[Leica] Computer at Leica

[red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone)]

Fascinating.... The Z5 ran using relays for computation.  Vacuum tubes were
considered too unreliable at 50% downtime.

I guess this is definitive.. the Nocti was designed using a computer, as the
Computer use was "common" at Leica in the 50's, we can assume it was really
common in the 60's.

Frank Filippone
red735i@earthlink.net

Since there exists a recent thread concerning the Noctilux and whether it
was already done using ray-tracing on electronic computer: The answer is
yes.

Leica introduced its first computer in 1952, a Zuse Z5:
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/%7Ezuse/Konrad_Zuse/en/rechner_z5.html

It was featuring a CPU clock speed of 40 Hz! Weight: 2 tons. The
dual range 2/50 Summicron, the Elmar 2.8/50 and the Summilux 
1.4/50 (first version) were all computed on the Z5.

On a German discussion board I found some additional information:

In Midland, the first computer was an IBM 604, purchased in 1954. They
consumed 150.000 punch cards per month (about 10 cards were needed
to compute a single lens surface). From 1958, an IBM 650 took over, 
which was leased at IBM in Toronto. In the same year, Wetzlar purchased 
a British  Elliott 402F for its ray tracing. The same machine was 
then obtained for Midland as well and the Wetzlar one remained in 
use until 1970. It is obvious that the Noctilux was developed using
this Elliot computer.

Best regards,
Holger