Who invented the Leica M3 and IIIg? Two great men at Leitz Wetzlar!
Both projects were team efforts led by innovative engineering geniuses.
By Jason Schneider
How did E. Leitz Wetzlar, an esteemed microscope maker based in an ancient medieval town in central Germany, become a titan of the camera industry? Primarily because it was led by men of vision and staffed with brilliantly innovative mechanical and optical engineers who were given free rein to create the company’s first camera, the Leica I (Model A) of 1925. This seminal machine, painstakingly developed over more than a decade by Oskar Barnack and (eventually) fitted with the outstanding 50mm f/3.5 Elmar lens penned by longtime Leitz chief optical designer Max Berek, transformed the world of photography and helped to establish the full-frame (24 x 36mm) format as the international standard. Both Barnack and Berek have certainly earned their honored places in Leica history, but there were others, including the two camera design geniuses highlighted here-- Adam Wagner chief designer of the incomparable Leica IIIg (last of the “Barnack” Leicas) and Wilhelm “Willi” Stein, the principal designer of the transformational Leica M3. Here are their fascinating stories.
Adam Wagner holding his beloved Leica H. He spent more than 3 years designing this ingenious half framer and was devastated when the project was cancelled.
Adam Wagner; a compelling tale of triumph and personal tragedy
Adam Wagner was born on February 28, 1910 in what is now known as the Marburg district of Marbach am Neckar, a small German town (population c.15,000) located about 20 km north of Stuttgart and known as the birthplace of beloved poet Friedrich Schiller. His parents had a farm, he was the youngest of 3 children, and both his siblings died of tuberculosis. As a young man he completed his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic with flying colors, studied mechanical engineer, passed his master’s examination at the Darmstadt Chamber if Crafts, and attended the prestigious mechanical engineering school at Giessen. Wagner then worked as an engineer for a local company before signing on as an employee of E. Leitz Wetzlar on August 15th 1934 at the age of 24, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1938, one day after his wedding (!), and was called up for military service again in 1942. What he did in the course of his military service is not known, but at the end of World War II then 35-year-old Leitz camera designer Adam Wagner walked home to Wetzlar from Karlovy-Vary, now in the Czech Republic, a trek of 272 miles across war-torn Europe, to resume his work at the Leitz camera design department, arriving in June 1945! How he wound up in Czechoslovakia and what he was doing there remain a mystery, but at least two well regarded Leica historians have dismissed the theory that he’d been working on secret military projects at the behest of the German government.
Contemporary description of the Leica H and its creation published in German Leica historical book. Note Leitz Wetzlar logo and pop-up lens cover on camera.
To say that Adam Wagner was a dedicated Leitz employee is an understatement--he was responsible for numerous notable achievements at Leitz. His designs include adding “F” sync (for flashbulbs) to Leica focal plane shutters, devising the Leicavit rapid winder, creating the overall design of the coveted Leica IIIg of 1957-1960, the last of the screw-mount Leicas, creating components of the Stemar 3.3 cm stereo system and designing and constructing the Leica MP2 of the late ‘50s, an “evaluation sample” of an upgraded classic Leica MP that incorporated an M2-spec “35mm- 50mm- 90mm” range/viewfinder and had an integrated Leitz 3fps electric motor drive. The motorized MP2 never went into production and only about 15 were ever assembled, making it a priceless museum piece.
The ill-fated Leica H: Adam Wagner’s greatest disappointment
One of Wagner's principles was to make things as compact as possible. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that he spearheaded a project to construct a modern half-frame 35mm camera with a fast retractable lens and an early iteration of fully automatic exposure. This idea garnered an official development order for Wagner and his team that was approved by top management The Leica "H" was finished in 1965 and could have gone into production shortly thereafter. Based Wagner's innovative ideas and (two) working prototypes. It was a true precision miniature camera, with a coupled rangefinder and a high-quality (5-element 35mm f/2,8) lens. In the meantime, the Leica M system had been extremely successful: over 200,000 units of the M3 model had already been produced since its market launch in 1954. And another very important project, the Leicaflex, had just commenced as well. In short, at that time, Leica simply lacked the production capacity to begin manufacturing a third line of a precision cameras in parallel with the very successful M line and the emerging (though ultimately underwhelming) Leicaflex, a very labor-intensive camera to produce.
Adam Wagner with colleagues on his last day in the office after he resigned from Leitz in 1966. His expression conveys his resignation and profound sorrow.
