The second miniature revolution

[Roland Zwiers]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

William,

Congratulations!
How come I had a feeling that things were coming your way 🙂

Is there already a date for May 2026?

 

Roland

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[willeica]

8 hours ago, Roland Zwiers said:

William,

There are indeed many aspects to the first and second miniature revolutions.
Any presentation can only cover so much.

I have the feeling that post-1950 Leica literature already pays a lot of attention on why the Leica was succesful where other (35mm) cameras failed.
There is not much attention in Leica literature for the relationship between Oskar Barnack and the first miniature revolution.
So the environment in which he created the Ur-Leica of 1914 and the Null-Serie of 1923.

The second miniature revolution started with the Leica in 1925.
Here I miss the realisation in Leica-literature that the Leica was not the only succesful post-1925 miniature camera.
E.g. in pre-1950 literature one can see that the Rolleiflex of 1929 was equally succesful. 

Please give Lars Netopil my regards.
I hope that one of these years he can make space in Vidom for one of my contributions 😉

Roland

 

  

 

 

Thanks Roland

I will give your regards to Lars and others in Montreal. The PCCGB is a great organisation, but I cannot be in two continents at once, especially when duty calls.

I don't think you can repeat the reasons for the survival of the Leica often enough. You may recall a talk I did some years ago for PCCGB about how a bellows type camera with a 'Compur type' shutter was the easy option in Germany in the 1930s, whereas Leitz went the hard road with the metal Leica with a focal plane shutter. This made it much easier to implement the concept of interchangeable lenses. I recently acquired the fifth ever Leica made in Wetzlar with an interchangeable lens. As you will recall from another talk that I did for PCCGB, there were examples of Leicas with interchangeable lenses being done in the UK before then 

 

 

William 

 

[Roland Zwiers]

William,

Thank you again for your comments.
This gives me the possibility to enrich the analysis.

I feel it is proper to start the second miniature revolution in 1925 with the introduction of the Leica I.
But the things are not so clear cut.
In January 1925 there is an article in a German photo magazine about the Minigraph camera of 1914.
The author remembers the advantages of this camera and wonders why it has disappeared from the market.  
He urges camera producers to provide a similar 35mm camera.
When I have time, I will translate this long article in English.
It could very well be combined with a contribution on the relationship between the (Ur-)Leica and the Minigraph.

In a Swedish review of 1925, the Leica I is compared to two other miniature cameras produced by Krauss, including the Eka that uses unperforated 35mm film.
The reviewer cannot decide which camera (Leica or Eka)  is the most promising.
It depends on the situation!
As my Swedish language skills are very limited, I will only translate the most important parts this review:

[Roland Zwiers]

1925: Swedish review: Leica compared to Eka

Among the various devices, now constructed and sent into the market, there are three particulars, of which I gained closer knowledge.
Each of them has its advantages and its weaknesses; what they have in common is that they produce very sharp negatives, which withstand enlargement well. […]

The first example is Krauss' photo revolver, Fig. 1. […]

The other two cameras, I wanted to mention, are, however, intended for normal cinema film, one for perforated, the other for non-perforated ones.
Both of these materials have great advantages; they are cheap and can be obtained without difficulty in large quantities lengths. […]

The perforated film was used in the one by Leitz manufactured the Leica camera, fig. 2.
The company is the best known through their microscopes […]

Through the use of unperforated 35mm film the firm Krauss was able to nearly double the image area. […]

These two latter types [Leica and Eka] can be said to complement each other to a certain extent, depending the work you mainly wish to perform.
The price for the Krauss Eka camera is around SEK 190, for the Leica camera around SEK 275; the rangefinder costs SEK 25.

[Roland Zwiers]

1925: Leica versus Eka (continued)

Again, this eyewitness account from 1925 may serve as a warning against our biased 2025 perspective.

[Since only the Leica still exists today, the 1925 competition cannot have been viable anyhow.]

When I have time, I will share the complete Swedish review with this Forum.
I hope a Swedish member can then provide an integral translation in English.

[Roland Zwiers]

1946: ancient regime admits defeat

In my previous contribution I ended the second miniature revolution in 1946-1947.
In January 1946 the editor of Amateur Photographer had to admit that the (German) miniature revolution had decisively toppled the (British) ancien regime.
Even during the war British camera producers kept pretending that these miniatures were only a temporary craze and that the serious photographers would revert to traditional cameras as soon as these would become available again.

In the next slide I provide two advertisements from 1944.

