NIKON CAMERA WITH LEICA SCREW MOUNT AND OTHER COPIED EQUIPMENT

It is common knowledge that the modern rangefinder 35mm camera system was developed in Germany by Leitz (Leica), soon followed by Zeiss with the Contax.  The influence of these two camera systems was far reaching and influenced many other camera manufacturers to develop similar cameras.

One such company was Nikon in Japan.  During the 1930s, the basis was laid for an independent photographic industry to meet civil and, more importantly, military needs that would become of primary importance following Pearl Harbor and Japan’s entrance into the second world war.

After the war, many of the Japanese camera manufacturers were eager to reenter the domestic and foreign markets.  Among all of the Japanese brands, the one that would soon become a household name in the US and Europe was Nikon.

But like so many other manufacturers, they began by closely copying successful German manufacturers, primarily Leitz and Zeiss.  Initially, Nikon manufactured only lenses, many of which were copies of lenses made by Leitz as well as Zeiss.

                        

Nikkor QC 50mm f/3.5                                                     Leitz 50mm Elmar f/3.5

   

W-Nikkor C 35mm f/3.5                                                      Leitz Summaron 35mm f/3.5

                                                

          W-Nikkor C 35mm f.3.5                                                         Leitz Elmar 35mm f/3.5

The first Nikon camera with interchangeable lenses appeared on the domestic market in March of 1948.  Unlike many other manufacturers who simply copied Leica cameras, Nikon, on the other hand, chose to copy the Zeiss Contax.  But there was more to the camera than what met the eye.  The camera body was clearly a copy of the Zeiss Contax, including the rangefinder and the lens mount.  But the shutter was definitely not a Zeiss design.  Upon closer inspection it was obvious that it was taken entirely from the Leica.  That decision apparently had been made because it was of a much less complicated design (thanks Oskar Barnack) and thus much more reliable than the vertically traveling, roller desk top type shutter of the Contax.  The Leica shutter was copied in virtually all details resulting in the Nikon being one of the very few cameras that utilized a collar type cable release.

Leica III

Nikon 1

Please note the position of the shutter speed dial, the shutter release, the film winding knob

and the film rewind lever.

Several years later, when it became apparent that rangefinder cameras would be replaced by single lens reflex (SLR) cameras, Nikon simply converted the Nikon rangefinder camera to an SLR by eliminating the rangefinder from the camera and adding a mirror housing.  Thus the original Nikon F was born.  It too featured the Leica shutter, virtually unchanged.  The Nikon F soon became one of the most successful, professional SLRs on the market and Leica technology was a definite part of that.

   

Leica III                                                                             Nikon F SLR

Using the Leica shutter offered another, little known feature, mostly unknown to even Leica users.  The Leica shutter used by Nikon was that of the Leica screw mount cameras and it made those Leicas, the Nikon rangefinder and Nikon F SLRs the only cameras to ever incorporate that feature.

It was the ability to allow double exposure with perfect registration, but not just simple double exposures on the last frame but with any frame that had been exposed on the roll of film.

Users of these cameras might have noticed that the shutter release button turns when rewinding the film.  To make a double exposure on the last exposed frame all that is necessary is to activate the rewind release and winding the film back for one full revolution of the shutter release button and then go beyond that for not quite another half revolution.  After that the camera has to be switched back to the film advance mode and the film transport knob or advance lever moved to cock the shutter.  This will also advance the film which will automatically stop with perfect registration on the last exposed frame.  At this point the second exposure can be taken on that frame.  Repeating the above steps will allow unlimited exposures on the same frame.

To take additional exposures on any previous frame one needs to do the same procedure as above.  Except rather than winding the film back just one revolution of the shutter release knob, one needs to make it do as many revolutions as the number of frames the one is back that is to receive the additional exposure.  Don’t forget to go about one half revolution beyond, activate the advance until it stops and take the exposure.

To go back to taking a new picture, block any light from entering the lens and take as many ‘blind’ exposures as the number of frames you wound back.

