دانلود کتاب Barnack’s First Leica: The Second Life of a Forgotten Historic Camera

Much is known about the Leica and its history and numerous publications have appeared over the years. It thusseems incredible that a camera handmade by its inventor Oskar Barnack in the early 1920s – the “first Leica” –could re-emerge after having fallen into oblivion. This test camera finally evolved into the Leica over the course ofvarious enhancements, leading to a very impressive success story. Encounters with landmark events in the history of technology –the first microscope, the first calculating machine, the firstexplosion-proof miner’s lamp, the first steam engine, the firsttrain, the first telegraph, the first car, the first light bulb, the firstradio, to name just a few randomly selected inventions – arealways ambivalent. The fascination of the “first step” competeswith misgivings regarding the “teething troubles” of the prototypes, which are only cured by subsequent improvements. When Dr. Günter Kisselbach found a relatively unknown Leicaprototype, “Barnack’s handmade prototype” in his father’sLeica collection, the history of development of the 35mm camera from Wetzlar had long been written. Fortunately, the wealthof established knowledge did not deter the photography enthusiast from finding out himself that substantial “blind spots” stillexisted in the source area of the Leica history. His fascinatingreport of his experience with the camera proves conclusivelywhat this early personal model belonging to its inventor Oskar Barnack wascapable of achieving. However, this only becameapparent when the handmade prototype was subjected topractical testing and had to demonstrate the requirements itwas equipped to meet and the points where it reached its limits,which it was only able to overcome in the course of furtherdevelopment. This book provides answers to intriguing questions: what happened to Oskar Barnack’s “forgotten test camera”?what technical secrets does this camera hold?can it still be used to take photos?what is its position in the Leica lineage?