Background
Oskar Barnack was born on November 1, 1879 in Lynow, Brandenburg, Germany.
2018
A commemorative plaque marks the spot in Wetzlar where Oskar Barnack tested his Ur-Leica in this modern view.
Oskar Barnack was born on November 1, 1879 in Lynow, Brandenburg, Germany.
Oskar Barnack attended school in Berlin-Steglitz, on a street renamed Bamackufer in 1961. He then studied to be a master mechanic.
After spending his journeyman years working in Vienna, Oskar Barnack went to Jena in 1902 to join the Palmos camera works (camera assembly department) of Zeiss. He joined Ernst Leitz at Wetzlar in 1911, heading the company's experimental department.In 1906 Barnack had conceived of a panoramic camera using standard 9 x 18cm stereo glass plates, but could not find a manufacturer. However, from 1912 to 1914 Oskar Barnack developed a prototype of the first small commercial camera, determining the size for 35mm film as well (24 x 36mm). Production of the instrument was delayed by World War I, but by 1924 the revolutionary Leica was on the market. Barnack was also partly responsible for designing the Leitz Elmar lens.
Physical Characteristics: Oskar Barnack suffered from asthma.