← All Eras

1914–1954

The Barnack Era

Oskar Barnack invents the 35mm camera. Screw-mount Leicas define photojournalism.

18 entries

Iconic

Oskar Barnack Builds the Ur-Leica

1914

The prototype that invented 35mm still photography. A pocket camera built at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar.

Event
Iconic

Leica 0-Series

1923–1923

The prototype that started it all — approximately 25 hand-built pre-production cameras that proved 35mm cine film could make serious still photographs.

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Iconic

Elmar 50mm f/3.5

1925–1961

Max Berek's collapsible tessar-type lens — the lens that launched with the Leica I and started it all.

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Leica I Launches at the Leipzig Spring Fair

1925

35mm photography goes mainstream. The Leica I enters commercial production at the Leipzig Spring Fair.

Event
Iconic

Leica I"Leica A"

1925–1936

The first mass-produced 35mm camera — Leitz's leap of faith that launched an entire industry.

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Iconic

Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare

1932

Henri Cartier-Bresson's leaping man — the photograph that defined "the decisive moment."

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Leica II"Leica D"

1932–1948

The first Leica with a built-in coupled rangefinder, making precise focus on a small camera possible for the first time.

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Leica Standard"Model E"

1932–1948

The most affordable Barnack Leica: fixed, non-removable back — simplified construction made the 35mm system accessible to a wider market.

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Summar 50mm f/2

1933–1940

The first Leitz f/2 lens — a groundbreaking fast standard for 1933, now prized for its characterful vintage rendering.

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Thambar 90mm f/2.2

1935–1949

Leitz's deliberate soft-focus portrait lens — a beautifully corrected aberration, reissued in 2017 to collector acclaim.

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The Leica Freedom Train

1938

Ernst Leitz II quietly helped Jewish employees and their families flee Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1939.

Event

Summitar 50mm f/2

1939–1953

The wartime successor to the Summar — sharper and better corrected, bridging the pre-war and early post-war Leitz eras.

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Leica IIIc

1940–1951

The IIIc introduced the die-cast zinc alloy body — a manufacturing revolution that made precision production faster and more consistent.

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Iconic

V-J Day in Times Square"The Kiss"

1945

Alfred Eisenstaedt's sailor kissing a nurse as New York erupts — shot on a Leica IIIa.

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Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Founding of Magnum Photos

1947

Magnum Photos is founded, cementing the Leica as the tool of documentary and street photography.

Event

Leica IIIf

1950–1957

The most-produced Barnack Leica — added flash synchronization and became the workhorse of mid-century photojournalism.

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Summicron 50mm f/2 collapsible

1953–1956

The first Summicron — a landmark f/2 50mm in collapsible screw-mount form, bridging the barnack era and the M system.

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Leica IIIg

1957–1960

The last and most refined screw-mount Leica — a swan song for the Barnack platform, made alongside the new M3.

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