[Leica] Re: Bugeyes and pre-Leicas

[LRZeitlin <LRZeitlin@aol.com>]

Two brief answers relevant to questions and comments.
1. The bugeyes on the 35mm f3.5 Summaron can be removed simply by pulling up a
plunger and sliding them off their dovetail mount. This leaves the naked lens
with a couple of peculiar looking mini horns on its head but otherwise
unimpaired. It activates the 50mm frame on the M3, since there is no 35mm
frame, however it can be used on other M series cameras with a frame preview
lever simply by moving the lever to the right position and wedging a paper
match behind it to hold the right frame. I use it on my CL, merely regrading
the limits of the finder window as the frame. 

2. There were a number of 35mm still cameras using perforated movie film prior
to the Leica. The first patent for one was issued to Leo, Audobard, and
Baradat in England in 1908. The first full scale production camera was the
Homeos, a stereo camera, produced by Jules Richard in 1913. It took stereo
pairs, 18x24 mm, with two Tessar lenses and was similar to a primordial Stereo
Realist. It was sold until 1920. The first 35mm big seller was the American
Tourist Multiple, also appearing in 1913. It contained a 50 foot magazine with
enough film for 750 half frame exposures and could be fitted with an f2.8
Steinheil lens. The camera cost $175 in 1913. By today's standards that's the
equal of a $3000 Leica. The first camera to take full frame 24x36mm exposures
seems to be the Simplex, introduced in the U.S. in 1914. It took either 800
half frame or 400 full frame shots on 50 ft. rolls. The Minigraph, by Levy-
Roth of Berlin, another half frame small camera was sold in Germany in 1915.
The patent for the Debrie Sept camera, a combination 35mm still and movie
camera was issued in 1918, but was not marketed until 1922. Finally the Furet
camera, made and sold in France in 1923 took full frame 24x36mm negatives and
was the first cheap small 35mm camera to look vaguely like today's models.

Although Oskar Barnack designed his prototype camera around 1913, the first
experimental production run of ur-Leicas (Serial No. 100 to 130) did not take
place until 1923. Full scale production of the Leica did not begin until 1925.
By that time there were at least a dozen other 35mm cameras available. The
success of the Leica was attributed by contemporary photographic writers, not
only to its small size and to the precision of its construction, but to its
relatively high price which established it as a "prestige" item among both
photographers and people of fashion. Obviously the concept of negative price
elasticity was as prevalent in the flapper era as it is now.
"It costs more but I'm worth it!"
LarryZ