The Barnack Era

Oskar Barnack's 1914 prototype — the first practical 35mm still camera, and the ancestor of everything on this timeline.

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

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

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

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

Robert Capa's shattering Spanish Civil War frame — the photograph that birthed modern combat photography.

Robert Capa's heart-stopping frames from the first wave at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 — shot on two Leica IIIs.

Yevgeny Khaldei's iconic photograph of Soviet soldiers raising the Red Flag over the ruins of Berlin — shot on a Leica III.

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

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