Tag Archives: Leitz

amazing Oskar

Toronto. In a recent Digital Camera World article, it was announced that Leica Camera AG had its best  (in revenue) year ever – this on the 100th anniversary of the first sale of Leicas ever. Like many firms in Europe, … Continue reading

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remembering Walter …

Toronto. Continuing with the exchange member  ‘guest’ article to celebrate our 25th anniversary year [1999], editor Bob Lansdale chose this piece from the Leica Historical Society of America (LHSA) titled, “Long Live the Leica M! A tribute to Walter Kluck, … Continue reading

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PUTSing it to plastic …

Toronto. Early on photography became a main-stay of advertisements, brochures, and manuals.  As camera and image collecting interest grew, so did interest in photographic history, including that of camera manufacturers. Around the same time, the CD replaced the old vinyl … Continue reading

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suddenly, a shot rang out …

Toronto. In the pre-ww2 days of film, the media was relatively slow and lenses were of generally smaller aperture, especially as the focal length increased. The result was to make it difficult to keep longer focal length lenses steady for … Continue reading

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a better view

Toronto. In a recent post, I looked at the Visoflex  ‘chimney’ for the mirror box fitted between a Leica and its bellows. Even before the Visoflex series went to market, Leitz made mirror boxes like the PLOOT which came with … Continue reading

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not up in smoke

Toronto. Leitz came up with a mirror box housing that converted its famous Leica rangefinder to an SLR for close-ups and telephoto shots. The first version (Visoflex I) came with the 5x vertical magnifier (LVFOO). A 45 degree 4x magnifier … Continue reading

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one ringy dingy …

Toronto. Who can forget comedian Lily Tomlin and her hilarious send up of the telephone company? Leitz often separated the lens assembly from the focussing mount. To use the lens on the bellows, a ring would connect the lens (or … Continue reading

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saddle soars

Toronto. Leitz was on a roll with its accessory viewfinders complementing the squinty single focal length one built into the Leica. During WW2, cradle or saddle versions were released (1943). The version for the 9cm lens was called a SOOUT. … Continue reading

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come here, you little rascal …

Toronto.  … I pictured my mother saying as I ran out of the kitchen. When I was born, the movie short ‘Our Gang‘ or ‘the little Rascals’ was popular in movie houses. Leitz began marketing the Leica mid 1924. The … Continue reading

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what the heck?

Toronto. Around 1931, Leitz decided to make their tiny Leica an interchangeable lens camera and produced the first few new focal length lenses. Within a year, the Leica’s film to lens mount distance was standardized and thereafter any screw mount … Continue reading

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