© jmse
By José Manuel Serrano Esparza
One of the highlights of
the LHSA Annual Meeting held in Wetzlar (Germany) in 2010 was the Leica M2
Eisenhower shown there by his owner, the legendary maestro Rolf Fricke, Past
President of the LHSA, Cofounder of the Leica Historical Society of America (1968),
Leica Historical Society United Kingdom (1969) and Leica Historica (Germany,
1975, along with Theo Kisselbach and Georg Mann) and Regional Director of
Marketing Communications at the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester (New York).
© jmse
The presence of this
historical photographic tool inside the Wetzlarer Hof hotel was a relish for
every attendee who had the chance of beholding this gorgeous 24 x 36 mm format
rangefinder camera serial number 980 000 from 1960 (which was given away that year to United States President Dwight David Eisenhower by Dr. Ernst Leitz III) in near mint condition, working
flawlessly at every diaphragm and shutter speed, and keep it between his/her
hands while turning the scalloped focusing ring of the 7 elements in 5 groups
Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 DR serial number 1605950 from 1958, searching for
precision.
Rolf Fricke
holding the Leica M2 chrome camera showing its back area with the letters
D.D.E. corresponding to Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United
States between 1953 and 1961.
© jmse
Rolf Fricke, who has been
a towering figure of Leica world for almost sixty years and is presently the
greatest expert on earth regarding the history of the German photographic
brand, its cameras, lenses, accessories and many more things, along with James
Lager and Lars Netopil, began his passion for Leica in 1938.
© jmse
Front view of the Leica M2
Eisenhower, showing the 7 elements in 5 groups Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Dual Range
lens with its knurled focusing ring and the back coupling area for a special
removable spectacle viewfinder giving the correct parallax adjusted field and
providing extra focusing travel for very near distances up to 48 cm, while it
is used without the finder for normal subjects. The mechanical construction of
this lens is impressive and still to beat in the scope of Leica M primes,
sixty-three years after it was launched into market in 1956. In addition,
though it is a single coated lens, its resolving power is amazing, around 105
lines/mm.
On top front of the camera
are from left to right : the rangefinder window, the illuminating window for
finder frames and the viewfinder window.
On the right of the lens
is the self timer, absent in early models, an optional extra in Leica M2 models with numbers between 949101-949400 and built into every M2 camera from number 1004151.
Though the Leica M3 is the
best 24 x 36 mm format rangefinder camera ever made (along with the Nikon SP)
with its unbeatable 0.92x magnification exceedingly brilliant and sharp
viewfinder, particularly in symbiosis with standard 50 mm highly luminous
lenses,
German
advertisement of the Leica M2 highlighting the three different frame-lines for
35 mm, 50 mm and 90 mm lenses. Id est, it was from scratch a camera
straightforwardly optimized for its use in photojournalism, particularly with
35 mm wideangle lenses, though it could also get excellent results with
standard 50 mm lenses and even 90 mm lenses. As a matter of fact, Alberto Korda
made on March 5, 1960 in Havana (Cuba) his famous picture " Guerrillero Heroico " of Ernesto
Che Guevara with a Leica M2 coupled to an Elmarit-M 90 mm f/2.8 lens.
© jmse
the Leica M2 is also an
extraordinary camera and the forefather of all the 24 x 36 mm format Leica rangefinder
cameras manufactured after it, both analogue and digital ones, in terms of the
range-viewfinders used, since their VFs are based on the one designed by Willi
Keiner,
Optical scheme
of the VF/RF of the Leica M2 devised by Willi Keiner.
who adapted its optics for
the 0.72x magnification viewfinder of the Leica M2.
And there were two
significant reasons for it:
a) The production cost of
the Leica M3 was huge, to such an extent that only its fabulous 0.92 x
viewfinder and its rangefinder, made with top-notch glass and very complex, had
a similar price to the cream of the crop of professional 24 x 36 mm format
cameras from other respected brands at the time.
b) The 0.92x magnification
viewfinder of the Leica M3 (sporting brightline viewfinder frames for 50 mm, 90
mm and 135 mm lenses) didn´t make possible to generate a bright-line frame for
35 mm wideangle lenses, needing the use of expensive optical viewfinder
attachments to get it, which substantially increased the weight of any 35 mm
lens.
c) The Leica M2 was
launched into market in 1958 because Ernst Leitz II gleaned a lot of feedback
from professional photographers who were going to mostly use 35 mm wideangle
lenses and needed a more affordable camera that kept on preserving amazing
building quality and optomechanical performance.
Advertisement
made by E. Leitz Inc New York in 1958 to promote the new Leica M2 rangefinder
camera, specially underscoring its built-in luminous frame for wideangle 35 mm
lenses (non existing in the Leica M3), which turn it into a reference-class
photographic tool in the scope of photojournalism.
