Anbaric Posted February 10, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 10, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) Over in the Bar, Stefan posted a thread about the 165 year archive of the Royal Photographic Society, now available online: https://archive.rps.org/archive I was curious about their first impression of the Leica, and here it is: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Is this perhaps the first time that the Leica was described as suitable for 'street' photography? Nearly a century later, of course, one of these might well 'reside in a glass case', though hopefully still finding some use as a 'singularly efficient, practical instrument' rather than a 'beautifully finished toy'! Interesting that we are once again, in the digital age, using the qualification 'film camera', though of course the distinction in 1926 would have been between film and plate. 12 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Is this perhaps the first time that the Leica was described as suitable for 'street' photography? Nearly a century later, of course, one of these might well 'reside in a glass case', though hopefully still finding some use as a 'singularly efficient, practical instrument' rather than a 'beautifully finished toy'! Interesting that we are once again, in the digital age, using the qualification 'film camera', though of course the distinction in 1926 would have been between film and plate. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4137771'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 10, 2021 Posted February 10, 2021 Hi Anbaric, Take a look here 'One of those superlative pieces of mechanism'. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
willeica Posted February 10, 2021 Share #2 Posted February 10, 2021 2 hours ago, Anbaric said: Over in the Bar, Stefan posted a thread about the 165 year archive of the Royal Photographic Society, now available online: https://archive.rps.org/archive I was curious about their first impression of the Leica, and here it is: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Is this perhaps the first time that the Leica was described as suitable for 'street' photography? Nearly a century later, of course, one of these might well 'reside in a glass case', though hopefully still finding some use as a 'singularly efficient, practical instrument' rather than a 'beautifully finished toy'! Interesting that we are once again, in the digital age, using the qualification 'film camera', though of course the distinction in 1926 would have been between film and plate. Thanks. I believe that Ogilvy later morphed into becoming Ernst Leitz (UK) at the 20 Mortimer Street address. One of the most interesting parts of this report is the reference to the use of 'kinematograph' film which was Barnack's original objective. It also explains the use of the, often discussed here, FILCA system as the film would have come in bulk tins and needed to be cutting into 64 inch lengths as the above piece indicates. The concept of the Leica as 'male jewellery' seems to have been there from the start. It is a taunt I have heard more than a few times in camera clubs! William 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted February 10, 2021 Share #3 Posted February 10, 2021 (edited) Fascinating article! Many interesting aspects mentioned which, of course, we now take for granted but must have been, for the times, unprecedented. Thanks for posting! Philip. PS ; Was Henri Cartier-Bresson going by the Anglicised version of his name ('Arry) when he wrote the review?... Edited February 10, 2021 by pippy 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted February 10, 2021 Share #4 Posted February 10, 2021 Really good piece of history ! Intriguing he pointed out that a good accessory rangefinder was very useful... and Leitz worked to have it built in and with that smart mechanism of coupling that was a masterpiece by itself. And ... fun that the author speaks of the capability of enlarging "up to 7 inch diameter"... with the film of those times, a 10x15 cm print of good quality was clearly considered a great achievement... 😃 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambro51 Posted February 10, 2021 Share #5 Posted February 10, 2021 The lens says Leitz Anastigmat. Interesting to see that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share #6 Posted February 10, 2021 Skipping forwards to the Leica II of 1932, the author is as impressed by the coupled rangefinder as you might expect. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4138168'>More sharing options...
