Leitz, a manufacturer of microscopes, nevertheless decided to establish what was a completely new branch of production for his company, photographic equipment – not least for social reasons. It must be considered that the factory owner’s decision was made at a time of hyperinflation and extreme unemployment. Only one year later, Leitz was already offering the first enlarger for variable formats and a projector for film strips. When the Leica was first presented to the public at the Leipzig spring fair in 1925, the Leitz programme already offered a choice of two simple enlargers for 6 × 9 cm prints and the 9 × 14 cm postcard format. The industrialist and successful factory owner not only knew full well that such a camera needed to be extremely precisely engineered and required an outstanding lens, he also knew that it must be accompanied by a completely new range of equipment dedicated to the 24 × 36 mm film format – for instance, a special cassette for the film and, above all, devices such as enlargers and projectors for the reproduction of the results from the negatives, which are almost as small as a postage stamp. Īlthough Ernst Leitz had recognised the trend towards a small, light and highly portable camera quite early, he also knew that the camera alone was not enough. This book, which is printed in German, rounds off the celebration of 100 years of Leica photography and will be available from book stores starting on. Today, 90 years later, Knut Kühn-Leitz has published a new biography of his grandfather with contributions from numerous experts. We will take the risk,’ Ernst Leitz made a groundbreaking decision that would make history as an almost impossible venture and decisively influence the photo-technical and photochemical industry segments for almost 75 years.
With the momentous words: ‘My decision is final. Leica Camera AG is celebrating a double anniversary in 2014: it has been 100 years since Oskar Barnack (1879–1936) completed the first model of the Leica in March 1914, and 90 years have passed since, in June 1924, Ernst Leitz II (1871–1956) made the decision to begin production of the camera with a lens designed by Max Berek.
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