When Leitz management assessed the situation and decided not to manufacture the Leica H, Adam Wagner became despondent that the baby he had worked on untiringly for more than 3 years had been killed in its cradle. He angrily quit the company in 1966 terminating a successful and immensely productive career of 32 years as a camera designer at Leitz. Until his death as a centenarian he remained convinced that it had been a wrong and politically motivated decision not to manufacture his beloved Leica H.
Cover of VIDOM 110 of December 2015 containing Leica Historica article on the ill-fated Leica H. Would it have been a hit in the '60s ? Nobody knows for sure.
As far as we know, only two specimens of the Leica H were ever completed, one of which was the fully functional Leica H that Adam used extensively for field testing. The contact sheets and original prints from this context have been preserved from his estate, and they offer conclusive proof that the camera was able to deliver outstanding imaging performance. In the mid-1960s, Adam Wagner took part in the well-known photo excursions to St. Christoph am Arlberg and shot with a working sample of the Leica H. Members of the Leitz camera design department and the Leica-Technik (currently known as the Leica Academy) took part as a group. We’ve included a graphic representation of the retractable lens of the "small format folding camera" (Leica H) with the note "Named as inventor: Adam Wagner, Garbenheim and Georg Mann, Staufenberg."
Article in the Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung of February 28, 2010 commemorating Adam Wagner's 100th birthday. Photos show (left to right) Adam Wagner as a young man, Adam Wagner holding the ill-fated Leica H half-frame camera he designed, and Adam Wagner as a doting great-grandfather.
Would the Leica H have been a resounding success in the marketplace at the time? It’s impossible to know for sure, but as a unique and fascinating pocketable half frame Leica it would probably have sold reasonably well, especially among diehard Leica fans. However, it’s a mechanically complex design that would have been challenging to manufacture, it would have to have been sold at a very high price to turn a profit, and it was reportedly quite heavy for a camera designed to be carried in a trousers pocket, one reason management cited in its decision to shelve the project.
Schematic side view of Leica H from patent application shows cross section of its unique 5-element, 3-group lens, and mechanical complexity of the design.
The Leica IIIg: Adam Wagner’s crowning achievement
Adam Wagner also worked on the Leica IIIc, the IIId (a rare--427 total production--iteration of the IIIc with a late IIIf-style self-timer) and the Leica IIIf. But his crowning achievement was the Leica IIIg, which he designed with an assist from Willi Stein, who had developed the projected parallax-compensating system of frame lines for the Leica M3 range/viewfinder, the signature feature of all Leica M-series rangefinder cameras with the exception of the newly released Leica M EV1, which has a 5.76M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder in place if the traditional range/viewfinder and many other advanced features
The Leica IIIg of 1957 to 1960, shown with collapsible screw mount 50mm f/2.8 Elmar lens. The only LTM Leica with projected, parallax-compensating frame lines for 50mm and 90mm lenses, it's drop dead gorgeous and was Adam Wagner's crowning achievement. Factory photo courtesy of James Lager.
Why did Leitz decide to bring forth the Leica IIIg in 1957 when the bayonet mount Leica M3 had already been in production for 3 years? According to most experts, the IIIg was designed to offer a less expensive “Leica quality” alternative to the costlier Leica M3, and to serve the legions of Leica fans who had made a significant investment in LTM (Leica Thread Mount) lenses and accessories. The IIIg allowed these users to upgrade to a slightly taller slimline camera with a larger, brighter viewfinder displaying M-style projected, parallax compensating frame-lines for 50mm and 90mm lenses, a modern geometric shutter speed sequence, a more reliable flash sync system, and a back mounted film type reminder dial, all without requiring LTM-to M adapters or changing their system. Presumably such traditionalists would be onboard with such charming vintage Leica features as separate rangefinder and viewfinder eyepieces, bottom loading, and old-fashioned film wind and rewind knobs. Remember that back in the ‘50s a price difference of 50 to 100 bucks was significant even to well-heeled Leica fans. In the May 1957 issue of Popular Photography, the IIIf and IIIg prices listed are around 33% lower than those of a similarly equipped M3. And in the 1959 Leitz New York catalog, a Leica M3 body was priced at $270, an M2 body, $216, and a shiny new IIIg in chrome set you back mere $163.50.
Ultra-rare prototype of Leica IIIg of 1957 with covered, self zeroing frame counter. Only a handful were made and one was auctioned off for $407,576!