This might require some practice.  To do that with any accuracy, take an old, unexposed or undeveloped roll of film and load it into the camera.  With the camera set on ‘B’ and with the lens removed, take several frames and mark the outline with a pen and number the frames consecutively.  This will allow you to practice the above procedure with any number of frames.

A fact only known to few is the fact that Nikon also considered to use the Leica screw mount on their early cameras instead of the Contax mount.  However, this did not proceed beyond the prototype stages and all of the Nikon rangefinder camera that reached the market did feature the Contax mount.

Leica Screw Mount Prototype #1

Very closely based on the Contax, but definitely shows the use

of the Leica shutter

Leica Screw Mount Prototype #2

VEry closely based on the Contax, including the self timer lever,

featuring the Leica shutter

Leica Screw Mount Prototype #3

Close to the later Nikon rangefinder lay-out, Leica shutter

Leica Screw Mount Prototype #4

Very close to the marketed Nikon rangefinder with Leica shutter

Besides copying lenses and cameras, Nikon’s line of accessories also consisted of quite a variety of copies of Leica accessories.

Rangefinder cameras by their very nature are limited in their ability to do close up photography as well as photography with lenses longer than 135mm.  To overcome that problem, Leica developed a single lens reflex viewing attachment.  When added to the camera, it allowed viewing through the lens, allowing to focus accurately when doing close ups as well as when using long lenses.  The first in the line of the reflex viewing attachments was the PLOOT.  Later versions became known as the Visoflex.  Nikon too offered such an attachment and the similarity to the Leica version is undeniable.

Nikon reflex focusing unit

Leitz PLOOT

After the first Leica appeared on the market in 1925, models with interchangeable lenses were soon to follow.  Since the viewfinder of those cameras only showed the field of view of the 50 mm lens, accessory viewfinders for the other focal length lenses became a necessity.  This resulted in the Vidom, a universal viewfinder that could be adjusted to show the field of view of focal lengths from 35 mm to 135 mm.  Nikon, faced with the same problem, simply copied the design of the Vidom rather than developing a viewfinder of their own design.

            

                                Nikkor Multi Focal Finder                        Leitz Vidom

Stereo photography was quite popular for a while and Leitz made a variety of accessories that allowed to take stereo photographs and again, Nikon simply copied these designs for their own use.

The Nikon Stereo-Nikkor 35mm f/3.5 outfit consisted of a stereo lens and stereo prism for the Nikon rangefinder cameras.  Introduced in 1956, it bears more than a close resemblance to the Leitz Stereoly, first introduced in 1931 and later replaced by an improved model in 1954.

Nikon Stereo Nikkor 35mm f/3.5

Patent drawing of Leitz Stereoly attachment

Leitz Stereoly on early Leica II

Leitz Stemar 35mm f/3.5

In either case, this stereo equipment produced two half frame stereo images in place of the standard 35mm frame.  Stereo viewers and projector accessories allowed for stereo viewing of the images taken.

Thus we have another example of the influence Leica has had on Nikon over the years. This isn't to say that NIkon could not have been successful without Leica, but copying Leica cameras, lenses and accessories definitely eliminated a lot of development time for them. Considering how many other manufacturers copied Leica, Leica cameras, lenses and accessories remain the most copied photographic equipment in history.

LEICA PHOTOGRAPHER EXTRAORDINAIRE – ERNST HAAS

Ernst Haas (1921–1986) is considered one of the best, most celebrated and influential photographers of the 20th century and considered one of the pioneers of color photography. Haas was born in Vienna in 1921.  He did not become a photographer until after the war. His early work showed Austrian prisoners of war returning home. This brought him to the attention of LIFE magazine. Initially he declined a job offer as staff photographer in order to keep his independence. But an invitation from Robert Capa changed his mind.  Soon after,  Haas joined Magnum in 1949.  There he developed a close associations with Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Werner Bishof.