This was the key factor
for the German photographic firm to focus production on the Leica M2 and
subsequent models of Leica rangefinder cameras featuring 0.72x magnification
viewfinders, because from late fifties it was evident that the 50 mm standard
lenses (which had been mostly used in the halcyon days of black and white
photojournalism during the second half of twenties, thirties, forties and first
half of fifties) were being replaced by the 35 mm wideangle objectives as more
versatile and main lenses in both black and white and color photojournalism.
Something that was greatly
enhanced from 1958 onwards with the launching into market by Ernst Leitz Canada
and Ernst Leitz Wetzlar of highly luminous 35 mm wideangle lenses like the 8
elements in 6 groups Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 1st Version SAWOM (1958-1979)
designed by Walter Mandler, the 6 elements in 4 groups Summaron-M 35 mm f/2.8
(1958-1974) delivering exceptional sharpness for the time and featuring a
wonderful focusing ring smoothness and precision, comparable to the 6 elements
in 5 groups Asahi Takumar 55 mm f/1.8 Super-Multi-Coated with metallic
scalloped focusing ring in M42 mount (1971-1972), and the 7 elements in 5
groups Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4 (1960-1995) designed by Walter Mandler.
Not in vain, many foremost
photojournalists got during sixties and seventies a number of iconic pictures
with Leica M2 rangefinder cameras attached to highly luminous 35 mm M lenses,
like Nick Ut´s Napalm Girl on June 8, 1972 in Trang Bang during the Vietnam
War, Susan Meiselas Cocktail Molotov´s Man Pablo Arauz in the village of Estelí
on July 16, 1979 during the Nicaraguan War, Joel Meyerowitz´s Fallen Man in
Paris in 1967, Catherine Leroy´s pictures of corpsman Vernon Wike attending a
dying G.I during the Battle of Hill 881 in full Vietnam War in 1967, Sean
Flynn´s pictures of Vietnam and Cambodia with Leica M2 and 7 elements in 5
groups Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4 (1961-1995), Bruno Barbey´s picture of Italian
old women walking during a procession in the town of Trapani (Sicily) in 1964
with his Leica M2 black paint and Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 made in Wetzlar, some
of the 1989 pictures made in Romania by the New York photographer Joseph
Rodríguez, some images made during sixties by Ralph Gibson with a Leica M2 he
bought in 1961, many of the pictures made with two Leica M2 cameras by Ian
Berry in Sharpeville (1960, with fleeing protesters running for their lives as
police opened fire, using Ilford FP3 b & w film) and Zululand in 1961 (A
trading store warehouse being used as a mission doctor´s clinic, with Ilford
HP5 b & w film), Vladimir Panasenko´s images of Mid Market Street made by
him in San Francisco from eighties with eight different Leica M2 cameras, and
many others.
© jmse
LHSA member Dave Berry
from Frisco (Texas) looking through the 0.72x magnification viewfinder of Rolf
Fricke´s Leica M2 Eisenhower inside the Wetzlarer Hof Hotel during the Leica
Historical Society of America Annual Meeting held in that wonderful village of
Germany in 2010.
© jmse
David Farkas, owner of
Leica Store Miami, member of the LHSA and a recognized international expert on
all kind of Leica photographic gear, cameras, lenses, accessories, etc, looking
through the 0.72x magnification VF of the Leica M2 Eisenhower inside the Wetzlarer
Hof Hotel during the Leica Historical Society of America Annual Meeting held in
Wetzlar in 2010. The cosmetic appearance of this camera, fifty years after its
construction, goes on being a riveting sight. Needless to say that everything
in it works like a charm, without any programmed obsolescence.
© jmse
Top area of the Leica M2
Eisenhower, showing from left to right : the extensible rewind knob, the
accessory shoe, the shutter speed dial ranging from 1 second to 1/1000 second +
B, the film transport lever, the shutter release button and the film counter.
The mechanical construction of this camera is superb, hand made, with top and
bottom brass plates.
© jmse
THE ULTIMATE FILM ERA
STREET SNAPPER
That way has the Leica M2
accurately been defined by Thomas Pindelski.
And he is absolutely
right, to such an extent that even currently, this camera goes on being
frequently used by a number of internationally recognized photographers
excelling at that photographic genre like Eric Kim, Chris Cooper (getting
pictures of Melbourne and its surroundings with a Leica M2 coupled to a
Voigtländer Nokton 35 mm f/1.4 lens and using Kodak Tri-x 400 b & w film),
Zhang Weiren in China (getting pictures oozing his subjective way of expressing
the objective world he photographs, in addition to deeming composition of a
picture as a priority in mind, leveraging his ability to draw as much potential
as feasible from the Leica M2 virtues in this regard), Thilo Remini (an
Austrian photojournalist) and others.
