100 years Null-Serie

[Roland Zwiers]

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In the previous posting I show the relevant part of page 115 of Oskar Barnack's work notes (Werkstattbuch).

One can see:

#109 was offered to Leitz (Kitschinsky) Berlin. 

[Note in this respect the way Oskar Barnack writes the -er- in Berlin.] 

#122 was offered to Sauppe in New York

[Note in this respect the horizontal stroke on top of the -u- in Sauppe.
This was done in German handwriting so as to assist the reader, much like the dot on top of the letter i.] 

After #122/ 25 september 1923, Oskar Barnack's work notes do not specify camera numbers anymore.

one can read:

[....] Kraft, Wiesbaden
[....] Freund, Vernickelt {= nickel plated]

[In my analysis the use of [....] is due to the increasing hyperinflation in Germany at the time.
After 25 September 1923, near the peak of the hyperinflation, Oskar Barnack and his colleagues simply had no time anymore for bookkeeping.]

This is followed by:

1 Stück [one piece/unit] Prof Eichen      2 Stück Fouger [? hard to read] New York

The American interest in buying Leitz products in Berlin was not only due to the avoidance of American import tariffs.
An even more important reason was the devaluation of the Mark that was related to the increasing hyperinflation in Germany.
Photo literature from this period makes clear that foreigners with hard currencies (Dollar, Pound Sterling, Dutch guilder) were able to buy expensive German cameras for bargain prices.
Tourists from Holland, Britain and the USA would go on a shopping spree in Germany.
German photo magazines in 1923 complain about this situation; the German noun here is Ausverkauf [= sale at below cost price].
The situation was so bad that the price of a sold camera in Marks would not compensate for the costs of imported raw materials at the current Mark-Dollar exchange rate!
In 1923 there is an extensive discussion in German photomagazines what German retailers, confronted with rich foreigners, can do about this. 

 

 

 

 

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[willeica]

15 hours ago, derleicaman said:

Reviving an old thread here. I have been having some correspondence with Mark Osterman, formerly of the Eastman Museum in Rochester. His field of expertise is photo emulsions, and he still does seminars on wet plate, etc. He has recently acquired a Model I Leica, and is preparing an emulsion based on those used in the first Leicas, to use in this camera.

Yesterday, he posted on Face Book a photo of the null-series camera, #109, which is in the museum collection at the Eastman House. According to the records shown here in this thread, #109 was sent to a Herr Kutchinsky of the Leitz Office in Berlin. Does anyone know how this camera ended up in Rochester?

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Hard to figure this one out, Bill. On the film emulsion thing, Mark had been in touch with me and I think I gave him some of the lists of film materials which Roland had provided. 

interestingly, there is a Leica dealer called Kuschinsky in Austria today https://leica-camera.com/en-int/stores-dealers/leica-stores-worldwide/foto-optik-kuschinsky-gmbh . I wonder if there is any heritage there? I will ask the Leica people in Vienna when I am there with LSI next week. I note the slightly different spelling, but it is not uncommon to have such variations.

In the UK the name Kutchinsky is famous in the field of jewellery https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/artists/kutchinsky

The other possible connection is with Kodak AG after its entry into the German market through Nagel. Extensive work was done on film cassettes- see a few pages below from Thiele's book on the Retina - which may have involved interaction with Leitz/Leica personnel. I have just given the first 4 pages. The chapter on film cassettes is quite long and my knowledge of German is limited. 

William

Edited May 10 by willeica

[Roland Zwiers]

William,

How do you link the Null-Serie Herr Kutchinsky of 1923 to the Kodak Retina of 1934?

Also, the first preloaded 35mm cassette for the Leica was introduced by Agfa in early 1932.
This was not a reusable cassette, unlike the later metal Perutz cassette.
The 1932 Agfa cassette had to be torn open in the darkroom.
That is probably the reason that no original Agfa cassette has survived.
Even the Agfa museum in Wolfen has no surviving cassette of this early vintage.