In 1951 Haas moved to the United States where he began experimenting with Kodachrome color film.  He soon he became the premier color photographer of the 1950s. In 1953 LIFE magazine published his groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay on New York City. This was the first time such a large color photo feature was published by LIFE. In 1962 a retrospective of his work was the first color photography exhibition held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Throughout his career, Haas traveled extensively, photographing for LIFE, Vogue, and Look, to name a few of the many influential publications that featured his work  He created four books during his lifetime: The Creation (1971), In America (1975), In Germany (1976), and Himalayan Pilgrimage (1978).

Ernst Haas continued to work until 1986, the year of his death. He has been the subject of numerous museum exhibitions and publications such as Ernst Haas, Color Photography (1989), Ernst Haas in Black and White (1992), and Color Correction (2011). The Ernst Haas Studio, located in New York, continues to manage Haas's legacy, aiding researchers and overseeing all projects related to his work.

     

Ernst Haas with Leicaflex                                                     Ernst Haas with Leica R4

It would be wrong to claim that Ernst Haas used only Leica equipment, but Leicas have definitely been an integral part of his professional life, and many of his famous photographs have been taken with Leica cameras.

When Ernst Haas began photographing in color, he soon created an entirely new approach to color photography by purposely using rather slow shutter speeds to blur the image.  However, as he explained, this was not left to chance.  He used the colors of the scene, and by deliberately blurring the image, he was actually able to create additional colors through the blurred overlap of the various subjects in the scene..  This approach was made especially famous by his photographs of bullfights in Spain.

Obviously, Haas applied his blurring technique to other subjects as well

Photograph from his book "The Creation"

The above photograph was later used by Kodak for the Kodak Colorama at Grand Central Station in New York City in 1977.  The original picture was taken with a Leicaflex SL and a 50mm Summicron-R lens on Kodachrome 25.  The finished Colorama consisted of 20 vertical panels of 3 feet width and 18 feet height for a total size of 18 x 60 feet This was the first time a 35mm picture had been used for this project.  It presents a 508 times enlargement to achieve the width of the image.  It was a definite testament of the quality of the film and that of the Leica camera and lens.

From the book "In America"

Ernst Hass quite often tried to take photographs of ordinary subjects and to present them as an apparently abstract photograph, although, as he explained, that is a contradiction of terms.  A photograph cannot possibly be abstract because a camera can only record actual subject matter.

"The Cross"

"Snow Lovers"

"Holy Underwear"

"Red Bird"

Ernst Haas had an uncanny ability to find ordinary subjects and by seeing beyond the obvious, was able to create extraordinary photographs.

The first time I met Ernst Haas was at a meeting of the Leica Historical Society of America.  He had been invited as the main speaker for the event.  One thing that struck me immediately was that here was a person who gained international fame with his wonderful color photography and his masterful use of colors, yet he was clothed all in black, black pants, black shirt, black jacket, black tie.  I saw him talking in German to Walter Heun, the former director of the Leica School.   That in itself was quite an interesting conversation.  I knew Walter Heun and, upon noticing me, he introduced me to Ernst Haas.  I was fortunate to meet him again on a couple of other occasions.

There have been many excellent and important photographers, past and present.  Walter Heun was without question one of the greatest of them all.

LEICA RCD30 60 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA

When we think of Leica, the first thing that comes to mind are Leica cameras.  Many are unaware that the name Leica encompasses a lot more than that, that Leica actually consists of four independent companies,

Leica Camera AG

Solms, Germany

http://us.leica-camera.com/home/

Leica Microsystems GmbH

Wetzlar, Germany

http://www.leica-microsystems.com/

Leica Geosystems AG

Heerbrugg, Switzerland

http://www.leica-geosystems.com/en/index.htm

Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH

Nussloch, Germany

http://www.leica-microsystems.com/

Leica Camera AG is the one we are most familiar with as the manufacturer of Leica cameras.