Such is the stellar
performance of this camera when it comes to doing street photography,
particularly in synergy with 35 mm wideangle lenses, thanks to its excellent
and highly resistant to flare 0.72x magnification viewfinder enabling a very
convenient and crisp view to photographers, the huge discretion enhanced by the
whispering sound generated on pressing the shutter release button (because the
Leica M2, in the same way as every Leica M rangefinder camera, lacks any
swiveling mirror), the incredibly short shutter lag (time elapsed between the
pressing of the shutter release button and the exposure itself) of 12
milliseconds, clearly beating in this regard the shutter lag of the best
professional digital cameras of 2019 in different formats, its unobtrusive look
as a further fundamental trait to go unnoticed, its silky smooth operation, its
impressive reliability (it's an utterly mechanic camera that doesn´t need any
batteries).
It´s true that it lacks
any built-in light meter, but you can use the sunny f/16 rule, and as explained
by Eric Kim, if you are good at metering with your eyes, this camera is a good
bargain.
Because though products of
this level of excellence are not cheap, the Leica M2 price/performance ratio is
really difficult to beat.
© jmse
Back area of the Leica M2
Eisenhower showing the finder eyepiece, the electronic flash synchronizing
outlet, the flash bulb synchronizing outlet and the film indicator.
The letters D.D.E.
(standing for Dwight David Eisenhower) are engraved on top right.
The Leica M2 Eisenhower
was donated in 2017 to the Ernst Leitz Museum for Photography and Photographic
Technology at Leitz Park (Wetzlar) by Rolf Fricke, along with his extensive
collection including many other valuable items like his Leica Null Number 113,
one of the 25 preproduction series units manufactured in 1923 and whose aim was
to implement a market research prior to the introduction of the Leica I (Model
A) at the Leipzig Spring Fair of 1925.
However incredible it may
seem, 24 x 36 mm format analogue Leica cameras in both LTM39 and M Mount have
experienced a significant renaissance during the last ten years, to such an
extent that today in 2019 there´s a very active and profitable worldwide market
niche with this kind of first-class optomechanical photographic products,
thanks to the strenuous labor of highly experienced collectors, world-class
mavens and firms that right off the bat relied on these masterpieces of
craftsmanship : Rolf Fricke, James Lager, Paul-Henry van Hasbroeck, Hans
Ploegmakers, Lars Netopil, Ottmar Michaely, Shinichi Nakamura, Holger Daberkow, Roger Hicks, Carl
Merkin, Will Wright. Duncan Wong, Japan Camera Hunter, Peter Coeln´s Vienna
Leica Shop, Tamarkin Camera, Jo Geier Mint & Rare, Solms Camera Fair (the
best one in the world devoted to classic Leica gear), Wetzlar Camera Auctions, Eric Lam, Gilbert Yuen of Fotopia in Hong-Kong, Frankie Lee of M & K Cameras in
Hong-Kong, Breguet Camera in Hong-Kong, Douglas So with his wonderful art deco
F11 Fotomuseum (opened in 2014 and containing a wide range of landmark and rare
Leica cameras, lenses and nearly 1,500 photobooks, including oodles of signed
editions and maquettes, as well as holding great photographic exhibitions),
Peter Loy, Wolfgang Sauer, Henry Chau, Claus Sassenberg, John Singleton, Raymond Piganiol,
William Fagan, Ivor and Elaine Cooper, Hamish Gill and others.
Inevitably, a question
arises : What are the reasons for this amazing significant revival of analogue
24 x 36 mm format LTM39 and M Leica cameras using chemical b & w and color
films in full digital era and implemented by people already having superb
digital cameras like the Leica M10, Leica M10-P, Sony A7RIII and others?
There are a number of key
factors:
a) Analogue and digital
photography are not rival or enemy entities, but complementary ones, as
different creative means of artistic expression with also different aesthetics
of image and bokehs.
In addition, the symbiosis
between both of them can yield unique results.
Regarding this, to get
pictures with analogue screwmount Leica rangefinder cameras like a Leica II
(Model D), Leica III, Leica IIIa, Leica IIIf, Leica IIIG, etc, coupled to Leitz
vintage lenses optimized for black and white becomes a real treat for any
enthusiast of photography looking for that kind of image exuding filmic aspect
and particularly excelling at the capture of special atmospheres and nuances.
Something similar happens
when photographing with first-string photographic tools like a Leica M3, M2, M4,
M4-P, M5, M6, M7, MP, etc, coupled to vintage screwmount or M bayonet lenses,
with the added benefit that they can also use the most modern aspherical lenses
delivering second to none values of resolving power and contrast.
