100 years Null-Serie

[Roland Zwiers]

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Why prioritize a specialized 35mm camera to a general purpose 35mm camera?

Now it is surprising that Oskar Barnack would first have designed a specialized 35mm panorama camera before embarking on his 35mm Ur-Leica project.
Ulf Richter and more recently Helmut Lagler do not discuss this.
So how to explain?

In my working hypothesis the answer lies with Oskar Barnack’s 13x18 camera of old!
According to Conrad Barnack this camera was used between 1903 and 1912.
According to Oskar Barnack’s work notes, the Liliput camera (= Ur-Leica) was finished in March 1914.
This leads to the question: what camera(s) did Oskar Barnack use between 1912 (the supposed retirement of the 13x18 camera) and March 1914 (the beginning of Ur-Leica photography)?

As far as I know this subject has not been discussed in Leica literature before.

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[Roland Zwiers]

Six primary sources

First it is important to present six primary sources:

1. The letter by Conrad Barnack of 9 October 1960, referring to his fathers 13x18 camera (courtesy Oskar Fricke)

Furthermore I still have the old 13/18 Nettel plate camera in my possession with which my father took his photographs in 1903 – 1912 and this very specimen was - because of its weight - actually the reason why my father began to think· of constructing something smaller. I have original snapshots taken with the Prototype Leica as far back as 1912 and the pictures show me as a 4 year old boy with that 13/18 plate camera in the hands. […]

The old Nettel is just the body without lens· as you see from the photograph. This is, by the way, a ·very unique Nettel. Originally, it was a 9/18cm Stereo-Nettel (I still have photographs in Stereo taken with it). Then my father altered it into a 9/12cm camera by putting on another lens-plate. Then afterwards he attached some kind of a pyramid-shaped back-adapter (you see it on the Photo), he opened up the lens-holding-plate for larger transmittance and used 13/18cm plates in the way as described in "how the Leica began" trying to coax onto this plate with a short-focus lens a number of different impressions. This failed but nevertheless he could use the apparatus for 13/18 or 9/12 or for Stereo whatever suited him for the moment. I think that no such construction existed anywhere at the time.

2.       Work note of 16 December 1911 by Oskar Barnack:
“Panorama Kamera weiter gearbeitet” => work on panorama camera, continued

3.       Work note of 20 April 1912 by Oskar Barnack:
“Panorama Kamera Fertig” => panorama camera ready/ finished

 4.       Work note of 1 June 1913 by Oskar Barnack:
Photo Kamera, Eigen K.  => photo camera, my own construction

5.       Work note of January 1914 by Oskar Barnack:
“Liliput Kamera für Kinofilm (Handkamera)” => Liliput camera for cine film (Handcamera)

6.       Work note of March 1914 by Oskar Barnack:
“Liliput Kamera mit Kinofilm fertig” => Liliput camera with cine film ready/ finished

 

[Roland Zwiers]

Note that Oskar and Conrad Barnack are not in agreement!
Oskar Barnack mentions that the Liliput camera for cine film is finished in March 1914.
Conrad Barnack states that his father used the prototype Leica as far back as 1912.
This is problematic.
The number of primary sources is very limited.
And two of these already point in different directions.
The best way to deal with this is to work with complementary scenarios.
This will lead to 4 scenarios on the period 1912-1914.

[Roland Zwiers]

Conrad Barnack does not mention the panorama function on Oskar Barnack’s 13x18 outfit

The panorama function was a regular feature on a contemporary 9x18cm stereo camera.
One of the two stereo lenses would be moved to the centre of the lens board so as to cover the whole 9x18cm frame.
Note that in the advertisement below the Stereo Minimum Palmos 9x18cm was equipped with two 1:6,3 f=136mm Tessar lenses and an additional lens board for panorama pictures (Panoramabrettchen).
On a more general note: the Palmos cameras in the advertisement were produced by Oskar Barnack during his employment at Zeiss Palmos.

 

[Roland Zwiers]

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[Roland Zwiers]

If Oskar Barnack used his 9x18/ 13x18 outfit for stereo photography, then why would he not have made use of the panorama function that was available at no additional cost?
Very likely Conrad Barnack forgot to include the panorama function in his overview. 

 

If Oskar Barnack was considering to retire his 13x18 outfit, then it makes sense that he would first create an economical 35mm cine film alternative for the panorama function. In 1911 for general purpose photography, he had a choice of many suitable hand cameras that were already on the market, even with negative proportions of 2:3.
If he wanted a very small hand-held camera, he could have selected the British Ensignette with negatives of 4x6cm.
The review, see next slide, dates from 1910.
The text mentions the availability of an enlarger for postcard sized prints of 9x14cm at a moderate price.

[Roland Zwiers]

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[Roland Zwiers]

In 1911 there were also roll film cameras for 6x9cm, also with negative proportions of 2:3.
An early example is the 6x9 Film Palmos that Oskar Barnack produced during his employment at Zeiss Palmos.
I refer to this very interesting camera in an upcoming article on the concept ‘Small negative, big print’.

[Roland Zwiers]

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[Roland Zwiers]

Against this background I can formulate four scenarios on Oskar Barnack’s photography in the period 1912-1914:

1.       There is no gap in Oskar Barnack’s photography between 1912 and March 1914: in 1912 the Ur-Leica was available as soon as the 13x18 outfit was retired

2.       There is a gap between 1912 and March 1914. So, Oskar Barnack did not make pictures in this period.

3.       There would have been a gap between 1912 and March 1914. So, Oskar Barnack used another hand camera in this period.

4.       There is no gap between 1912 and March 1914. Oskar Barnack did not retire his 13x18 outfit in 1912, but kept using it in 1914.