The Kodak Retina cassette of 1934 was later than the Agfa and Perutz cassettes.
I still wonder what added value the Kodak Retina casstette had as compared to the Perutz cassette, apart from publicity.
After 1936 Ihagee also introduced a reloadable Exakta cassette for similar reasons.

Roland

 

[willeica]

2 hours ago, Roland Zwiers said:

How do you link the Null-Serie Herr Kutchinsky of 1923 to the Kodak Retina of 1934?

I thought that was obvious, Roland. I was only speculating about a possible link between Kodak and Leitz which might have led to No 109 coming their way.

I am aware of your views about Agfa cassettes etc.

There is a lot more in that chapter about the development of the cassette for the Retina. All is know is that the cassette developed by Kodak for the Retina became the standard 35mm cassette which we have today, but that is taking us away from the point which Bill raised. I only posted the pages above for the reason I gave above. 

William 

[derleicaman]

One of the members here on the forum has shared with me that 109 was sold to the Eastman House museum in 1951. The owner at that time lived in England. I will wait for our member here to share his information if he so wishes. Now the question might be, what was the story of this camera from when it was shipped to the Leitz Agency in Berlin to 1951, when it was sold to Eastman House.

I love these mysteries!

[Roland Zwiers]

William,

No one disputes that the Kodak Retina cassette became the worldwide standard.
Not because the Retina cassette came first, but because Eastman Kodak had so much more market power than Perutz.
It is not always the original inventor who benefits most. 
Market power and a big budget for publicity help a lot to push earlier standards from the market!

One can say that after 1932 even Kodak saw the merits of 35mm film.
Leica came first with a well designed miniature camera for 35mm film.
Agfa and Perutz already started making Leica-films (in addition to regular 35mm cine negative films) in the second half of the 1920s.
In 1932 Zeiss Ikon was already a latecomer.
But once Zeiss Ikon put its weight behind the Contax, no one doubted that the Leica format was there to stay.

There is an earlier and more direct connection between early Leicas and Kodak.
On the last page of Oskar Barnack's worknotes (Werkstattbuch) one can find the index.
I happen to have this index page. 
And so I can read that on page 66 of the Werkstattbuch (which I don't have) one can find the following subject:

Leica mit Codak Trust ausgerüstet = Leica equipped with the Kodak monopoly.

What does this mean?
For this I need access to page 66.
Does it refer to a Leica loaded with Kodak film?

Note that Oskar Barnack frequently wrote a C where we would expect a K.
Also note that the use of 'Leica' suggests that this text is from 1925 or later. 
[The change from Leca to Leica was made in early 1925.]

Again, this example shows why it is so important for our research to get access to the complete Werkstattbuch! 
Could the LSI be helpful in this respect?

Roland

 

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[willeica]

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6 hours ago, derleicaman said:

One of the members here on the forum has shared with me that 109 was sold to the Eastman House museum in 1951. The owner at that time lived in England. I will wait for our member here to share his information if he so wishes. Now the question might be, what was the story of this camera from when it was shipped to the Leitz Agency in Berlin to 1951, when it was sold to Eastman House.

I love these mysteries!

British Military or the so-called 'British Intelligence' who were Reid staff masquerading in borrowed uniforms? The identity of the 1951 seller would be key. 

2 hours ago, Roland Zwiers said:

William,

No one disputes that the Kodak Retina cassette became the worldwide standard.
Not because the Retina cassette came first, but because Eastman Kodak had so much more market power than Perutz.
It is not always the original inventor who benefits most. 
Market power and a big budget for publicity help a lot to push earlier standards from the market!

One can say that after 1932 even Kodak saw the merits of 35mm film.
Leica came first with a well designed miniature camera for 35mm film.
Agfa and Perutz already started making Leica-films (in addition to regular 35mm cine negative films) in the second half of the 1920s.
In 1932 Zeiss Ikon was already a latecomer.
But once Zeiss Ikon put its weight behind the Contax, no one doubted that the Leica format was there to stay.

