pippy Posted October 2, 2021 Share #1 Posted October 2, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) Simple question, really, but I can't find an answer through searching the www and I'm curious. Hopefully one of you very-well-informed fellows will know the answer! Why was Leitz Kamera shortened to 'Leica' and not 'Leika'?............ Thanks in advance! Philip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 2, 2021 Posted October 2, 2021 Hi pippy, Take a look here Why is Leica spelled thus?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
M9reno Posted October 2, 2021 Share #2 Posted October 2, 2021 “Camera” is a loan-word in German (from the Latin for chamber), so keeping the “c” is standard usage. See here, halfway down the page, under the section “Foreign words”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_orthography An interesting and related question is the dual spelling of Barnack’s first name: usually “Oscar”, but “Oskar” on his grave in Wetzlar. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted October 2, 2021 Share #3 Posted October 2, 2021 The latin word camera had not yet become adapted to the German spelling. At that time Germans were acutely aware of foreign words in their texts. In printed matter where they used the German typeface (Fraktur), they used latin types for latin words or even for abbreviations, such as Dr. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted October 2, 2021 Share #4 Posted October 2, 2021 😄not to follow KODAK ❓ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted October 2, 2021 Share #5 Posted October 2, 2021 They knew that Laika was a dog's name in the Sovjet Union😉 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted October 2, 2021 Share #6 Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) Marketing strategy and attention to brands, probably to be credited to Ernst Leitz himself : he was well aware that his company had already a well established name in many important foreign markets, and a completely new product (a small camera) had to be announced as a "worldwide" product : the name LEITZ ought not to be ignored... it was reknown and respected as a maker of precision optomechanical devices (as a consequence, the first ideas, and even documents, on the name "Barnack" were soon abandoned) ; but World War I was a recent painful remembrance... any term related to "Germany" was still not appealing for many potential users (the Versailles treaty - 1919 - officially recognized that Germany was guilty of causing the war) , so it was better to use a more international/neutral term like "Camera"... "Leca" (printed materials with this name also exist) was excluded apparently for assonance with a French camera Eka ("l'Eka") ... and the rest is History... 😎 Btw... the collateral effect of not using the "K" of Kodak i think could be taken in account too... Kodak, iirc did make 35mm film from the '10s... even if not for photo, of course... maybe they thought that some ad in American style like "LeiKa is so better with KodaK !" wouldn't had been nice to see... 😆 Edited October 2, 2021 by luigi bertolotti 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted October 2, 2021 Share #7 Posted October 2, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes, Luigi is right: marketing definitely plays a big role. “Camera” is an international word, with only minor variations abroad (e.g “camara” in Spanish), and thus useful in marketing. For the home market in Germany, however, the word “Leica” and “Kamera” were juxtaposed from the start. 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! 3 1 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/325021-why-is-leica-spelled-thus/?do=findComment&comment=4285342'>More sharing options...
derleicaman Posted October 2, 2021 Share #8 Posted October 2, 2021 Here is some food for thought for you all. One of the very early advertisements for the Leica. Kleinfilm-Kamera LECA! Later versions of this ad changed to spelling to LEICA. 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! 5 1 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/325021-why-is-leica-spelled-thus/?do=findComment&comment=4285359'>More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted October 2, 2021 Thank you very much, everyone, for your swift - and interesting - replies. I suspected it might be for quite straightforward reasons but there were a few surprising aspects new to me which have been raised in your posts and for detailing and explaining those I thank you all once more. Every Day is a School-Day! Philip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted October 2, 2021 1 hour ago, nitroplait said: They knew that Laika was a dog's name in the Sovjet Union😉 And the name given to one particularly famous dog at that! Philip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
derleicaman Posted October 2, 2021 Share #11 Posted October 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, pippy said: And the name given to one particularly famous dog at that! Philip. Except that the flight with the dog came 32 years later than the original Leica name. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted October 2, 2021 Share #12 Posted October 2, 2021 46 minutes ago, derleicaman said: Except that the flight with the dog came 32 years later than the original Leica name. We all know that Ernst Leitz were ahead of their time. 