To understand the motivations behind the creation of the traditional yet idiosyncratic Leica IIIg one must consider the mindset of those who created it.The chief designer of the Leica IIIg was Adam Wagner, a brilliantly innovative engineer and camera designer at Leitz who was responsible for many technical breakthroughs, some of which are enumerated in a 1952 patent illustration we’ve included here. His chief collaborators on the IIIg project were Wilhelm (Willi) Stein and Friedrich Gath. Stein is generally credited as the principal designer of the Leica M3, especially its signature system of projected auto-indexing parallax-compensating frame lines for multiple focal lengths. Friedrich Gath was a top engineer at Leitz who refined the shutter mechanism of the M3 and whose patented work helped to lay the foundation of the M3’s innovative design. In short, while Oskar Barnack’s original designs for Leica thread mount cameras date back to 1913 or even earlier, the IIIg represents the final evolution of that noble lineage, created decades after Barnack’s death in 1936 and serving as a tribute by those who revered him and had a profound understanding of the greatness of his accomplishments, which are still evident in the Leicas of today.
Yikes! A bayonet mount Leica IIIg? Yes this is one of 3 known examples and it proves that Adam Wagner and Leitz were playing around with various possibilities in the early and mid '60s, Fortunately that innovative spirit still persists at Leica witness the recently released Leica M EV1 with hi-res electronic viewfinder.
Many consider the Leica IIIg to be the finest screw mount Leica ever made and it’s likely to retain that exalted title forever. It is also esthetically gorgeous, a superb user-collectible, and a limited production classic with only 43,925 units having been produced from the prototypes of 1956 to the final IIIg bodies of 1960. Remarkably, you can still snag a clean functional Leica IIIg body in chrome for about $600 to $1,000 on eBay, though examples in pristine or mint condition can run much higher. A collapsible 50mm f/2 Summicron to complement your IIIg will set you back $350 to $850 depending on condition; a period correct 50mm f/2.8 Elmar in screw mount (far less common than the M-mount version!) runs about $400-$500.
Wilhelm "Willi" Stein (left) and Adam Wagner at a Christmas party in 1970. Both were genius camera designers whose creations burnished the Leica legend.
Wilhelm (Willi) Stein: Father of the Leica M3
Wilhelm "Willi" Stein (1906-1976) was the principal designer of the Leica M3, and by extension, most subsequent Leicas in the M series. He began his career in engineering as an apprentice with the Iron & Steel Works of Buderus in his hometown of Wetzlar. In 1936, he moved to Ernst Leitz GmbH. Oskar Barnack, who had initiated and supervised the development of the original Leica and its early III-series screw-mount, coupled rangefinder variants, died in January of that year. This left a gap among the remaining engineers, but fortunately Ludwig Leitz recognized Stein's unique talents and gave him an opportunity to make contributions with the company's design group.
Rare Leica M3 single stroke No. 1111111 with 50mm f/2 Dual Range Summicron and "goggles." Photo courtesy of James Lager.
Some credit Stein with the improvement to the focal plane shutter that Barnack had invented in 1924. Unlike Adam Wagner, he wasn’t drafted into the German Army but instead was sent to secret military development installations where he worked on designing optical instruments for the German armed forces. After World War II, Stein was made the head of Leica's design department, and it was in that capacity that he headed up the design team that created the Leica M3. On the design side of the Leica M3 team the following people also deserve to be mentioned: Dr. Ludwig Leitz, LTG (Leipzig Technology Group), Willi Stein, Head of Design, and Adolf Groß, Head of Form Design, as well as Prof. Scheuernstuhl as sculptor, and his master student Heinrich Janke from Hanover, the later head of this department. Later, the team also consisted of Hans-Kurt Uellenberg, H. Janke, Ernst Rühl, and Bernd Nickel
Ultra-rare black Leica M3 single stroke with vintage 50mm f/2 Summicron with heavy knurling. Most offered are repainted. Price of a factory original? Don't ask!