There is an earlier and more direct connection between early Leicas and Kodak.
On the last page of Oskar Barnack's worknotes (Werkstattbuch) one can find the index.
I happen to have this index page. 
And so I can read that on page 66 of the Werkstattbuch (which I don't have) one can find the following subject:

Leica mit Codak Trust ausgerüstet = Leica equipped with the Kodak monopoly.

What does this mean?
For this I need access to page 66.
Does it refer to a Leica loaded with Kodak film?

Note that Oskar Barnack frequently wrote a C where we would expect a K.
Also note that the use of 'Leica' suggests that this text is from 1925 or later. 
[The change from Leca to Leica was made in early 1925.]

Again, this example shows why it is so important for our research to get access to the complete Werkstattbuch! 
Could the LSI be helpful in this respect?

Roland

 

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Roland, we could go around in circles on this. I've copied the rest of the Thiele Chapter below. Bill has now provided some evidence that the route for No 109 was through the UK and probably did not involve the interaction between Leitz and Kodak. This is a separate issue to the journey of No 109. 

William 

 

Edited May 10 by willeica

[Roland Zwiers]

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[Roland Zwiers]

William,

No one disputes that Kodak patented the Retina cassette.
As you show, the patent dates from 1935.

My point is that the Retina cassette builds on earlier innovations by Agfa and Perutz.
When you can accept this as a fact, instead of attributing this to my opinion, we can stop moving in circles 🙂

The Agfa Leica cassette was introduced in early 1932 (see previous page).
It was one of the highlighs of the March 1932 Leipzig Spring fair, the same fair that witnessed the introduction of the Leica with the built-in rangefinder.
Agfa even announced a colour film for the Leica format [Linsenraster/ lenticular technology with a striped RGB filter in front of the lens].
In the same week Zeiss Ikon indroduced the Contax in another location.
In my article: Karl Nüchterlein in 1932 - the eureka moment for the Kine Exakta,   I make the point that all these 35mm innovations of 1932 convinced Karl Nüchterlein to embark on the Kine Exakta project.

It is absolutely true that the Retina cassette ultimately won the war.
But as you said before, we have to take care not to interpret history via our 2025 perspective.
When the Retina cassette was introduced in 1934, it still had to compete with already existing standards.

It is very interesting to analyse how long it took in Germany before these older standards disappeared.
I would infer around 1943 at the latest as in that year the nazi regime forbade photography for amateur photographers. 
[Consequently the remaining German amateur photography magazines were cancelled.]
And after the war German producers had no choice but to accept the American standards.

 

Roland

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

[willeica]

14 hours ago, Roland Zwiers said:

William,

No one disputes that Kodak patented the Retina cassette.
As you show, the patent dates from 1935.

My point is that the Retina cassette builds on earlier innovations by Agfa and Perutz.
When you can accept this as a fact, instead of attributing this to my opinion, we can stop moving in circles 🙂

The Agfa Leica cassette was introduced in early 1932 (see previous page).
It was one of the highlighs of the March 1932 Leipzig Spring fair, the same fair that witnessed the introduction of the Leica with the built-in rangefinder.
Agfa even announced a colour film for the Leica format [Linsenraster/ lenticular technology with a striped RGB filter in front of the lens].
In the same week Zeiss Ikon indroduced the Contax in another location.
In my article: Karl Nüchterlein in 1932 - the eureka moment for the Kine Exakta,   I make the point that all these 35mm innovations of 1932 convinced Karl Nüchterlein to embark on the Kine Exakta project.

It is absolutely true that the Retina cassette ultimately won the war.
But as you said before, we have to take care not to interpret history via our 2025 perspective.
When the Retina cassette was introduced in 1934, it still had to compete with already existing standards.

It is very interesting to analyse how long it took in Germany before these older standards disappeared.
I would infer around 1943 at the latest as in that year the nazi regime forbade photography for amateur photographers. 
[Consequently the remaining German amateur photography magazines were cancelled.]
And after the war German producers had no choice but to accept the American standards.