[Roland Zwiers]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

1944: British users of Contax and Leica

 

Interestingly, in 1944 Lancelot Vining, a press photographer for the London “Daily Mirror”, was not so sure about the post-war viability of traditional cameras.
The text is from the 1944 introduction to his famous handbook: My way with the miniature.
In the next slide I show a contemporary advertisement for the new Ilford HP3 film.
Lancelot Vining demonstrates what he can do with this film in combination with his Contax.

 

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

1944: German miniature propaganda in a British photo magazine

While looking in these 1944 British photo magazines I also found a complementary contribution by a British Leica user.
He even refers to the article Leitz (1931) What is Elmar all about?  that UliWer and me discussed before.

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

1939-1941: The second miniature revolution was already on firm ground

In my analysis the miniature revolution had already firmly established itself by 1939-1941.
This had been much easier for the 6x6 format of the Rollei than for the 24x36mm format of the Leica.
After 1933 German press photographers were obliged to use a miniature camera; not doing so would amount to losing the necessary licence (in German: Berufsverbot).

Un unexpected last hurdle for 35mm photography was a decision by film producers to exclusively produce double-layer film.
The idea was to increase the exposure latitude of films in general so that amateurs would always have a printable negative.
For the bigger negative sizes (6x6cm, 6x9) double-layer film was not so problematic either.
But for 35mm photography it was a disaster.
The thick double-layer emulsions made it impossible to enlarge a 24x36mm negative sharply to a decent size.
Curt Emmermann (in German) and Willy Frerk (in English!) describe this double-layer crisis in detail.
This crisis could have killed the 35mm branch of the miniature revolution around 1937.
Who would buy an expensive 24x36mm camera if a 10x15 enlargement was inferior to that of a 6x9 Agfa box?

Fortunately, the film industry relented and provided again one-layer emulsions with a very fine grain.
These films were relatively slow with a limited exposure latitude, but were still crucial material in the hands of  professional Leica, Contax or Kine Exakta photographers.
These new single-layer emulsions even allowed Dr Paul Wolff to observe that for regular work amateurs did not have to follow his alternative strategies anymore.

[Roland Zwiers]

Dr Paul Wolff: 1924 and 1939

 In this context it is interesting to show two Leica pictures that Dr Paul Wolff published in 1939.
He compares a course-grained Leica picture from 1924 to a similar picture from 1939.
The implicit message is: mission accomplished - In 1939 the Leica is an ideal camera for professional use.

Note as well that the quality of the 1924 print is similar to the 1923 prints by Prof. Klute.
This is one of several clues that Dr Paul Wolff had been a user of a Null-Serie Leica as well.
Very likely a loaner camera provided by Oskar Barnack.

[In a 1934 publication Dr Paul Wolff states that he obtained (as opposed to borrowed) his first Leica in 1925.]

[Roland Zwiers]

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

Dr Otto Croy: 1937 and 1941

Another mission-accomplished statement for 35mm photography can be derived from by Dr Otto Croy in 1941.
In 1937 he had still proclaimed that the 35mm branch of the miniature revolution amounted to a mission impossible!
I will first provide the original German texts.
In the next slides I will provide the translations in English.

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!

[Roland Zwiers]

Dr Otto Croy (1937): serious 35mm photography is mission impossible:

My approach to processing is such that the best photographic technology is just good enough for me.
If photography offers the possibility of reproducing every tiny detail, then the necessary consequence is to make full use of this possibility.
What doesn't belong to the picture must be left out; what remains, however, should present itself with its surface and all its peculiarities in a truly photographic manner.
Therefore, my goal is to create images with razor-sharp detail.
I take three-quarters of my shots with a 6 x 6 cm SLR camera, the Voigtländer Superb.
With it, I manage to produce images that, when enlarged to 30 x 40 cm, are indistinguishable from 9 x 12 originals.
The miniature camera is out of the question for me.

In this context, a few frank words about the miniature camera and its influence on photography today.
The standard has declined. I won't let it go – a three-fold linear magnification is still sharper than an eight-fold magnification, and a fine detail is definitely better reproduced if it is composed of four grains of silver bromide rather than a single one.
When judging a picture today, however, we have reached the point where we only accept the finished fact with a reservation, usually expressed as follows:
"Considering that it's a miniature camera, it's fabulous."
It's not the work itself that counts, but the format.
It's almost as if a tour guide were to explain: "Here you see a magnificent Rubens – painted with only a single small badger brush!"

