The Leica Story - The History Of Leica

The Leica Story – The History Of Leica

November 15, 2017 ·

Kevin Raber

Leica’s History With Stefan Daniel

Our Leica Story video series continues with The History of Leica. Chris and I spent a Saturday with Stefan Daniel, Global Director Business Unit Photo, Leica Camera AG. Our day started off with a morning stroll through Wetzlar. Chris, Jim Wagner (our host from the US), and I did a sunrise – early morning shoot of the town. It was a fine time to see the town before it came to life. We shot sunrise from the bridge, followed by a coffee and pastry at a corner cafe.

During our stroll, we stumbled upon a shoe repair shop. As we were shooting through the windows of the shop, the owner saw us and invited us in. He was the nicest person and continued to work hard while he told us his story. It was a great chance for me to use the M10 to photograph him while he worked.

As the town came to life, we strolled the town with Stefan and Jim and were shown some of the historic sites. The most iconic of these spots was where Oscar Barnack took the first photo with a Leica camera.

Celebrating the location of the first Leica made with a Leica, in Wetzlar, Germany

I have had people ask why we chose to do a story on Leica. The answer is simple: It’s the most iconic and influential camera maker in photographic history. Granted, there are a lot of camera companies and each has its own story, but Leica was the company that pushed photography forward and changed the way the world took photographs.

We saw throughout our visit the dedication of the employees at Leica, and how each person there strives for perfection. While some say it may be just a German thing, I would have to disagree. In Leica’s case, it is Leica cultural-heritage things. There is no second-best or close enough at Leica. It’s all about perfection. This is something that dates back to Leica’s roots.

Having fun taking images with the Leica SL with Stefan Daniel

We met employees who have worked at Leica all their lives, many as part of apprenticeship programs. All you need to do is hold a camera or focus a lens and you’ll know instantly what quality is all about. Quality is defined in their products, not only from engineering and manufacturing but the image that the Leica cameras produce.

In our video below with Stefan Daniel, we go through the history of Leica and even discuss some pivotal moments. Leica’s name is a derivative of the words Leitz Camera: LEItz CAmera. As discussed in the video, the company was founded in 1849 as the Optical Institute, and then a few years later was named Ernst Leitz Optical, and was primarily focused on making microscopes.

Oskar Barnack changed everything in 1917. In short, he made a camera that used 35mm motion picture film, turned it on its side, and doubled the frame size. The format he invented then is still the format used, even in the digital age. The story goes that he also invented the traditional 36 exposure roll of film, as it was the length of his arms when stretching out a piece of film.

To tell the whole amazing story of Leica it would take a book several inches thick. You can learn more by checking out Oscar Barnack and related links on the page. There are also numerous books on the subject. You can find them HERE ON AMAZON. If you really are a Leica aficionado, then I strongly recommend Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography.

Our video below is about 25 minutes in length, though it will give you a good history lesson. Stefan does a great job of telling the history and setting the stage for the coming videos on our visit to the factory.

History Of Leica Video

Next week we present the Leica Story – APS-C

Kevin Raber
November 2017

Luminous-Landscape is a membership site. Our website contains over 5300 articles on almost every topic, camera, lens and printer you can imagine. Our membership model is simple, a Dollar-a-Month ($12.00 USD a year). This $12 gains you access to a wealth of information including all our past and future video tutorials on such topics as Lightroom, Capture One, Printing, file management and dozens of interviews and travel videos.

To continue reading with unlimited access join today for $12 a year

New Articles every few days
All original content found nowhere else on the web
No Pop Up Google Sense ads - Our advertisers are photo related
Download/stream video to any device
NEW videos monthly
Top well-known photographer contributors
Posts from industry leaders
Speciality Photography Workshops
Mobile device scalable
Exclusive video interviews
Special vendor offers for members
Hands On Product reviews
FREE - User Forum. One of the most read user forums on the internet
Access to our community Buy and Sell pages; for members only.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Kevin Raber

See all articles by Kevin Raber

Photography is my passion and has been for 45 plus years. My career in photography has allowed me to travel the world, meet some of the most interesting people on the planet and see things I could never have dreamed of. My goal is to share the passion of pictures taking through photographs and teaching with as many people as I can hoping it brings them as much joy and happiness as it has me. I do this through Rockhopper Workshops and other projects as well as teaching at my Gallery in Indianapolis.