Digital photography has
brought with it a tremendous expansion of the possibilities of getting pictures
with analogue Leica cameras made between 1925 and nowadays, thanks to
photographic shops and firms having state-of-the-art professional scanners like
the virtual drum Hasselblad Imacon Flextight X5, sporting a tremendous ability
to draw maximum information feasible and impressive level of detail with both b
& w and colour 35 mm films, with 8,000 dpi digitizations from original
negatives, color depth of 16 bit and a Dmax of almost 5.
And though not reaching
the stratospheric results of the Hasselblad Imacon scanners, there are some
hugely cheaper models from other brands delivering excellent results on
scanning 35 mm negatives and slides, like the
Epson Perfection V800,
Plustek OpticFilm 8200 and
others.
To get such high quality
digital negatives from 24 x 36 mm format film rolls exposed with analogue Leica
cameras (getting splendid results and post production versatility after the
photographic act, through the use of software like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom)
is currently the best and most convenient way to obtain the full potencial of
original chemical emulsions like Fuji Across 100 II, Kodak Ektar 100, Fuji
Velvia 50, Fuji Velvia 100, Kodak Tri-x 400, AgfaPhoto APX 100, Rollei Retro
400S, Ilford Pan F 50 Plus Ilford Delta 100, Ilford FP4 Plus 125, Ilford Delta
400, Ilford XP2, Kodak T-Max 400, Rollei Retro 80S, Fujicolor Pro 400H, Fuji
Provia 100F, Kodak Ektachrome E100 and others, in synergy with the analogue rangefinder Leicas optimized for
handheld shooting and the extraordinary Leica lenses, with an uncommon
connectivity proving the ingenuity and talent of Oskar Barnack, Dr. Ludwig
Leitz, Willi Stein and Hugo Wehrenfenning as diachronic main technological
architects of 24 x 36 mm format analogue Leica cameras.
b) Analogue Leica cameras
are masterpieces of precision and craftsmanship, very well made, with
painstaking attention to detail, hand made, manufactured with the best noble
metals (specially brass and aluminium) and often sublimely chromed.
c) They are utterly
mechanic, very reliable and can be repaired if needed.
d) Their cosmetic
appearance is gorgeous.
e) They boast a legendary
past and are the core of a photographic, cultural and technological heritage
for mankind, since a significant percentage of the most iconic pictures in the
History of Photography were made with these cameras.
f) Its resale value is
very interesting as an investment. As a matter of fact, most times they
increase their purchase worth with years.
g) Though very small and
light, they are very sturdy cameras, able to endure any harsh photographic
environment or extreme temperatures, since they don´t need any batteries.
h) They work flawlessly
and smoothly, in spite of the many decades elapsed since their construction,
and to listen to its purely metallic components in action is an unutterable
pleasure for any lover of traditional mechanics and miniaturized engineering,
paticularly the sound of their horizontally travelling focal plane shutters.
It´s true that special or
rare analogue Leica cameras like the gorgeous Leica M2 Eisenhower can reach
astronomical prices and are nowadays probably the safest investment on earth,
even more than gold and Krugerrands.
But there is an
alternative route for those enthusiasts and collectors of analogue Leica
cameras also having a penchant for getting pictures with them.
It is the way pioneered by
James Munro with his concept of affordable Leica collection, set forth in 1993,
when Sidney Gamsu was president of the LHSA, and according to which it is not
necessary at all to be a very wealthy person to be able to get little by little
a very interesting and usable collection of analogue Leica cameras and lenses,
making photographs with them.
© jmse
And to prove this, he
published the delicious 20 page little book in 21.5 x 28 cm titled " The
Affordable Collection " (with articles written by James Munro and Will
Wright along with pictures made by Lewis M. Tobias), with highly useful advice
on how to do it.
It is the path likewise
chosen by the legendary Leica pundit and photographer Tom Abrahamsson, always
advocating the keynote that Leica cameras are to be used, that he followed up
to his last days in Vancouver getting pictures with his beloved black Leica M2
coupled to a non aspherical 8 elements in 6 groups Voigtländer Nokton Classic
S.C 35 mm f/1.4 lens, a path that has also been adopted by many other Leica
collectors, some of them with a relatively recent background in this scope,
like William Fagan, who began to use Leica cameras eleven years ago, has
currently more than thirty analogue Leicas of different times (even a Leica I
Model A from 1926 coupled to a Leitz Elmar 50 mm f/3.5), is particularly fond
of LTM39 Leicas and gets pictures with them using both b & w and color film.
© jmse
Whatever it may be, the
Leica M2 Eisenhower now inside the Ernst Leitz Museum for Photography and
Photographic Technology at Leitz Park is only a very small part of the fascinating life of Rolf Fricke, one of
the most important persons in the history of Leica brand and a seminal figure
in the preservation of the German photographic firm´s immense cultural,
historical, technological and human legacy.
For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right
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