E. Leitz Photographic Patents by Wilhelm "Willi" Stein
1936 FEB 12 - DEVICE FOR LOADING FILM CASETTES
1936 AUG 08 - CAMERA SHUTTER MECHANISM with Ludwig Leitz
1950 FEB 09 - CURTAIN SHUTTER CAMERA WITH FLASH SYNCHRONIZING DEVICE with Friedrich Gath
1951 JAN 17 - COMBINED EXPOSURE METER AND CAMERA
1951 AUG 28 - TIMING MECHANISM FOR CAMERA FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER with Hugo Wehrenfennig
1952 JUL 23 - FLASHLIGHT (sic.) ATTACHMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS
1960 JUL 11 - COMBINED VIEW AND RANGE FINDER FOR CAMERAS with Ernst Leitz II
1962 AUG 24 - RANGE FINDER AND VIEW FINDER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS with Ernst Leitz II
The Leica M3: An AI overview
The Leica M3 was a groundbreaking 35mm rangefinder camera introduced on April 3, 1954 by Ernst Leitz GmbH (later Leica Camera AG). A huge leap forward from the company's previous screw-mount cameras, the M bayonet mount M3 established the core design principles that would define the entire optical range/viewfinder (Messucher) Leica M series, which is still in production today.
Key innovations and features
The M3 introduced several revolutionary features to the Leica line:
The M3 was in production from 1954 until 1966, with over 220,000 units sold, making it the most commercially successful M-mount camera in Leica's history. Over its production run, Leitz made several minor but notable updates:
The M3 created a worldwide sensation when it was releasse and is considered a legendary camera among photographers and collectors.
Heartfelt thanks to James Lager and Lars Netopil for providing the images and crucial historical information for this article.
Both projects were team efforts led by innovative engineering geniuses.
By Jason Schneider
How did E. Leitz Wetzlar, an esteemed microscope maker based in an ancient medieval town in central Germany, become a titan of the camera industry? Primarily because it was led by men of vision and staffed with brilliantly innovative mechanical and optical engineers who were given free rein to create the company’s first camera, the Leica I (Model A) of 1925. This seminal machine, painstakingly developed over more than a decade by Oskar Barnack and (eventually) fitted with the outstanding 50mm f/3.5 Elmar lens penned by longtime Leitz chief optical designer Max Berek, transformed the world of photography and helped to establish the full-frame (24 x 36mm) format as the international standard. Both Barnack and Berek have certainly earned their honored places in Leica history, but there were others, including the two camera design geniuses highlighted here-- Adam Wagner chief designer of the incomparable Leica IIIg (last of the “Barnack” Leicas) and Wilhelm “Willi” Stein, the principal designer of the transformational Leica M3. Here are their fascinating stories.
Adam Wagner holding his beloved Leica H. He spent more than 3 years designing this ingenious half framer and was devastated when the project was cancelled.
Adam Wagner; a compelling tale of triumph and personal tragedy
Adam Wagner was born on February 28, 1910 in what is now known as the Marburg district of Marbach am Neckar, a small German town (population c.15,000) located about 20 km north of Stuttgart and known as the birthplace of beloved poet Friedrich Schiller. His parents had a farm, he was the youngest of 3 children, and both his siblings died of tuberculosis. As a young man he completed his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic with flying colors, studied mechanical engineer, passed his master’s examination at the Darmstadt Chamber if Crafts, and attended the prestigious mechanical engineering school at Giessen. Wagner then worked as an engineer for a local company before signing on as an employee of E. Leitz Wetzlar on August 15th 1934 at the age of 24, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1938, one day after his wedding (!), and was called up for military service again in 1942. What he did in the course of his military service is not known, but at the end of World War II then 35-year-old Leitz camera designer Adam Wagner walked home to Wetzlar from Karlovy-Vary, now in the Czech Republic, a trek of 272 miles across war-torn Europe, to resume his work at the Leitz camera design department, arriving in June 1945! How he wound up in Czechoslovakia and what he was doing there remain a mystery, but at least two well regarded Leica historians have dismissed the theory that he’d been working on secret military projects at the behest of the German government.
Contemporary description of the Leica H and its creation published in German Leica historical book. Note Leitz Wetzlar logo and pop-up lens cover on camera.
To say that Adam Wagner was a dedicated Leitz employee is an understatement--he was responsible for numerous notable achievements at Leitz. His designs include adding “F” sync (for flashbulbs) to Leica focal plane shutters, devising the Leicavit rapid winder, creating the overall design of the coveted Leica IIIg of 1957-1960, the last of the screw-mount Leicas, creating components of the Stemar 3.3 cm stereo system and designing and constructing the Leica MP2 of the late ‘50s, an “evaluation sample” of an upgraded classic Leica MP that incorporated an M2-spec “35mm- 50mm- 90mm” range/viewfinder and had an integrated Leitz 3fps electric motor drive. The motorized MP2 never went into production and only about 15 were ever assembled, making it a priceless museum piece.
