Most Leica enthusiast know that the Ur-Leica that is on display (replica) at the Leica museum in Solms is not the camera Oskar Barnack used. It is the other prototype that he made and gave to Ernst Leitz. According to Leica historian Gianni Rogliatti, Barnack’s camera came into the possession of his son who operated a grocery store in Munich. For reasons unknown, the camera was given to the Deutsches Museum (German Museum) in Munich during WWII. The camera was returned to Barnack’s son after the war who eventually sold it. Supposedly the camera is now residing in an unknown collection.
I recently obtained a photograph of a Leica prototype from the Deutsches Museum. While at first glance it looks like the Ur-Leica we know, there are some definite differences and it appears that the photograph shows the other, Barnack’s prototype, the one he photographed many of the shots with that many of us are familiar with.
For more info on this go to:
http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2013/01/oskar-barnacks-personal-camera-other-ur.htmlEveryone has their own point of view, and it’s important to respect the opinions of others.
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