The history of Leica cameras began when 19 1 1 oskar barnack (see photo) became the research director of Lai Ci. Oskar barnack is a talented mechanical engineer and an avid photographer. He likes to take pictures with a heavy camera and tripod, and he prefers to shoot short films with a movie machine. At that time, he was addicted to the film machine, so he was familiar with the 35 mm film used for making movies. In order to be portable, he specially designed a small camera that can shoot 24x36mm film using 35mm film as a reference when shooting film exposure.
I didn't expect the film taken by this camera to have a good effect after amplification. And its lightness and dexterity made him fondle admiringly. Therefore, he began to consider developing a new generation of cameras that are easy to carry, using 35 mm film with perforations. And this one uses a 42 mm lens. With a shutter speed of L/l/40s, a "photometer" that can take 40 negatives became the first 135 camera in the world. At that time, there was no brand for cameras. Later, people called it "Ul-Leica". In fact, oskar barnack was not the first person to think of making a small practical camera, but he was a mechanical engineer. He was lucky to find a job in a company that could give full play to his talents. This is the difference between him and those people.
Barnach hand-made two (some say three) prototypes (one of which is still kept in the museum of Leica factory; The other one used by Barnah was kept in Munich Museum and auctioned after the war), which was not out of the need of work, but out of his hobby and convenience. But at that time, ernst Letz, the boss of Leeds Company, was quite appreciative of his subordinates' "hobbies". The street view of Wezler town (see photo) taken by Barnah in 19 14 with "prototype Leica" is still clear and moving. At that time, it was not easy for photographers who used large-format cameras to accept such small cameras.
Moreover, due to the outbreak of World War I, the camera could not be put into production. As soon as the war ended, Ernst Lai Ci began to put the camera designed by Barnah into production. It was not until the 1925 Leipzig Spring Expo ten years later that 30 A-type Leica cameras were officially launched. However, many photographers are still skeptical and unacceptable. This kind of camera looks too small, but it can be put in your pocket and is very attractive. It enables photographers to take pictures in a new dynamic way without being bound by tripods.
Leica I camera and accessories (including: camera bag, viewfinder, hood, cable releaser) and the famous Leica Manual written by Fritz Weiss. As a matter of fact, since 1924, Lai Ci factory has manufactured a Leica A (also known as Leica I, see figure) based on the "prototype Leica". The Leica A is equipped with a Elma lens with a focal length of 50 mm and a diameter of F3.5 The lens is fixed on the fuselage and cannot be replaced; There is no distance measuring device in the fuselage, so we should focus on the distance visually when taking pictures.
The main feature of Leica B is that the focal plane shutter is replaced by compur shutter, and the shutter speed ranges from 1 sec to 1/300 sec. This is the only model with a mirror shutter in Leica's history, and it was later called "Kangban Leica" by camera collectors. The production of Leica B lasted for five years, and about 1500 vehicles were produced. 1930 C Leica came out. An important step taken by Leica C is that the lens is no longer fixed on the fuselage, but can be replaced. The matching Elma wide-angle lens with a focal length of 35 mm and F3.5 and the Elma telephoto lens with a focal length of 135 mm and F4.5 also appeared at the same time. Leica A, B and C, as the first stage of Leica's development, are collectively called Leica I. ..
From 19 14 to 1923, the "prototype Leica" * * * is made of 3 1 set, and the fuselage number starts from 100. During the period of 1924- 1925, under the guidance of typical German ideas, Lai Ci factory produced more than 800 Type A Leica with the fuselage number 1000. The name Lei-Ca is a combination of Leitz and camera (LEI-CA). At first, it was also composed of the pronunciation of "LECA", but it was changed to "Leica" because it was easily confused with the pronunciation of "EKA" camera produced by French Kades company and introduced by 1924, and 35 mm non-porous film was used. So the name of the camera is later than the name of the camera. Although the brand of the camera was identified as "Leica", it was never engraved on the camera. It was not until 1932 that the Leica II dual viewfinder camera was engraved with this name. Previously, the names on the camera were "ERNST LEITZ WETZLER" and the letters "D R P" (abbreviation of Deutsche Reichspatent, meaning "German patent").
"Leica" not only represents a new camera model, but also the name of the first photography system (including camera magnifying glass and projector) at that time. For more than 80 years, the development of Leica cameras has demonstrated the historical track of camera development in the world. At the same time, many photographers use Leica cameras to record countless important moments and ordinary lives in human life. Therefore, the invention of Leica camera not only promoted the development of human photography history, but also made great contributions to the development of human society.
1954 Leica's epoch-making 135 camera was born. This is Leica M3. Since M3, the M2, M4, M4-2, M4-P, M6 and M6 TTL introduced by Leica have almost all evolved and improved according to the basic design concept in 1954. Moreover, the appearance of M3 also established Leica's unshakable position in the continuous ranging camera. M3 surpasses the original design of Leica spiral camera, becomes more perfect and accurate, and its mechanical and optical performance has been significantly improved. As the first pull-out camera, M3 greatly improved the speed of lens replacement, which enabled photographers to improve the shooting speed to a greater extent and further reduced the damage rate of lens screws. At the same time, M3 also adopted a viewfinder that automatically corresponds to the frame line for the first time, including 50mm, 90mm and 135mm, and the design concept of controlling all shutter speeds, including the B door, with only one rotating button was recognized by many mechanical camera manufacturers and has been used since then, which has become a major feature of Leica mechanical cameras.