The predecessor of the company, formerly known as Ernst Leitz GmbH, was split into four companies: Leica Camera AG, Leica Geosystems AG, Leica Microsystems AG, and Leica Biosystems, producing cameras, geosurvey equipment, microscopes, and anatomical pathology solutions and automation, respectively. Leica Microsystems AG is the owner of the Leica brand, and grants licences to Leica Camera AG Leica Geosystems and Leica Biosystems.

It is interesting to see what the other Leica companies are manufacturing.  Today we will take a look at the Leica RCD30 series camera for airborne imaging.  Here is what Leica has to say about it:

Leica RCD30 Series

Multispectral. Metric. Modular.

The new Leica RCD30 Series – imaging revolution from the leader

The new Leica RCD30 Series of medium format cameras represents a true revolution in airborne imaging. Just like the RC30 has once set standards in film based airborne imaging, the new Leica RCD30 is setting new standards in what you and your customers can expect from a medium format digital camera.

 

A true Masterpiece

The Leica RCD30 Series is not only true imaging innovation, it‘s a masterpiece. The Leica RCD30‘s offers performance that is otherwise only known from large-format airborne sensors at a lower cost and thus makes digital multispectral photogrammetry available to everyone.

The Leica RCD30 boasts quite a number of innovative and unique „world‘s first“ features and is the only suitable medium format camera for photogrammetric and remote sensing applications:

>60 MP single camera head delivers co-registered, multispectral RGBN imagery

>2D mechanical motion compensation along two axis

>Ruggedized and thermal stabilized lens system with innovative bajonet mount and user replaceable central shutter   

>Modular concept for single standalone and multihead-configurations

>Full integration with Leica ALS LIDAR and other third party sensors

Optics

Lens configurations

NAG-D 50 mm

NAT-D 80 mm

Ruggedized and temperature compensated for high accuracy performance between –10 °C and +30 °C

Shutter

Central shutter, user replaceable >200’000 cycles

Aperture

2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0 for NAT-D 80 mm

4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11 for NAG-D 50 mm

Automatically controlled aperture

Capacity of Mass Memory

500 GB MM1 for up to 6000 images RGBN

1000 GB MM1 for up to 12000 images RGBN

Leica Geosystems AG

Heerbrugg, Switzerland

www.leica-geosystems.com

http://di.leica-geosystems.com/

For complete information go to:

http://www.leica-geosystems.com/downloads123/zz/airborne/RCD30/brochures-datasheet/Leica_RCD30_DS_en.pdf

250 EXPOSURE LEICA M2

Recently I sold a few Leica items on eBay.  One of the buyers struck my interest with his eBay screen name of Schmirgelpapier.  Taking a closer look revealed that it was Don Goldberg of DAG Camera Repair, one of the best Leica repair technicians in the country.  I hadn't talked to Don for a while and it was nice to catch up.  Needless to say, we also talked about the LEICA Barnack Berek Blog.  I asked him if he would be willing to contribute some of his wisdom to the blog, only to be totally surprised by his answer.

One of the items he was interested to talk about was a Leica M2-250, an off the shelf camera that his father Norman Goldberg had converted in the 1960s to accept film for 250 exposures.  I had never heard of this camera and I was eager to learn more about it.

Norman Goldberg was born in Chicago in 1931 and, after serving a five-year apprenticeship in camera repair and attending the Illinois Institute of Technology, he moved to Wisconsin in 1951. There he established Camcraft, an independent workshop which specialized in repairs and custom modifications to professional photographic equipment. In 1966 he became a technical consultant to Popular Photography, devising a lens testing program for them and creating their testing laboratory, and in 1972 he joined the staff of the magazine. He retired in 1987 after working for Popular Photography for 22 years.

While running Camcraft, he became the first Leica authorized service facility for Leica cameras in the US.  He also published a book about camera technology in 1992, titled “The Dark Side of the Lens.

