Leica LTM Some WW2 Leica history

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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wblanchard

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Here`s a link to some history of what the Leica was doing during WW2 in the hands of the Nazi`s. I found it pretty interesting and wanted to share.

Link

Especially good reading is the story of the Leitz "Freedom Train" the planned rescue of hundreds of Jews from Nazi Germany with the disguised help of Leitz NYC

And here`s some little KNOWN Wartime Leica facts

After Sept, 3rd 1939 Leica`s and their products from Leitz, Germany were forbidden to be sold in the UK, (hundreds of cameras were also commandeered by His Majesty`s Government) but soon the source for cameras and equipment dried up for the British Military
A top SECRET mission through Sweden (war barter) brought hundreds of camera`s through after 1940 to be put into the Service of the King (mostly Royal Navy) and for a while again the Government "ARROW" was seen stamped on the tops of many a Leica IIIB or IIIC

Leitz attached IIIC cameras to the top blades of prototype German Heilcopter`s to photograph some of the "first ever" high speed exposure and performance tests

Not just German Field and Combat Photographer`s were using Leica`s....the world famous US Army Photographer Robert Capa (1913-1954) used a Leica III and a Contax I to shoot some of his famous D-Day landing photos

The Leica was the first camera tested and working at temperatures of (minus) -45 degrees Fahrenheit (The Leica IIIC K "Kaltenfest" *Cold Proofed*) was first made for the rugged Norwegian "High Country" and NOT the Russian Front as so many collectors before had believed

General "Ike" Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was an avid Leica user during and after the war, after he was elected President the factory even made him special custom versions of the camera`s for him, it`s also believed Ike`s love of the Leica "spared" the factory from 8th Air Force and RAF bombs and the factory "very conveniently" fell into the American Sector of Germany after 1945

One of Eisenhower`s arch rivals German General Erwin Johannes Rommel "The Desert Fox" (1891-1944) kept a Leica in service with him until his death in 1944

It was also during the war that No 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth of Windsor, or Princess Elizabeth, future Queen of England picked up her first Leica during her time of Military service in the ATS and Her Majesty has had a love affair with photography AND the Leica that has continued to this very day......
*The company makes a new M camera for her every year*
 
Actually, Capa used a Contax II & Rolleiflex (not sure what model) to shoot his D-Day photos. The famous shots that were partially melted in the darkroom were Contax shots.

http://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.html

He used Leicas @ the start of his career & during the Spanish Civil War, but eventually switched to Contax for 35mm & had just begun using Nikon RFs, too, when he was killed in Indochina.

Of course, many of Capa's colleagues, like Cartier-Bresson, Chim, & Rodger, did use Leicas during WWII.

wblanchard said:
Not just German Field and Combat Photographer`s were using Leica`s....the world famous US Army Photographer Robert Capa (1913-1954) used a Leica III and a Contax I to shoot some of his famous D-Day landing photos

*
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Interesting. I've been curious about this since finding that my 50/3.5 Elmar was made in 1942 so it must have had an interesting past....
 
Well, he did use Leica for some of his most famous work before switching, it's just that people today forget that Zeiss Ikon even existed, let alone that the Contax system was actually the main professional choice for 35mm until the M3 came along.

It's the "if it's a RF it must be a Leica" fallacy that never seems to die.

xayraa33 said:
the Capa and Leica connection fallacy seems to never die.
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Poor Capa, what a way to die. Stepping on a land mine. He had survived so much and then that...
 
Even sadder was that he wasn't even originally scheduled to go to Indochina, but Life was short-handed & he was in the area (visiting friends in Japan) & volunteered to replace another photographer.

wblanchard said:
Poor Capa, what a way to die. Stepping on a land mine. He had survived so much and then that...
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The Contax as "main professional " camera is a statement I always found without any further information. SG comment on cameraquest that amateurs used Leicas and Pro's Contax seems also a bit farfetched to me as both were quite expensive. But I agree that the "If it's an RF it's a Leica" also can't be the whole truth. So perhpas somebody knows a site with additional info
 
....Stern magazine (yes the ones with the faked Hitler diaries) gave a rather realistic version why Leitz hid the story of their "Life train": In the sixties there were still enough Germany who considered things like that anti patriotic e.g Marlene Dietrich was ostracized for a long time for the fact that she was on entertainment missions for US and other allied troops.
 