willeica Posted February 10, 2021 Share #7 Posted February 10, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) 33 minutes ago, Anbaric said: Skipping forwards to the Leica II of 1932, the author is as impressed by the coupled rangefinder as you might expect. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! I have an advertisement from the British Journal in 1933 which was placed by Leitz of 20 Mortimer Street and refers to the 'Automatic Focusing' of the Leica II. Leitz UK had been distributing the II from around the time of this article, possibly even before this. I have a II which came through Mortimer Street in April 1932, but which is engraved with the name of a Dublin dealer. It was interesting to to see how the short-lived Agfa colour system was being touted as the future. The reference f1.9 must apply to the 7.3cm Hektor which had that maximum aperture. The collapsible Summar which appeared around that time or slightly later used f2.9 for the Agfa system. The built-in rangefinder in the II was a very significant development which has lasted until this day. William 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted February 11, 2021 25 minutes ago, willeica said: I have an advertisement from the British Journal in 1933 which was placed by Leitz of 20 Mortimer Street and refers to the 'Automatic Focusing' of the Leica II. Leitz UK had been distributing the II from around the time of this article, possibly even before this. I have a II which came through Mortimer Street in April 1932, but which is engraved with the name of a Dublin dealer. It was interesting to to see how the short-lived Agfa colour system was being touted as the future. The reference f1.9 must apply to the 7.3cm Hektor which had that maximum aperture. The collapsible Summar which appeared around that time or slightly later used f2.9 for the Agfa system. The built-in rangefinder in the II was a very significant development which has lasted until this day. William A couple of other things I came across when searching the archive that might interest you: By 1928, Ogilvy & Co and E Leitz were sharing 20 Mortimer St and placing adverts together: https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-68/731777-volume-68-page-222 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Also in 1928, a Mr Woodger from Ogilvy & Co demonstrated the Leica at an RPS meeting and, when a member noted his difficulty with loading the film cartridges, mentioned that 'daylight loading film' (the wrapped spools for the FILCA?) had become available: https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-68/731600 By 1932, you could buy self-contained Agfa cassettes with cardboard shells and velvet light traps ('simple enough for a youngster to manage'): https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-72/733214 (article continues on following page). As you suggest above, there must have been a period right at the beginning when the only option was darkroom loading of the FILCA with 'kinematograph film'. My guess would be that any early Leica photogaphers who did not want to bother with this stuff would have had an arrangement with a local dealer, who could have turned it into an opportunity for repeat business - bring in your exposed film for developing, and get the reloaded FILCA back with your snaps, perhaps? 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Also in 1928, a Mr Woodger from Ogilvy & Co demonstrated the Leica at an RPS meeting and, when a member noted his difficulty with loading the film cartridges, mentioned that 'daylight loading film' (the wrapped spools for the FILCA?) had become available: https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-68/731600 By 1932, you could buy self-contained Agfa cassettes with cardboard shells and velvet light traps ('simple enough for a youngster to manage'): https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-72/733214 (article continues on following page). As you suggest above, there must have been a period right at the beginning when the only option was darkroom loading of the FILCA with 'kinematograph film'. My guess would be that any early Leica photogaphers who did not want to bother with this stuff would have had an arrangement with a local dealer, who could have turned it into an opportunity for repeat business - bring in your exposed film for developing, and get the reloaded FILCA back with your snaps, perhaps? ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4138225'>More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted February 11, 2021 Share #9 Posted February 11, 2021 The last paragraph about Color is interesting because anticipates clearly the Hektor 7,3 cm f1,9 in non-rotating mount , the version for using the Agfacolor film and special filters... curios that they don't quote the lens in detail, with its focal and name : maybe wasn't yet officially introduced ? The article is March 1932 ... Hektor was already available, afaik.. but maybe only in the former rotating mount version... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted February 11, 2021 Share #10 Posted February 11, 2021 (edited) It is, in a way, comforting to see that the loading of FILCAs was considered to be quite a task, even by enthusiasts, and that this led to the quick introduction firstly of daylight loading spools and then of ready loaded spools. It makes one wonder why people were still using FILCAs as late as 1950 as in the case of my ‘Swiss Photos’ which were not processed for 70 years. I have often thought that a dealer might have loaded the film and that the photographer was unable to do anything with the FILCA and just rewound the roll when they were finished taking photos. Jim Lager says he had never known anyone to use FILCAs and he had worked behind a dealer’s counter for many years. There are people on this forum who use them today, however. The introduction of colour film is also interesting. It would seem that Kodacolor was available as a cine film and required an f1.9 lens. It seems that Leitz introduced an f1.9 Hektor cine lens for the use of Kodacolor film and then followed up with the better known f1.9 7.3cm Hektor for Agfa colour still film. The pace of development was extremely fast, but some of the developments were quasi experimental and did not take off. Kodachrome could be used with normal lenses without filters, but most normal amateurs did not use colour film until after WWII. Colour did not really start to take off until well into the 1950s. My father took some Kodachrome slides on his honeymoon in 1947, but most of our photos from the 1950s were still in black and white. William Edited February 11, 2021 by willeica 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrogallol Posted February 11, 2021 Share #11 Posted February 11, 2021 Using a factory loaded film cassette in a screw Leica seems like cheating, surely everyone uses a filca ? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted February 11, 2021 Share #12 Posted February 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Pyrogallol said: Using a factory loaded film cassette in a screw Leica seems like cheating, surely everyone uses a filca ? You're only showing off😀. This was always an issue going back to the beginning. While it might have cost Leica some sales initially, it did not stop the cameras becoming a commercial success. There are people on this forum who are sticking with digital because they don't want to go back to the trouble of having ready loaded film cassettes processed. One of the interesting things about the 1920s Ogilvy demonstration to photographers is that the 'why did't you, why don't you?' type of question that you see in the digital sections of this forum, also occurred back in the 1920s in respect of 'das kleine Photo-Wunder'. William Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted February 11, 2021 Author Share #13 Posted February 11, 2021 3 hours ago, luigi bertolotti said: The last paragraph about Color is interesting because anticipates clearly the Hektor 7,3 cm f1,9 in non-rotating mount , the version for using the Agfacolor film and special filters... curios that they don't quote the lens in detail, with its focal and name : maybe wasn't yet officially introduced ? The article is March 1932 ... Hektor was already available, afaik.. but maybe only in the former rotating mount version... I hadn't appreciated quite how peculiar those filters for the early 'lenticular' Agfacolor system were until I searched for them. I'm sure the Lomography guys could find a use for them! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! So I suppose you needed a non-rotating mount to maintain the orientation of the stripes, and the Hektor doubled as a projection lens using the other filter? Was a fast aperture required to limit depth of field so the stripes didn't become intrusive? 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! So I suppose you needed a non-rotating mount to maintain the orientation of the stripes, and the Hektor doubled as a projection lens using the other filter? Was a fast aperture required to limit depth of field so the stripes didn't become intrusive? ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4138433'>More sharing options...
