[Leica] HCB negative

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Henning is right! I stand corrected. I based my original conclusion on
measuring the image on an iPad. But enlarged on a 20" screen, and making
allowance for the foreshortening, I estimate that the negative strip is 27.5
mm wide. A row of perforations could have been snipped off and still leave
the full image frame. Why that was done is hard to say. Damage? Stripped
sprocket holes?

The fact that the film was snipped does not mean that the negative shown was
not a copy. E. Leitz (remember them?) made several devices for duplicating
film strips including the Elida Film Printer, the Eldur Contact Printer, and
the Kopat Combination Printer. One of the major scientific uses of the Leica
camera was copying rare artifacts and manuscripts in situ. Leitz itself
suggested that distribution prints of rarities be produced from copy
negatives to avoid excessive handling and potential damage to irreplaceable
original images. The HCB jump negative probably fits in that category.
Interestingly Leitz never suggested blowing up the negative to 4x5 size to
make copy prints. The idea probably would have gone against the 35mm bias of
the company. A full description of Leica copying technique is spelled out in
Morgan and Lester's "Leica Manual," especially the editions published before
1950 when specialized microfilm copying equipment became widely available.

Larry Z