Zeiss, as far as one can tell, were sympathetic to the Jews, many of whom worked in their factory in Dresden; Victor Klemperer, whose diaries are obligatory reading, was employed there.

Zeiss were in constant dispute with the Gestapo, who were attempting to deport their workers - and, alas, eventually succeeded.
 
I was at the Leica School in 1970, stayed with a retired employee, he told me that
during the war Leitz himself absolutely forbade the engraving of nazi symbols on cameras or accessories. Any that were engraved so were done by firms that had no connection with Leitz. Leitz's daughter Lotte Kuhn Leitz was put in prison by the Gestapo for her activities helping Jews and others to escape.
 
You're correct as I am working off "received wisdom." I should have @ least qualified my statement to "major system for professionals using 35mm." Before WWII, 35mm was still a niche format, as the vast majority of professional photographers were using large & medium format, even among those practicing the new field of photojournalism. Moreover, most photojournalists had to supply their own equipment. Not having access to sales & marketing data, assuming it still exists (I'm guessing much of Zeiss Ikon's data was destroyed during the firebombing of Dresden & the aftermath), I have no idea which system was most used in quantitative terms. Like today, the vast majority of cameras & lenses were purchased by wealthy amateurs, & yes, both Leica & Contax were expensive (the Contax especially so).

I do know from the writings of Marc James Small, IIRC, that Contax was the "house" system for Time-Life, though many of their shooters did use Leica & Rolleiflex gear. After the war, they gave some their prewar gear to the Hillary/Tenzing Everest expedition when they switched to the new IIa/IIIa models; I believe Alfred Gregory took the shots @ the summit w/a Kodak Retina II (Hillary had his own Retina I/118) & a Contax III, both loaded w/Kodachrome, & a Rolleiflex loaded w/B&W. Ansel Adams, who fell under the categories of both professional & wealthy amateur, also is known to have used the Contax system.

Spider67 said:
The Contax as "main professional " camera is a statement I always found without any further information. SG comment on cameraquest that amateurs used Leicas and Pro's Contax seems also a bit farfetched to me as both were quite expensive. But I agree that the "If it's an RF it's a Leica" also can't be the whole truth. So perhpas somebody knows a site with additional info
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Didn't that person who ruined Bob Capa's D Day photos go on to be one of Lifes best known photographers? I could of sworn I ran across this info in a discussion thread one time.
 
No, that's a photographic "urban myth." Larry Burrows did work in the lab as a gofer, but he wasn't a tech & therefore not responsible for the drying cabinet mishap. It was a 15-year old tech named Dennis Banks.

http://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.html

wblanchard said:
Didn't that person who ruined Bob Capa's D Day photos go on to be one of Lifes best known photographers? I could of sworn I ran across this info in a discussion thread one time.
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re

re

You are just a wealth of knowledge! Thanks.

I was surprised to learn Leica and Contax were used in the War so much. I just assumed Speed Graph's and Kodak Medalists. Processing film in verichrome, etc.

It's just such a fascinating subject to read up on.
 
Your basic assumption is correct; during WWII, most pro photographers, both civilian & military, didn't use 35mm @ all, they were using large format Speed Graphics or the European equivalents, medium format TLRs & RFs like the Kodak Medalist, etc. The little Leica & Contax cameras were mainly used by the artsy, avant garde "Euro" shooters like Capa, Cartier-Bresson, et al., most of whom became more famous after the war when their shooting style (& preferred format) became respectable.

wblanchard said:
You are just a wealth of knowledge! Thanks.

I was surprised to learn Leica and Contax were used in the War so much. I just assumed Speed Graph's and Kodak Medalists. Processing film in verichrome, etc.

It's just such a fascinating subject to read up on.
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Anyone know if Patton's photographs were ever seen? They said he carried a Leica with him everywhere. I was wondering if any were published.
 
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