willeica Posted February 11, 2021 Share #14 Posted February 11, 2021 1 hour ago, Anbaric said: I hadn't appreciated quite how peculiar those filters for the early 'lenticular' Agfacolor system were until I searched for them. I'm sure the Lomography guys could find a use for them! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! So I suppose you needed a non-rotating mount to maintain the orientation of the stripes, and the Hektor doubled as a projection lens using the other filter? Was a fast aperture required to limit depth of field so the stripes didn't become intrusive? When the HEKON became the HEGRA, the Hektor could be used for the Agfa system. Does anyone have actual examples of Agfa images taken with this lens or the Summar? William Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted February 11, 2021 Share #15 Posted February 11, 2021 8 hours ago, willeica said: When the HEKON became the HEGRA, the Hektor could be used for the Agfa system. Does anyone have actual examples of Agfa images taken with this lens or the Summar? William I have a vague resemblance that some were posted in the Forum... several years ago... here's one I found on the Net (lens not specified... I remember to have seen also the Zeiss Sonnar 85 f2 for Contax with the Agfa filter) Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4138866'>More sharing options...
Anbaric Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #16 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Another milestone for the 'inexhaustible Leica camera' covered by the Journal at the RPS exhibiition in 1933 - the new model III, chrome finishes, the Summar, Hektor 135, more on the Agfacolor process, and a report on using the Leica II on Everest 'at the highest altitude ever reached' ('The shutter never failed once'). They seem particularly impressed by the Summar ('the new super lens'): https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-73/733918 (continues on following page). Edited February 12, 2021 by Anbaric 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted February 13, 2021 Share #17 Posted February 13, 2021 11 hours ago, Anbaric said: Another milestone for the 'inexhaustible Leica camera' covered by the Journal at the RPS exhibiition in 1933 - the new model III, chrome finishes, the Summar, Hektor 135, more on the Agfacolor process, and a report on using the Leica II on Everest 'at the highest altitude ever reached' ('The shutter never failed once'). They seem particularly impressed by the Summar ('the new super lens'): https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-73/733918 (continues on following page). I hope that they had plenty of pre-loaded FILCAs. Photography and climbing at 28,000 feet was a fantastic achievement in 1933. Some 70 years earlier Samuel Bourne took this photo at 18,000 feet in the Himalayas on a 12x10 glass plate using a brass Grubb lens made in Dublin. The main progress from the 1860s to the 1930s related to the size of the cameras and convenience of use, apart from those damn FILCAs! Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! William 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! William ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4139583'>More sharing options...
zeitz Posted February 13, 2021 Share #18 Posted February 13, 2021 Since dry plates were invented in 1871, this must be taken with a wet plate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted February 13, 2021 Share #19 Posted February 13, 2021 8 hours ago, zeitz said: Since dry plates were invented in 1871, this must be taken with a wet plate. Indeed. For the full story see: http://www.pagodatreepress.com/bourne-photogra1.html. I have a copy. Its an interesting read. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecole Posted February 13, 2021 Share #20 Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) When I saw Anbaric's publication of the Ogilvy & Co ad, I searched in my collection's archives fot photographs comparable with the three illustrations. My leica I has not the Anastigmat - but Elmax lens, and the Heidoscope is clearly more "modern", although very similar. Just check : Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited February 13, 2021 by Pecole 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/317854-one-of-those-superlative-pieces-of-mechanism/?do=findComment&comment=4139780'>More sharing options...
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