Goldberg is perhaps best known as the creator of the Camcraft N-5 electric motor drive for the Leica M2 and MP. However, he has also several other inventions for Leicas and other cameras to his credit.  For instance, the clip he designed to permit wearing an M Leica on the belt was widely used, and he also offered modifications of the Visoflex, utilizing either a prism or a pellicle mirror.  He also designed and built a considerable amount of testing equipment to test cameras and lenses, including the equipment used at Popular Photography, and he held numerous patents.

 

 Camcraft N-5 motor with power supply

Camcraft N-5 motor attached to Leica M2

The first camcraft N-5 motor was introduced in 1961.  After several modifications to the original design, the final version was made by TPI (Technical Photomation Instruments) of Los Angeles.  Eventually Leitz bought the patents and the rights to the motor.  Over the years they made over a thousand units of what was often called the NY Motor.  It was sold for the M2-M and later for the M4-M.

With the motor in place, 36 exposures could go very fast, and the need to change to a new roll of film was ever present.  This lead to thoughts of a larger capacity of film and Goldberg began to design a 250 exposure conversion of a Leica M2 which incorporated the successful N-5 motor.  The modifications are based on a standard Leicavit rapid advance.  They included larger film compartments at both the supply and take up side of the camera which were attached to the camera and the Leicavit.  The manual film advance of the Leicavit was replaced by the N-5 motor.  Power was supplied via a cord, connected to a separate power supply which contained the batteries.  Only one of the M2-250 cameras is in existence, making it also one of the rarest Leicas.

 

 M2-250 original design sketch by Norman Goldberg

Far from walking in the shadow of his father, Don Goldberg is very accomplished in the Leica community himself.  In 1970 he worked at Leitz Wetzlar for two years.  There he received the skills of a Feinmechaniker (Precision Mechanic) a prerequisite for Leica technicians.  With the town of Giessen close by, he also decided to learn about Minox cameras at the Minox plant there.  He worked for Minox for three months and then took a position at the Leica Service department in New Jersey.  In 1980 Don established his own camera service business, DAG which he still runs today.

Don is interested in determining what the M2-250 might be worth and he might consider selling it.  Anyone interested can contact Don directly at:

DAG Camera Service

2128 Vintage Drive

Oregon WI 53575 USA

608-835-3342

http://www.dagcamera.com/

A LEICA, PHOTOSHOP AND THE "VEILED LADY”

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) has a sculpture that has fascinated me ever since I saw it for the first time many years ago.  It is a marble statue of a veiled lady.  The fascination lies in the fact that the artist was able to use a solid matter, marble, and create a statue that shows the transparency of a veil in total detail.

I have photographed it on several occasions and recently thought if it would be possible to replace the face of the woman in the statue with that of another individual, especially one that makes eye contact with the viewer.  This is not an attempt to improve the original, that would be preposterous, but strictly an exercise in the application of Photoshop skills.

Photoshop offers so many possibilities, I am reasonably sure that there are more than one way to accomplish this.  I am certainly not saying that my way is the only way, but this is what I did.

The first task was to find an image in my files for a face to replace the original.  For this is selected a picture from a model shoot that I did in the past.

Next there was the necessity of rotating the image to the same angle and to match the size of the model’s face to that of the original.  This is a trial and error approach because of the different sizes of the face.  I found it easiest to use the “lasso tool” to mark off the rough area to be superimposed onto the original.  After arriving at the correct amount of rotation and the correct size, I removed the layer of the superimposed face from the original and then carefully outlined the area of the model’s face that I wanted to transfer onto the original.

The next step was to change the colored image of the face to black and white and then using color correction to match the color of the superimposed model’s face to that of the sculpture. Working with the two layers makes this a relatively simple task.

The next step was to merge the superimposed layer with that of the original.  After that I used the “spot healing brush” in the “content aware” mode to blend the harsh outline of the model’s face with the rest of the image.

The final step was to use the original image side by side with the new one and then use the “clone stamp tool” with only 10 percent opacity to carefully paint the detail of the veil onto the new image.

You be the judge of how successful this has been.