Leica M6 is considered by many Leica fans as a classic model after M3. It is not only the only all-titanium camera in Leica M series, but also known as "the strongest continuous ranging camera in camera history" and the highest-selling model in Leica camera sales history. Leica M7 can be regarded as an electronic version of M6. Leica M7 adopts the horizontal shutter of electronic insects, adds the AE exposure mode with aperture priority, has the shutter back flash function, adds the ultra-high speed flash function, and is equipped with a DX code recognition system, which can display some shooting information in the viewfinder. These have brought us many surprises.
With the rapid development of digital cameras, Leica has introduced a traditional camera with manual focusing, which is gradually out of step with the big army. The popularity of digital cameras has robbed most of the image equipment market. Leica has also discouraged many photographers because of its high price. Leica's high-quality and expensive camera is always perfect on every plane, every button and every seam, but in order to adapt to the digital age, Leica must also fight for survival.
After cooperating with Panasonic, Leica introduced several retro digital cameras with Leica charm with Panasonic, which is good at electronic products. It is not difficult to find that C-LUX 1, D-LUX3, V-LUX 1 and Digitlux 3 are Leica versions of Panasonic FX0 1, LX2, FZ50 and Panasonic's first SLR digital camera L 1. No matter its function, features or design, Leica copied Panasonic's model and replaced it with its own all-metal LOGO, which became a brand-new digital camera of Leica. However, the price of several thousand yuan higher than that of Panasonic models makes many consumers dare not compliment. A Leica brand LOGO makes Leica's digital cameras and Panasonic's digital cameras have such a big price that many consumers must not understand. Perhaps this is the so-called brand effect.
C-LUX 1 adopts a 6-megapixel CCD, equipped with a 3.6-fold optical zoom lens, with a wide-angle end of 28mm and a 2.5-inch LCD screen on the back of the fuselage. It is the Leica version of Panasonic FX0 1, with wide angle, anti-shake, macro, thinness and large screen. D-LUX3 adopts 16:9 CCD, which is a Leica version of1000000 pixel LX2 introduced by Panasonic. With 4x optical zoom lens, it also has MAGE O.I.S anti-shake function. The 16:9CCD is used, and the LCD on the back of the fuselage is also 2.8 inches 16:9. Give users greater visual enjoyment.
V-LUX 1 brand is Panasonic FZ50, which adopts10 megapixel CCD and 12 times optical zoom Leica lens, and has the anti-shake function of MAGE O.I.S with Panasonic characteristics. Digitlux 3 comes from Panasonic SLR digital camera DMC-L 1 and is also a loyal supporter of 4/3 system. 7.5 megapixel Live MOS can realize LCD framing, but its appearance is closer to Leica M series. However, the price of Panasonic L 1 has been difficult to climb, and the price of Leica DIGILUX3 in Hong Kong was as high as 20,000 yuan.
The long-awaited digital version of Leica M8 has finally been listed as scheduled, and it has become a powerful weapon for Leica to enter the digital field. The M8 adopts an APS-H frame 10000 megapixel Kodak CCD, and the magnification is 1.3 times. At the highest shutter speed, the M8 is increased from11000 seconds of the original M7 to 1/8000 seconds, and a group is added to the photometry. M8 not only ensures the original manual design, but also ensures the compatibility with Leica lenses manufactured after 1954. The lens interface of M8 is equipped with six sensing points. As long as a lens with six black and white contacts is connected, information such as lens model can be obtained and added to EXIF information. It should be said that Leica M8 has brought us a brand-new Leica digital era. Different from Panasonic's previous OEM design, M8 has Leica's unique charm. However, the listing price in Hong Kong is as high as HK$ 20,000.
In 2009, Leica introduced Quan Huafu's M9, which has the same body size as M8, but has more compatible lenses, and wide-angle lenses are more useful. This19 megapixel CCD from Kodak improves Leica M Digital. The initial price was about 65,000 yuan.
The characteristics of Leica camera's durability and excellent performance were fully reflected during the Second World War. Leica became the first choice for military cameras and an important shooting tool for war correspondents at that time. With the constant wars around the world and the harsh environment, the lightweight and sturdy Leica 135 camera has become their right-hand man. However, with the development of the times, today's world has long been far away from the era of chaos and war. Lighter, smaller and more affordable digital cameras have become a necessity in people's daily life, and luxurious Leica has gradually become a treasure in the collection cabinet.
As photographers, we naturally hope that Leica can play a better role in the digital age. Strict and sophisticated workmanship from Germany has always been the focus of people's pursuit. Maybe Leica is also trying to change this situation. I hope the future of Leica is no longer just a collection in the cupboard, it can bring us a new Leica.