 

[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 1:

There is no gap in Oskar Barnack’s photography between 1912 and 1914: in 1912 the Ur-Leica was available as soon as the 13x18 outfit was retired

Note that this hypothesis closely follows an explicit statement by Conrad Barnack (1960):

 “I have original snapshots taken with the Prototype Leica as far back as 1912 and the pictures show me as a 4 year old boy with that 13/18 plate camera in the hands.”

The problem with this hypothesis is that it is contradicted by the work notes of Oskar Barnack.
Oskar Barnack introduces the Liliput hand camera for cine film in January 1914.
And the Liliput camera is only finished in March 1914.
So, one has to choose between the work notes of the father and the letter/ memory of the son.

In this scenario, I also have to discuss the work note by Oskar Barnack’s from 1 June 1913:

 “Photo Kamera, Eigen K.  => photo camera, my own construction”

Is it possible that Conrad Barnack has mistaken his ‘Prototype Leica’ of 1912 with Oskar Barnack’s ‘Photo Kamera’ of 1 June 1913?

It is important to stress that we don’t know anything at all about this ‘Photo Kamera’.
Unlike Oskar Barnack’s work notes of 1914, this 1913 note does not mention: ‘Liliput’, or ‘hand camera’, or ‘camera for cine film’.
It does not mention ‘finished’ either.
So what camera are we talking about?
Does it relate to M875?
Note that this camera could even have been designed for micro-photography in combination with a Leitz microscope.

All in all, the available primary sources do not point in the same direction.
It would be crucial to have access to Conrad Barnack’s snapshots of 1912!

[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 2:

There is a gap between 1912 (the supposed retirement of the 13x18 outfit) and March 1914 (Ur-Leica finished).
So, Oskar Barnack did not make pictures in this period.

One problem with this scenario is that the family album has two Easter 1913 pictures of Oskar Barnack’s daughter Hanna.
The page from the family album is reproduced in small size in Helmut Lagler (2022).
When we follow this scenario, then we must assume that these pictures were not made by Oskar Barnack.

I feel that this scenario is not so plausible for another reason as well.
For a keen amateur photographer and a father of growing-up children it is simply not realistic to stop taking pictures for one or two years.

[Roland Zwiers]

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Note the inclusion of Ur-Leica pictures on the same page of the family album.
In my opinion this does not mean that these Ur-Leica negatives date from 1913 as well.
These Ur-Leica pictures may very well have been taken one year later.
Obviously, the maker of the family album was free to combine pictures of 1913 and 1914 on the same page.

[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 3:

There is a gap between 1912 (retirement 13x18 outfit) and March 1914 (Ur-Leica finished).
In this period Oskar Barnack must have used another camera so as to bridge the gap.

Look again at the 1913 pictures of Hanna.
[Unfortunately, I have no better reproductions.]
Look especially at the depth of field.
The unsharp background suggests that these pictures may not have been made with a 1:4,5 f=42mm lens.
Hanna stands at a distance of 3-4m.
With an f=42mm lens (at f/4,5 or even smaller) I would have expected more depth of field in the background.

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Could these pictures still have been made with the 9x18 stereo camera in combination with a 9x12cm reduction back?

[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 3 (continued):

There is a gap between 1912 (retirement 13x18 outfit) and March 1914 (Ur-Leica finished).
In this period Oskar Barnack must have used another camera so as to bridge the gap.

It is in order to compare the depth of field of the 1913 pictures in the previous slide with a picture from the same album that must have been made with the Ur-Leica. Here I happen to have a better reproduction.

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[Roland Zwiers]

Note that Hanna and Conrad are much closer to the camera.
So other things being equal one would expect the background to be much more out of focus.
But the background is still reasonably sharp.
This is just what I would expect with an f=42mm lens at f/4,5 (or even smaller).

Note as well the difference in vegetation between the 1913 picture of Hanna and the Ur-Leica picture of Hanna and Conrad.
This again leaves open the possibility that the Ur-Leica picture dates from 1914.

[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 3 (continued)

There is a gap between 1912 (retirement 13x18 outfit) and March 1914 (Ur-Leica finished).
In this period Oskar Barnack must have used another camera so as to bridge the gap.

One possibility is the ‘Photo Kamera’ in Oskar Barnack’s work notes from 1 June 1913.
I have already discussed this in scenario 1.

In this scenario Oskar Barnack may also have experimented with a contemporary miniature camera like the 4x6cm Ensignette.
A logical experiment would have been to combine the 4x6cm Ensignette with unperforated 35mm film.
In that case Oskar Barnack would have made the best possible use of the film frame of the Ensignette.
Of course, in this scenario Oskar Barnack could have made temporary use of any miniature camera that was on the market in the period 1912-1914.

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[Roland Zwiers]

Scenario 4:

There is no gap between 1912 and 1914. Oskar Barnack did not retire his 13x18 outfit in 1912, but kept using it in 1914.

Note that in this scenario Conrad Barnack must have remembered wrongly.
He explicitly states that the 13x18 outfit was retired in 1912.
Also, in this scenario the 1913 pictures of Hanna may still have been taken with the 9x18 outfit in combination with the 9x12 reduction back.

In a German photo magazine of 1 April 1914, I found a clue that suggests that in 1914 Oskar Barnack still used his 13x18 camera.
It concerns a cassette for 13x18cm plates that had to be mounted on a 18x24cm camera.
With this cassette it was possible to obtain 18 exposures of 3x4cm on one 13x18cm plate.
Other formats were possible as well.

Now this cassette was designed for 18x24 cameras.
But Oskar Barnack had already adapted a 9x18 stereo camera for 9x12 and 13x18cm plates.
So, I feel he would have had no problem to adapt his outfit for this miniature cassette as well.

[Roland Zwiers]

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