The ill-fated Leica H: Adam Wagner’s greatest disappointment
One of Wagner's principles was to make things as compact as possible. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that he spearheaded a project to construct a modern half-frame 35mm camera with a fast retractable lens and an early iteration of fully automatic exposure. This idea garnered an official development order for Wagner and his team that was approved by top management The Leica "H" was finished in 1965 and could have gone into production shortly thereafter. Based Wagner's innovative ideas and (two) working prototypes. It was a true precision miniature camera, with a coupled rangefinder and a high-quality (5-element 35mm f/2,8) lens. In the meantime, the Leica M system had been extremely successful: over 200,000 units of the M3 model had already been produced since its market launch in 1954. And another very important project, the Leicaflex, had just commenced as well. In short, at that time, Leica simply lacked the production capacity to begin manufacturing a third line of a precision cameras in parallel with the very successful M line and the emerging (though ultimately underwhelming) Leicaflex, a very labor-intensive camera to produce.
Adam Wagner with colleagues on his last day in the office after he resigned from Leitz in 1966. His expression conveys his resignation and profound sorrow.
When Leitz management assessed the situation and decided not to manufacture the Leica H, Adam Wagner became despondent that the baby he had worked on untiringly for more than 3 years had been killed in its cradle. He angrily quit the company in 1966 terminating a successful and immensely productive career of 32 years as a camera designer at Leitz. Until his death as a centenarian he remained convinced that it had been a wrong and politically motivated decision not to manufacture his beloved Leica H.
Cover of VIDOM 110 of December 2015 containing Leica Historica article on the ill-fated Leica H. Would it have been a hit in the '60s ? Nobody knows for sure.
As far as we know, only two specimens of the Leica H were ever completed, one of which was the fully functional Leica H that Adam used extensively for field testing. The contact sheets and original prints from this context have been preserved from his estate, and they offer conclusive proof that the camera was able to deliver outstanding imaging performance. In the mid-1960s, Adam Wagner took part in the well-known photo excursions to St. Christoph am Arlberg and shot with a working sample of the Leica H. Members of the Leitz camera design department and the Leica-Technik (currently known as the Leica Academy) took part as a group. We’ve included a graphic representation of the retractable lens of the "small format folding camera" (Leica H) with the note "Named as inventor: Adam Wagner, Garbenheim and Georg Mann, Staufenberg."
Article in the Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung of February 28, 2010 commemorating Adam Wagner's 100th birthday. Photos show (left to right) Adam Wagner as a young man, Adam Wagner holding the ill-fated Leica H half-frame camera he designed, and Adam Wagner as a doting great-grandfather.
Would the Leica H have been a resounding success in the marketplace at the time? It’s impossible to know for sure, but as a unique and fascinating pocketable half frame Leica it would probably have sold reasonably well, especially among diehard Leica fans. However, it’s a mechanically complex design that would have been challenging to manufacture, it would have to have been sold at a very high price to turn a profit, and it was reportedly quite heavy for a camera designed to be carried in a trousers pocket, one reason management cited in its decision to shelve the project.
Schematic side view of Leica H from patent application shows cross section of its unique 5-element, 3-group lens, and mechanical complexity of the design.
The Leica IIIg: Adam Wagner’s crowning achievement
Adam Wagner also worked on the Leica IIIc, the IIId (a rare--427 total production--iteration of the IIIc with a late IIIf-style self-timer) and the Leica IIIf. But his crowning achievement was the Leica IIIg, which he designed with an assist from Willi Stein, who had developed the projected parallax-compensating system of frame lines for the Leica M3 range/viewfinder, the signature feature of all Leica M-series rangefinder cameras with the exception of the newly released Leica M EV1, which has a 5.76M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder in place if the traditional range/viewfinder and many other advanced features
The Leica IIIg of 1957 to 1960, shown with collapsible screw mount 50mm f/2.8 Elmar lens. The only LTM Leica with projected, parallax-compensating frame lines for 50mm and 90mm lenses, it's drop dead gorgeous and was Adam Wagner's crowning achievement. Factory photo courtesy of James Lager.
