Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric, I didn't mean to imply that the Ermanox was more important in the history of the miniature camera than the Leica. Quite the opposite was true. Nevertheless for several years the Ermanox was more significant in establishing the photo- journalist as the candid recorder of the rich and powerful at work and play. The high resolving power of the Elmar lens was far in advance of the resolving power of films of that day and the f3.5 speed of the Elmar was significantly slower than the f1.8 of the Ernostar lens fitted to the Ermanox. Remember the year was 1925. Leica did not offer faster lenses until the Hektor f2.5 of 1930 and the Summar f2.0 of1933, both lenses known for their fuzziness at wide apertures. Leica films were relatively slow movie emulsions. Since movie cameras rarely use a shutter speed much higher than 1/30 second, film speeds equivalent to today's ASA 25 and 50 were the norm. The Ermanox, with its 4.5 x 6 cm plate required less enlargement and could use faster but grainier films. The Ermanox reigned supreme as a photo-journalist's candid camera from its introduction in 1924 until about 1931. The Berliner Illustrirte Zietung made its reputation as the People Magazine of 30s Germany with Erich Salomon's candid snapshots of statesmen and other celebrities in unguarded moments, especially at international political conferences. Aristide Briand called him the "King of the candids." This was probably due as much to Salomon's ingenuity at sneaking into secret sessions from which photographers were barred as it was to his equipment, although the f1.8 lens certainly didn't hurt. The use of the Ermanox in preference to the Leica in the 1925-30 period was due, in part, to the short deadline requirements of newspaper work. In college I worked as a photographic stringer for the Boston Globe. Although I owned and used a Leica, I was required to use a 4x5 Speed Graphic with sheet film for quick breaking newspaper assignments. Why? Because the sheet film could be developed and fixed in four minutes, often in the taxi on the way to the newspaper, and used to make a plate while dripping wet. The negs could be edited without enlargement and the image could be cropped to one or two column size with a scissors. We could, and often did, go from shutter click to finished paper in 30 minutes. If you are good and lucky, one exposure is all you need. Thirty six is overkill. LarryZ