"I am not a fan of Leica. Their only real innovation was the
introduction of this *great* 35mm cinema format for photography."
Many people think Leitz invented the 35mm camera, but this is not true.
Their _real_ innovation was something much more significant.
35mm photography actually dates from the end of the 19th century. It
started when someone had the bright idea of using surplus and scrap ends
of movie film to take still pictures. The format was the same as movies
(18x24, what we would call "half-frame"), and you could buy systems in
which the camera did double-duty as part of the enlarger. But the
relatively poor quality of the film and lenses meant that the early 35mm
cameras were hardly ready to set the photographic world on fire.
Flash forward to the 1920s. Oskar Barnack, a Leitz engineer, was
experimenting with 35mm movie film. It occurred to him that he could
evaluate the film more easily if he use a double-frame format.
This was the beginning of the Leica (LEItz CAmera). It was significant
for these reasons:
1. It established 24x36 as the standard 35mm format.
2. It was the first miniature camera to have a highly corrected lens.
3. ...and most-important of all... It was the first _precision_ camera
-- of any size or format. Prior to the Leica, cameras were made of wood
or stamped metal. The Leica was the first to have a precision, die-cast
metal body.
These advances made it possible for 35mm images to be of decent quality,
making the Leica the first truly successful 35mm camera.
It might be odd to think so, but cameras as different as the Hasselblad
and the Olympus Stylus are (more or less) direct descendants of the
Leica.
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