I'm not necessarily optimistic about the future if the honest struggle for expression, without which artistic creation is unthinkable, is lost.
After all, one can also go hunting with a machine gun.
The skilled marksman, however, takes his prey with one shot.
For all its advantages, the miniature camera is by no means suitable for everyone.
Mechanization, in fact, frees the wearer, who even considers the weight, from any personal involvement.
It automatically protects him from technical indiscretions, and it's no surprise then that he values the precision of his camera more highly than his brain.
He thus dedicates himself body and soul to the camera designer.
It would then no longer be the man behind the camera, but the person who built it, who would be responsible for the image.
Therefore, I sincerely hope that photography will find its way into the realm of personal skill.

[Roland Zwiers]

Dr Otto Croy (1941): serious 35mm photography is mission accomplished

Now this book is finished and lying in front of me, I have to make a confession.
I am guilty of breaking my word. Yes indeed!
It was years ago when I wrote: "The 35mm camera is out of the question for me."
How can one reconcile these words with this book?
The explanation is easy!
Since then, I have immersed myself in the technology of the miniature format and didn't let go until I was finally completely familiar with the 35mm technology according to my requirements; because it is a "special technology" that you first have to master before the first results appear.
In short, I have been able to convince myself against my previous prejudice.
The result of my work is set out in the following pages.
So, it is also to be understood that I am not the man who could write an "advertising book" for the Contax.
If this "Contax book" is nevertheless the work of my hand, it is because it is about the Contax, which I know so well because I have studied her in detail and because I have been able to convince myself of her advantages.
That is why I am not writing a brochure for a product.
Instead, I will limit myself to my personal experiences and the conclusions derived from them.

[Roland Zwiers]

What additional use for a 2025 perspective?

Now in my analysis the second miniature revolution, initiated by the Leica in 1925, could declare victory in 1939-1941 at the latest.
This victory was moreover confirmed by a British editorial in January 1946.

What additional use could we then have for a 2025 perspective that aims to link these 1925-1941 (or even 1914-1941) developments to present-day Leica production?
In my opinion developments after, say, 1940 belong to another chapter of photographic history.

After 1940 the revolutionary standards of 1920s (24x36mm, 6x6cm) were becoming main stream themselves.
Bigger negative sizes increasingly became niche markets.
(The exceptions are press cameras in the USA and cheap 6x9 cameras.)

After 1940 the revolutionary camera designs (Leica, Rollei, Kine Exakta) are improved by the originators themselves.
(To some extent this is a follow-up of the features war of the 1930s). 

After 1940 one can also see that original designs are copied and improved upon by new competitors.

As to the survival of the Leica up to the present day, one has to realise that this is largely due to British and American decisions in the period 1944-1946.
In 1944-1945 the Leitz factory in Wetzlar could easily have been destroyed by British or American bombs, much like the Ihagee factory in Dresden in February 1945.
After May 1945 the American army could have decided to provide home-coming soldiers with American-made Leicas (Kardon) instead of giving priority to Leicas produced in the American Zone.  
Had contemporary American politicians decided otherwise (America-first), then it would have been very difficult for Leitz to survive as a camera producer and to release its next stroke of genius: the Leica M3 of 1953.

To be continued. 

Roland

[pgk]

On 8/8/2025 at 8:03 AM, Roland Zwiers said:

This miniature revolution already began in the 1880s – 1890s on the back of the new gelatine-based light-sensitive silver emulsions.

Which is also when new glass types with higher refractive indexes also became available (Jena glass). So the revolution had other influences. And with the new glass types, new designs such as Taylor's Cooke Triplet appeared. I have an early Cooke lens (most likely first half of the 1890s; difficult to date precisely) and it is still a very usable lens, even on 35mm format although it was intended for 1/4 plate. Add to this the requirement for high quality cine lenses (with small coverage) and so the technolgies of film and optics mutually supported each other, and probably gave added impetus to the still camera miniature revolution too.

Edited August 15 by pgk

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Roland Zwiers]

PGK,

You are absolutely right.

As soon as there was a demand for ever smaller cameras, many complementary innovations played a role.
This was mutually reinforcing.

It was not only films and lenses, but also shutters, fine-grain developers, suitable enlargers and projectors, and so on.

Roland 
 

 

[willeica]

An interesting item here with perhaps a long distance relationship to M875. I'm going to ask around about this and report back.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/213401126_camera-according-to-us-pat-1527285-1920-onwards-godorf-godorf/?utm_source=LA_Transactional&utm_medium=email&utm_content=item&utm_campaign=Trigger-LotsBrowsedTest-B

William