Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/07/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Roger Let's put the entire quotation into cyber-space "It might therefore be worth mentioning, that at Leitz Wetzlar one of the very first programme controlled computers, ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR OPTICAL CALCULATIONS, was installed as early as 1951" (Emphasis added). Rogliatti, Leica and Leicaflex Lenses, 2nd edition, p. 8. Your suggestion that this was used for book-keeping baffles me -- why would Leitz, of all folks, take a computer designed for lens formulation and use this for book-keeping? Further, Emil Keller -- who worked for Leitz at this point and who was great friends with the family -- has also related that computer-produced lens designs began in the early 1950's. I believe the 2/50 Summicron was probably the final design conceived without the aid of computers. Marc Marc James Small FAX: +540/343-7315 Thalla, a Bhallagair!