 

Roland

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Roland I don't believe in post hoc rationalisation and we should always try to envision the contemporary situation. However, it was the Kodak design for the Retina which became the standard which we have today.  As you can read German and I can't, I would bow to your historical knowledge of such matters as the Agfa cassette. You may or may not recall a Zoom talk I gave to PCCGB about 2 or 3 years ago about German cameras of the 1920s and 1930s in which I pointed out that, apart from Leica books, most of the written material about German cameras of the 1920s and 1930s is in German and most such books and articles have never been translated into English. Even Leica followed the Kodak lead eventually as many customers wanted to use pre-loaded cassettes rather than the FILCAs which seemed indispensable in 1925 .

I await further word from Bill about the 1951 transaction involving No 109.

William 

 

[Roland Zwiers]

William,

 

Thank you for this admission.

In that case we can agree on three facts: 

- Agfa introduced the first preloaded (but not reusable) 35mm cassette in 1932; it was even called the Agfa Leica cassette.

- Perutz improved on this by introducing a preloaded metal 35mm cassette; users quickly found out that it was reusable as well.

- In 1934 Kodak introduced the Retina cassette, which would become the world standard for preloaded 35mm cassettes.

You are absolutely right that a lot of literature on the second miniature revolution is in German.
That was an important incentive for me to improve my German reading skills.
But information on the 1932 Agfa cassette can also be found in contemporary British and American photo magazines.

With German literature we have even the complication that some primary sources are in hard-to-read handwriting styles.
In Leica literature this applies to the handwriting of Oskar Barnack.

When you say that not many English spreakers read German, this would apply even more to the handwritten work notes by Oskar Barnack!
Still no one would dispute that his work notes are important for understanding the history of the Leica.

Now I feel that Oskar Barnack's handwriting is even difficult to read for native speakers of German.
Because of my interest in this subject I have spent a lot of time reading the pages of the Werkstattbuch that I happen to have access to.
This leads to new discoveries.

I already mentioned the connection between Leica and the Codak Trust.
This has still to be clarified when we have access to the complete Werkstattbuch. 

Another find is on page 11 of the Werkstattbuch where Oskar Barnack makes a note on 25 January 1912.
I will reproduce this note on the next page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roland Zwiers]

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[Roland Zwiers]

Now one can read:

Photometer f. [= für] Dr Jentsch Eigenconstruktion.

So:  photometer [= exposure meter] for Dr Jentsch, my own construction.

 

Now we (Bill Rosauer, Ed Schwartzreich, Ulf Richter, you and me) have had extensive discussions on the possible relationship between M875 and the Ur-Leica. 
In this discussion Ulf Richter maintains that the Werkstattbuch has no reference to M875 whatsoever.
hee makes this point also in his fascinating study of 2009 on the origins of the Leica.
So it is my impression that he overlooked the 'photometer' reference is Oskar barnack's worknotes simply because it is hard to read.
Even for a native speaker of German.  

[Roland Zwiers]

Now in  a working hypothesis that I am still working on, this January reference to Photometer does not yet refer to M875.

It is possible that this made-on-demand photometer still used light-sensitive paper, as was common for the photometers of the day.
The problem with these contemporary photometers was that they were miniature size.
So they used miniature paper rolls.

In my working hypothesis Dr Jentsch may have employed micro-cinematography on a microscope.
For this he was using lots of cine negative film.
And he needed a good exposure meter so as not to spoil his film. 
So he asked Oskar Barnack to produce a bigger sensitive-paper-based exposuremeter.

While working on this assignment, Oskar Barnack may have had his eureka moment.
Why would I make a bigger exposure meter based on light-sensitive paper, when I could use 35mm film as well?
The same film hat Dr Jentsch is using for his micro-cinematography?
This may have led to M875 as a follow-up experiment.

Note that the cover on M875 is very similar to the cover on the 1912 VP Kodak.
In my working hypothesis Oskar Barnack started work on M875 after having seen the VP Kodak.

It is my guess that the Werkstattbuch will offer even more insights on the development of the Leica.
I really hope that this primary source is made available before reearchers like us have all passed away.

As Keynes observed: in the long run we are all dead!

