Continue reading →

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