Book Recommendation

[kenneth]

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I recently picked up via Abe books UK a first edition of Stefan Krukenhauser's 1930's book Snow Canvas (Ski Men and Mountains with a Leica). In it he talks about his experiences in the Tirol area photographing skiing and mountaineering. A really good read and a fair amount of toned plates. He advocates tele lenses for mountain photography which from my experience is where we differ but it is interesting to read someone else's point of view

[lars_bergquist]

'Kruck' was of course one of the genuine Leica pioneers. His use of 9 and 13.5cm lenses on Alpine landscapes must be seen in the light of his day. Film materials of that time did not hold much fine detail. That made long lenses, not short, the best lenses for a far view. A 3.5cm Elmar wan not much good for landscapes. It was for 'foreground with background'. This is how e.g. Paul Wolff used it at about the same time. See his 'Meine Erfahrungen mit der Leica' (I have the 2nd edition, 1939).

 

Leitz did honour Kruck. The first M3, issued in 1954, bore the serial no. 700,001, which is of course perfectly logical -- serial no. sequences do normally start with a one. But in 1955, Kruckenhauser was given a M3 as manufactured at that time, but it had been given the number 700,000. This M3 is now in a collection in Bangkok. I hope the keeper watches out for fungus.

 

The old man from (and of) the Age