Wednesday, March 30, 2022

OSCAR BARNACK'S PERSONAL CAMERA


Photo: Leitz Photographica Auctions


This year, Leitz Photographica Auctions is celebrating its 20th anniversary! They are delighted to be able to offer you some particularly rare gems from the Leitz/Leica product world as well as a wide range of other interesting collector’s items in celebration of the 40th anniversary auction, which will be held on 11 June at the Leitz Park in Wetzlar. 


From the many exceptional exhibits, they picked out the historically unique Leica 0-Series with the serial number 105. The personal camera of Oskar Barnack, the inventor of 35 mm photography. 


LEICA 0-SERIES NO.105 'OSCAR BARNACK'


Only approximately 23 of 0-Series Leicas were produced in 1923 to test the market, two years before the commercial introduction of the Leica A. Only around a dozen survived to the present day. Among these extremely rare cameras, one is of particular historical importance. The 0-Series with the serial number 105 was the personal camera of the the inventor of the Leica - Oskar Barnack.


Photo: Leitz Photographica Auctions

This inconspicuous-looking black-painted camera shows a patina of years of use. Some of the parts have been exchanged by the owner. The Galilean finder shows a distinctive engraving on the top: ‘Oscar Barnack’. The inventor used the camera until 1930, when he gave it to his son, Conrad, and began using a Leica I Model C with interchangeable lenses. It stayed in the family ownership until 1960, when it was sold to a passionate U.S. collector. The lot includes an original leather lens cap on a string, later aluminum cap, engraved with initials 'O.B.' and heavily-modified Nettel camera that Barnack used for his photographic research studies, as well as numerous documents and letters concerning the Barnack's camera. The Leica 0-Series no.105 is not only the most distinguished Leica existing but also one of the major historical milestones from the history of photography.


Photo: Leitz Photographica Auctions

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Monday, March 28, 2022

THE GLOBE AT LEITZ PARK IN WETZLAR




By Heinz Richter

Driving from Wetzlar to the new Leica headquarters at Leitz Park, you first arrive at a large roundabout with a huge globe off center.  It was a present to the city of Wetzlar from the Leitz Park corporation and Andreas Kaufmann, chairman of the board of Leica Camera AG.

The globe and roundabout came at a price of half a million euros.  It has a weight of four metric tons and a diameter of 16.5 feet.  The globe is covered with over 1000 circular plates of different diameters, outlining the various continents.  In Europe, at the position of Germany or more precisely, Wetzlar, a red plate marks the home of Leica.

The globe as seen from the Leica headquarters


The view of the globe when arriving from the east

The design came largely from Karin Rehn-Kaufmann and it was implemented by the Frankfurt-based landscape architecture company Wewer.  The globe was built in Ludwigshafen by the firm of Kunstwerk Maudach.  The inside is hollow.  It was built along the same principles as the hulls of ships.  It arrived at Leitz Park in two halves which were welded together along the equator.

Even motorists were part of the considerations for the design of the globe.  It is sandblasted to a matte finish to prevent reflections of the sun that might blind the driver.

By now the globe has become another landmark besides the amazing architecture of the new Leica headquarters at Leitz Park in Wetzlar, which is once again the Mecca of all Leica enthusiasts.

Areal view of Leitz Park II (left) and III (right under construction), with the globe in the middle
Photo: Andreas Kaufmann



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To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

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_______________________________________________________________________

EDDYCAM - the first and only ergonomic elk-skin camera strap     
 www.eddycam.com        

      


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Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

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