Roland

 

    

[Roland Zwiers]

William,

You are absolutely right that a lot of relevant information on the origins of the Leica is unavailable for the international community as the primary sources are not available in English.
This applies both to printed and handwritten sources.
This is a big complication for a transparent discussion between international researchers.
It even leads to misunderstandings.
When I formulate a new working hypothesis on the basis of material that is unknown to other researchers,
then they would feel that I am speculating, since my alternative hypothesis is at odds with mainstream Leica literature.

So, the best thing to do is to share primary sources in German by translating these in English.
As this is a lot of work, I can only do this step by step.

[Roland Zwiers]

The relationship between the Barnack movie camera and the Mechau projector

A good follow-up subject is the relationship between Oskar Barnack’s movie camera and the Mechau film projector.
In his 1931 contribution for Die Leica Oskar Barnack states that he created his movie camera in 1912.
The Mechau film projector was introduced on the German market in 1915.
So, one can assume that Oskar Barnack’s movie camera was necessary for testing the Mechau film projector.

In my alternative working hypothesis, the Mechau film projector was already being tested before Oskar Barnack’s movie camera was ready.
I base this alternative hypothesis on primary sources in German that I will share with this Leica Forum.

[Roland Zwiers]

In April 1914 there is an extensive review of the new Mechau Kinematograph [= film projector] in a German film magazine.
I have translated the most important paragraph:

“A cinematograph [= projector] was conceived and realized, without a shutter, without flicker, without jerky film advance, which projected the screen images through mirror reflections while the film reel ran continuously. The engineer E. Mechau in Wetzlar had already solved the problem at the time of the 1912 Berlin Cinema Exhibition, and Ernst Leitz's optical works built the apparatus there. However, this innovation was never announced, but was only tested for a year and a quarter at the Kaiser theater in Wetzlar. Once it goes on sale, it would mark a revolution in cinematography that would be unstoppable, as America also would like to introduce projectors without jerky film advance”.

Now from this text one can infer that:

-          Mechau finalized his design in December 1912 [during the Berlin Cinema Exhibition].

-          Leitz built the (prototype) Mechau projector in January 1913

-          From February 1913 to April 1914 the projector was being tested in the Kaiser theatre in Wetzlar (1 ¼ years).

[Roland Zwiers]

It is interesting to compare this information with the handwritten work notes of Oskar Barnack (Werkstattbuch).
It appears that Barnack has been doing Kino-work for Mechau in 1911 and 1912.
Then he moves on to make his own movie camera:

In February 1913 one can find:

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Kino für Aufnahme EigenK.

So: Movie camera [instead of projector] my own construction

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[Roland Zwiers]

In November 1913 this is followed by:

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Die ersten Aufnahmen mit Aufnahme Kino gut ausgefallen.

The first recordings with the movie camera turned out well

This leads me to question the link between Oskar Barnack’s movie camera and the Mechau film projector.
How can movies made by Oskar Barnack with his own movie camera have been necessary for testing the Mechau projector,
when the Mechau projector was already being tested before Oskar Barnack completed his first successful movie?
I would like to hear your views on this.

Roland

[UliWer]

On 5/10/2025 at 9:15 PM, Roland Zwiers said:

Leica mit Codak Trust ausgerüstet = Leica equipped with the Kodak monopoly.

What does this mean?

Going back a few postings I‘d like to comment on this question.

There are at least two oddities. Neither in German nor in English it makes much sense to eqip something with a „Trust“. Only if there was any device which was branded „Kodak Trust“ you could figure out what was meant. Where there any films by Kodak which showed this branding? If not I‘d propose another reading: not „Trust“ but „Tuch“ (cloth). Did Kodak use clothes for shutters in their contempory cameras?

The other oddity is the use of „ausgerüstet“ when one speaks of loading a film. The German verb „ausrüsten“ may be translated with „equipped“ - which sounds rather neutral: you can equip a camera with a film or with a constructive device. Though the original meaning in German would be used mainly in the second sense: to add a certain constructive device, while all the Leitz literature use „laden“ (to load) when it speaks of film put into a camera.