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share #13 Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) 56 minutes ago, derleicaman said: Except that the flight with the dog came 32 years later than the original Leica name. Just think of the possibilities for Product Placement in the next 007 Yuri Gagarin blockbuster!...although realistically to carry the 'Leica' branding it would probably have to be one of those FED-1 to LUXUS replicas to retain any serious chance of plausibility... Off-topic for a mo'; as a kid growing up in the mid-late '60s I was interested in the US / USSR space programs and knew a bit about 'Laika' from having read various books on the subject matter at the time but, many years later, was very saddened to discover that there was never any plan put in place whatsoever to bring her back alive. Don't know why I was so naiive nor why I had not thought it through a bit more once I was old enough to reason it out for myself. Sad in its own small way nonetheless. What Price Fame? Philip. Edited October 2, 2021 by pippy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 2, 2021 Share #14 Posted October 2, 2021 Well at least Belka and Strelka came back. You can see them in the fab space museum in Moscow - the astounding building itself being an almost comedically Heroic monument to Soviet space exploration. We had a brilliant time there a couple of years ago and still chuckle that the Apollo lunar program suit given to the museum by NASA is rather hidden away in a corner presumably so as to not distract from the glories of comrade Gagarin’s triumph... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share #15 Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, NigelG said: Well at least Belka and Strelka came back... Resulting, eventually, in the 'Pupniks'! Great story in itself... Delighted to read that you had such an enjoyable time, Nigel! Part of the reason that, as a youngster, I thought that Laika had made it back to Earth was that I had a copy of this very book (link below) which I must have read for the first time before I was 7 years old. Just looking at that wonderful cover illustration once more brings back SO many memories. I wish I still had it! Bearing in mind that when I last read this tale it would have been some time in the very late-1960's (or possibly just after the '69 landing) yet I still remember the title by heart it HAD to be intrinsically memorable. It's a really lovely story with some truly delightful illustrations. There's not a lot about it on the www but this will suffice; https://mirtitles.org/2018/05/07/rags-borya-and-the-rocket-baranova-and-veltistov/ Philip. EDIT : Clearly 'Rags' is a substitute for 'Laika' in the story.......which sort-of brings me back on-topic. Edited October 2, 2021 by pippy Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 2, 2021 Share #16 Posted October 2, 2021 My only regret is that everyone warned me not to carry a bagful of Leicas around Moscow so I took a pair of Fuji X-Pro 2s instead and can't post the photos. The city was a delight. We thought the reputation of the city once we were there had perhaps been a bit overplayed - but we had a guide and a car and driver (who might well have been armed!) and to enter our hotel next to bridge to the Kremlin/Red Square you had to go through a metal detector. Noticeably the drivers and security for the hotel guests tended to come in a separate side entrance.... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted October 3, 2021 Share #17 Posted October 3, 2021 Oskar's own 0 Series No 105, which I saw a couple of times during the past week, is engraved 'Oscar Barnack'. 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 1 1 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/325021-why-is-leica-spelled-thus/?do=findComment&comment=4285916'>More sharing options...
zeitz Posted October 3, 2021 Share #18 Posted October 3, 2021 45 minutes ago, willeica said: Oskar's own 0 Series Will, is the chain of ownership of this camera, from Oscar to the present owner, known? To be honest the quality of the engraving is terrible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
willeica Posted October 3, 2021 Share #19 Posted October 3, 2021 30 minutes ago, zeitz said: Will, is the chain of ownership of this camera, from Oscar to the present owner, known? To be honest the quality of the engraving is terrible. It is. It went from Conrad Barnack, Oskar's son, to Jim Forsyth and then on to Frank Christian who had it serviced at Leitz Rockleigh, USA in the early 1970s. No parts were replaced in that process. Jim Lager has photographed the camera and he mentioned two subsequent owners in the chain to me. As I don't think that those names are in the public domain, I won't mention them here. I have been discussing the camera with Jim in the past few days and he has made no comment about the engraving which was on it before 1993 when Jim's Leica Camera book appeared. The camera is being handled by Leitz Auction and will return to its owner after next January. There is a splendid little book about the camera, available in both English and German. I was given a present of the English version. William 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M9reno Posted October 3, 2021 Share #20 Posted October 3, 2021 2 hours ago, willeica said: It is. It went from Conrad Barnack, Oskar's son, to Jim Forsyth and then on to Frank Christian who had it serviced at Leitz Rockleigh, USA in the early 1970s. No parts were replaced in that process. Jim Lager has photographed the camera and he mentioned two subsequent owners in the chain to me. As I don't think that those names are in the public domain, I won't mention them here. I have been discussing the camera with Jim in the past few days and he has made no comment about the engraving which was on it before 1993 when Jim's Leica Camera book appeared. The camera is being handled by Leitz Auction and will return to its owner after next January. There is a splendid little book about the camera, available in both English and German. I was given a present of the English version. William William, what is the name of the book? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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