Why did Leitz decide to bring forth the Leica IIIg in 1957 when the bayonet mount Leica M3 had already been in production for 3 years? According to most experts, the IIIg was designed to offer a less expensive “Leica quality” alternative to the costlier Leica M3, and to serve the legions of Leica fans who had made a significant investment in LTM (Leica Thread Mount) lenses and accessories. The IIIg allowed these users to upgrade to a slightly taller slimline camera with a larger, brighter viewfinder displaying M-style projected, parallax compensating frame-lines for 50mm and 90mm lenses, a modern geometric shutter speed sequence, a more reliable flash sync system, and a back mounted film type reminder dial, all without requiring LTM-to M adapters or changing their system. Presumably such traditionalists would be onboard with such charming vintage Leica features as separate rangefinder and viewfinder eyepieces, bottom loading, and old-fashioned film wind and rewind knobs. Remember that back in the ‘50s a price difference of 50 to 100 bucks was significant even to well-heeled Leica fans. In the May 1957 issue of Popular Photography, the IIIf and IIIg prices listed are around 33% lower than those of a similarly equipped M3. And in the 1959 Leitz New York catalog, a Leica M3 body was priced at $270, an M2 body, $216, and a shiny new IIIg in chrome set you back mere $163.50.
Ultra-rare prototype of Leica IIIg of 1957 with covered, self zeroing frame counter. Only a handful were made and one was auctioned off for $407,576!
To understand the motivations behind the creation of the traditional yet idiosyncratic Leica IIIg one must consider the mindset of those who created it.The chief designer of the Leica IIIg was Adam Wagner, a brilliantly innovative engineer and camera designer at Leitz who was responsible for many technical breakthroughs, some of which are enumerated in a 1952 patent illustration we’ve included here. His chief collaborators on the IIIg project were Wilhelm (Willi) Stein and Friedrich Gath. Stein is generally credited as the principal designer of the Leica M3, especially its signature system of projected auto-indexing parallax-compensating frame lines for multiple focal lengths. Friedrich Gath was a top engineer at Leitz who refined the shutter mechanism of the M3 and whose patented work helped to lay the foundation of the M3’s innovative design. In short, while Oskar Barnack’s original designs for Leica thread mount cameras date back to 1913 or even earlier, the IIIg represents the final evolution of that noble lineage, created decades after Barnack’s death in 1936 and serving as a tribute by those who revered him and had a profound understanding of the greatness of his accomplishments, which are still evident in the Leicas of today.
Yikes! A bayonet mount Leica IIIg? Yes this is one of 3 known examples and it proves that Adam Wagner and Leitz were playing around with various possibilities in the early and mid '60s, Fortunately that innovative spirit still persists at Leica witness the recently released Leica M EV1 with hi-res electronic viewfinder.
Many consider the Leica IIIg to be the finest screw mount Leica ever made and it’s likely to retain that exalted title forever. It is also esthetically gorgeous, a superb user-collectible, and a limited production classic with only 43,925 units having been produced from the prototypes of 1956 to the final IIIg bodies of 1960. Remarkably, you can still snag a clean functional Leica IIIg body in chrome for about $600 to $1,000 on eBay, though examples in pristine or mint condition can run much higher. A collapsible 50mm f/2 Summicron to complement your IIIg will set you back $350 to $850 depending on condition; a period correct 50mm f/2.8 Elmar in screw mount (far less common than the M-mount version!) runs about $400-$500.
Wilhelm "Willi" Stein (left) and Adam Wagner at a Christmas party in 1970. Both were genius camera designers whose creations burnished the Leica legend.
Wilhelm (Willi) Stein: Father of the Leica M3
Wilhelm "Willi" Stein (1906-1976) was the principal designer of the Leica M3, and by extension, most subsequent Leicas in the M series. He began his career in engineering as an apprentice with the Iron & Steel Works of Buderus in his hometown of Wetzlar. In 1936, he moved to Ernst Leitz GmbH. Oskar Barnack, who had initiated and supervised the development of the original Leica and its early III-series screw-mount, coupled rangefinder variants, died in January of that year. This left a gap among the remaining engineers, but fortunately Ludwig Leitz recognized Stein's unique talents and gave him an opportunity to make contributions with the company's design group.
Rare Leica M3 single stroke No. 1111111 with 50mm f/2 Dual Range Summicron and "goggles." Photo courtesy of James Lager.
