Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/19

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Subject: [Leica] EVEREST: the REAL answer ...
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 18:54:36 -0500

At 05:47 PM 1998-11-19 -0500, Ernie Nitka, a normally more careful soul,
wrote:

>We do know that Contax was the camera of Sir Edmund Hilary/
>Norgay expedition of '53.

First, this was Contax RF, not the current plastic SLR thingy.
Interestingly, all of the cameras used by the official photographers were
Prewar, with Prewar uncoated lenses:  Time-Life gave the expedition its
stock when it reloaded with the Postwar IIa/IIIa Contax family in '52 and
early '53.

Second, THE camera, of course, was that carried by Sir Edmund to the top.
That was a Prewar Kodak AG (ex-Nagel Kamerwerke) Retina, Stuttgart Type
119, with a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar.  The camera was later stolen from Sir
Edmund, but its legacy lives on in that one stunning photo of Tenzing at
the top.

Third, the prior record-holder for the topmost landborne photo ever taken
was on 4 June 1924 when Howard Somervell (and why didn't HE become a "Sir"?
 Shame on you, England!)  This was a shot of then-Lt Col Edward Norton
proceeding along the Yellow Band towards the Great Couloir at about 27,000
feet.  Shot on Kodak 127 film on a Kodak VP with a B&L-licensed,
Zeiss-designed "Anastigmat", Zeiss's original name for the Tessar.  This is
the camera later lost with Mallory & Irvine which we hope to recover next
Spring.  Stay tuned for developments!

Fourth, the initial, and brief, appearance of Leica on the world's ultimate
mountaineering challenge came only in the '35 expedition when Michael
Spender (the brother of the noted poet, Stephen Spender) carried a IIIa up
to the lower slopes, though he spent his time photogrammetricizing instead
of climbing.  Leica was not to reappear on Everest to my knowledge until
the Canadian Expedition of '82.  

Leica on Everest, indeed!  Sniff!  Zeiss was there first, of course.  Even
the "International Climb" of '72, where the standard camera was the Rollei
35, got a Zeiss lens.  Need more be said?

Ha-RUMPH!

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!