Ermanox with Ernostar from ‘Zeiss and Photography’ courtesy of author Larry Gubas
Toronto. Heinrich Ernemann began making cameras when it was founded in 1899 Dresden. In 1926 it was part of the amalgamation which was called Zeiss-Ikon. The Ermanox camera used a single glass plate and a focal plane shutter. The f/2 100mm Ernostar lens was designed by Ludwig Bertele. At the time, it was the fastest still photography lens ever made. For the first time candid shots could be taken indoors – if taken by an expert like Erich Salomon.
The designer moved to the Zeiss organization along with the lens design which served as a basis for the Zeiss Sonnar and Biotar lenses. The photo at left is from the very detailed history in the excellent book ‘Zeiss and Photography‘ by Larry Gubas (sadly long out of print – only 400 copies were ever made).
We have posted many notes about Ernemann and the Ernostar lens, such as our September 1, 2021 post titled, “cat’s eye” on an ad for the Ernostar. Type in the term “Ernemann” in the search bar of our site to see these and other Ernemann posts,
Note. The post title is a riff on the expression, “all hat and no cattle” which certainly doesn’t apply to this amazing little camera (c 1924).