Some credit Stein with the improvement to the focal plane shutter that Barnack had invented in 1924. Unlike Adam Wagner, he wasn’t drafted into the German Army but instead was sent to secret military development installations where he worked on designing optical instruments for the German armed forces. After World War II, Stein was made the head of Leica's design department, and it was in that capacity that he headed up the design team that created the Leica M3. On the design side of the Leica M3 team the following people also deserve to be mentioned: Dr. Ludwig Leitz, LTG (Leipzig Technology Group), Willi Stein, Head of Design, and Adolf Groß, Head of Form Design, as well as Prof. Scheuernstuhl as sculptor, and his master student Heinrich Janke from Hanover, the later head of this department. Later, the team also consisted of Hans-Kurt Uellenberg, H. Janke, Ernst Rühl, and Bernd Nickel
Ultra-rare black Leica M3 single stroke with vintage 50mm f/2 Summicron with heavy knurling. Most offered are repainted. Price of a factory original? Don't ask!
E. Leitz Photographic Patents by Wilhelm "Willi" Stein
1936 FEB 12 - DEVICE FOR LOADING FILM CASETTES
1936 AUG 08 - CAMERA SHUTTER MECHANISM with Ludwig Leitz
1950 FEB 09 - CURTAIN SHUTTER CAMERA WITH FLASH SYNCHRONIZING DEVICE with Friedrich Gath
1951 JAN 17 - COMBINED EXPOSURE METER AND CAMERA
1951 AUG 28 - TIMING MECHANISM FOR CAMERA FOCAL PLANE SHUTTER with Hugo Wehrenfennig
1952 JUL 23 - FLASHLIGHT (sic.) ATTACHMENT FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS
1960 JUL 11 - COMBINED VIEW AND RANGE FINDER FOR CAMERAS with Ernst Leitz II
1962 AUG 24 - RANGE FINDER AND VIEW FINDER FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS with Ernst Leitz II
The Leica M3: An AI overview
The Leica M3 was a groundbreaking 35mm rangefinder camera introduced on April 3, 1954 by Ernst Leitz GmbH (later Leica Camera AG). A huge leap forward from the company's previous screw-mount cameras, the M bayonet mount M3 established the core design principles that would define the entire optical range/viewfinder (Messucher) Leica M series, which is still in production today.
Key innovations and features
The M3 introduced several revolutionary features to the Leica line:
- Combined viewfinder/rangefinder: Previous Leica models used separate windows for focusing and composing the shot. The M3 was the first Leica to combine these functions into a single, large, and bright window—a system known as a "Messsucher," or "measuring viewfinder" in German. This significantly sped up the process of composing and capturing the shot.
- Bayonet lens mount: The camera featured the newly designed M-mount bayonet, which allowed for faster and more secure lens changes than the older M39 screw mount. The new mount also communicated with the camera to automatically select the correct transilluminated projected frame lines for each focal length that were displayed in the viewfinder.
- Parallax-corrected frame lines: The viewfinder displayed automatic, parallax-correcting frame lines for 50mm, 90mm, and 135mm lenses, ensuring accurate framing as the subject distance changed.
- Rapid film advance: Early models of the M3 used a two-stroke film advance lever to prevent tearing film.Later models, starting around 1958, were updated with a more efficient single-stroke film advance lever.
- Superb build quality: Produced in Wetzlar, Germany, the camera was celebrated for its exceptional precision engineering and robustness, establishing Leica's reputation for decades.
The M3 was in production from 1954 until 1966, with over 220,000 units sold, making it the most commercially successful M-mount camera in Leica's history. Over its production run, Leitz made several minor but notable updates:
- Double-stroke vs. single-stroke: Early models with the double-stroke lever were replaced by single-stroke versions.
- Glass vs. metal pressure plate: Early M3s used a glass film pressure plate, which was later replaced by a more durable metal one.
- Shutter speed standardization: The original M3 used a pre-war German shutter speed sequence. In 1957, this was changed to the modern international “geometric” standard.
- Rare black and olive versions: While most M3s were chrome, a small number were produced in black paint for professionals or olive green for the German government. These are rare and valuable collector’s items.
The M3 created a worldwide sensation when it was releasse and is considered a legendary camera among photographers and collectors.
- Adoption by professionals: It was the camera of choice for many famous photojournalists, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and Robert Frank.
- Defining the M series: Its innovative design set the standard for subsequent M cameras, even influencing modern digital M models.
- Enduring appeal: Over 50 years later, its superior build quality and optical rangefinder remain highly sought after, proving that the M3 still qualifies as a "lifetime investment" in photography.
Heartfelt thanks to James Lager and Lars Netopil for providing the images and crucial historical information for this article.
Last edited:
