A short history of SLR cameras

35mm camera bodies

• 1849 : The 23-year-old mathematician Carl Kellner from Hirzenhain establishes an "Optical Institute" in Wetzlar for the development of lenses and microscopes.
• 1869 : Ernst Leitz takes over the sole management of the company and expands it under his name.
• 1920 : After the death of Ernst Leitz I, his son, Ernst Leitz II, takes over the management of the company.
• 1924 : Ernst Leitz II decides to mass-produce the camera constructed by Oskar Barnack. Meanwhile the number of employees in the factory has risen to 1,000.
• 1925 : At the spring fair in Leipzig, the Leica camera is presented to the public for the first time. It was the first camera to use 35mm films. Leica stands for LEItz-CAmera.

Twin Lens Reflex cameras (TLR)

Single Lens Reflex cameras (SLR)

Interchangeable lens (screew mount)

Bayonet mounts

Through The Lens measurement (TTL)

Last update : 19-05-2023