Leitz negative punch c1932 missing its glass elements but with added opal glass
Toronto. … is another’s treasure. Around 1980, my friend Ron had picked up a bag of lens elements and offered me a glued pair for a magnifier. As I was leaving, he handed me a strange looking nickel plated square viewer engraved ‘E. LEITZ’ with the familiar condenser design. Ron collected Ernemann cameras like the huge studio camera he had, so this piece, with its missing bits was of no value to him.
In the days before small negative viewers became common, Leitz added some with 5x magnification to its repertoire for regular strips and 250 shot rolls of negatives. A punch was added so selected frames were easily identified.
The diameter of the viewer eye piece looked to be the same as that of a LOOCG which I happened to have (5x magnifier for a 1938 era focussing stage). Since I collected Leica gear at the time, I checked the ‘gift’ and it was a NATRA negative viewer/punch c1932 with the added opal glass (NAMAS) assembly behind the negative rails, but missing its glass elements in the eye piece. Sure enough, the 5x viewer for the LOOCG was an exact fit.
Had I not recognized what it was, the old Leitz accessory would have ended up in the local dump. So as they say, one’s junk is another’s treasure.
