This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

Oskar Barnack
Oskar Barnack
Personal information
Name	Oskar Barnack
Nationality	Germany
Birth date	November 1, 1879
Date of death	January 16, 1936
Work
Significant projects	camera

Oskar Barnack (November 1, 1879 – January 16, 1936) was a German precision mechanic and industrial designer.

Between 1913 and 1914 he was head of development of the camera company Leitz in Wetzlar, Hesse, Germany. He was the driving force behind the making of the first mass-marketed 35mm camera. Barnack suffered from asthma, and sought to reduce the size and weight of cameras and supporting equipment used for outdoor photography. His 35mm design helped introduce the concept of exposing a small area of film to create a negative, then enlarging the image in a darkroom.¹

The onset of World War I kept the first Leica from being manufactured until 1924, and it was not introduced to the public until 1925, when Leica's chief, the optician Ernst Leitz, took a gamble and athorized the production of 1,000 cameras.]].²

Leica stood for Leitz Camera. Instead of the exposure plates used in past Leitz cameras, the Leica used a standardized film strip, adapted from 35mm Edison roll-film.

Lynow, Oskar Barnack's birthplace, and currently a municipality of Brandenburg, Germany, has a museum to Oskar Barnack. Barnack's dog, Hektor, was the name adopted to a series of Leica lenses.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oskar Barnack