Tandem cameras, was this a Leica accessory

[willeica]

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6 hours ago, derleicaman said:

I stand corrected, German armed forces did wear puttees in WWII! It looks like they even specify left and right from the photos. I am still looking forward to the Boot book arriving for more context for the picture this started out with.

Bill, the expertise here on military items 💂‍♂️ well outweighs that of us mere camera collectors 📷. I have never been tempted to start collecting military Leicas as I'm bad enough with the civilian items. The Leica Archives once told me that one of my grey paint Leicas was Luftwaffe, but I did not agree with them and went back to them and said that. For the record, Jim Lager agreed with me.

William 

[GregNski]

Attached is a selection from the Leica Manual, 4th edition, by Morgan and Lester. It shows the Leica Tandem, sold by Leica for the purpose of taking the same image with different film, lenses, or exposure. The device in the original image to this post must be a "bush fix" to fill the same function as the Leica Tandem.

Wish I had one. It looks cool to play with.

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Edited January 27 by GregNski

[thrid]

A google search brings up some information about the picture with the double Leica contraption...

Not sure what the forum rules are about posting information regarding WW2 and SS formations. It's a delicate subject to say the least... So I will only post some information I extracted from a website I came across.

The picture of the double Leica and the boot holding a pistol is out there if you search for something like 'Kriegsberichter Leica'. Apparently it is in the Bundesarchiv.

The pistol is not a P38 as described below, but a 'broom handle' Mauser C96. Actually something of an uncommon choice for a sidearm, so maybe the picture was taken early in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR. 

Left image: Note unusual double Leica camera and the Walther P38 semi-automatic pistol stuffed into the boot. The gaiters at right suggest a Red Army prisoner.
Photo by Propagandakompanie photographer Hanns Hubmann for Signal Magazine. Commons: Bundesarchiv. 

Hanns Hubann may have been attached to 'SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers' a Waffen-SS War Correspondent formation

 

Edited January 27 by thrid

[derleicaman]

27 minutes ago, thrid said:

A google search brings up some information about the picture with the double Leica contraption...

Not sure what the forum rules are about posting information regarding WW2 and SS formations. It's a delicate subject to say the least... So I will only post some information I extracted from a website I came across.

The picture of the double Leica and the boot holding a pistol is out there if you search for something like 'Kriegsberichter Leica'. Apparently it is in the Bundesarchiv.

The pistol is not a P38 as described below, but a 'broom handle' Mauser C96. Actually something of an uncommon choice for a sidearm, so maybe the picture was taken early in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR. 

Left image: Note unusual double Leica camera and the Walther P38 semi-automatic pistol stuffed into the boot. The gaiters at right suggest a Red Army prisoner.
Photo by Propagandakompanie photographer Hanns Hubmann for Signal Magazine. Commons: Bundesarchiv. 

Hanns Hubann may have been attached to 'SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers' a Waffen-SS War Correspondent formation

 

Thanks for this research. I am still waiting to receive the Boot book to see what other photos there might be of this scene. But, my thoughts were that this was a Kriegsberichter photographing for Signal magazine, the illustrated journal of the Waffen SS. And yes, I also believe this was from early during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Broom Handle C96 Mauser tucked into the boot plays to the “swashbuckling” persona the Waffen SS would be promoting of themselves in their journal. Not for nothing war photographers were part of the PK (Propaganda Komando), producing still images and movie reel propaganda to be consumed by the Deutsche Volk back at home. By the time this image was made, a Broom Handle C96 Mauser would have been a very rare bird at the front. The better known P08 Luger was even being phased out at this point in favor of the Walther P38.

Yes, it is a touchy subject.

[sabears]

7 hours ago, thrid said:

A google search brings up some information about the picture with the double Leica contraption...

Not sure what the forum rules are about posting information regarding WW2 and SS formations. It's a delicate subject to say the least...

 

For someone a less delicate issue than we might think... Indeed, the curious thing is that, after the war, Kb Hanns Hubmann became Chef Fotograf of the European edition of Stars and Stripes, the daily American military newspaper...

 

[thrid]

In any case I've seen this picture a few times over the last 20 years and as far as I know no one has ever been able to identify that gadget

I am curious to learn who made that contraption, simply because it's been an enduring mystery.

It's not an entirely crazy idea, especially since it hangs from the side of the camera like an early M5. I'm trying to wrap my head around how a camera pops out for reloading. There is a center plate and a latch on each side. It must split or fold apart, but I can't imagine that the cameras are attached to that center plate, it probably acts more like a 'shelf'. There are latches on either of the vertical sides and it seems like the strap loops play a part in holding the whole thing together. 

If I had to hedge a guess it was either home made or produced by a small manufacturer who may have folded as the war progressed.