Premier Leica d'Henri Cartier Bresson

I just have been in Paris. While I am sure this has been posted before, someone might still be

interested:<p>

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/4418383">http://

www.photo.net/photo/4418383</a><p>

 

It is in a vitrine <a href="http://www.henricartierbresson.org/">at the Foundation</a>.<div></div>

Interesting, it's brassed in places where he had to touch it frequently like the knobs and dials, but it doesn't look dinged, banged, or bashed. I guess that puts old Henri in lower esteem according to the criteria of a few ;-)

OMG, and it looks like he used an ERC (judging from the blue mold on the chrome, it was actually kept in the case). Say it ain't so Joe ;-)

The September/October 1997 issue of American Photo is an HC-B special edition, and there is a photo of HC-B greeting David "Chim" Seymour in paris in 1938. So sad to say, HC-B is carrying his Leica, and it IS in an ER case with the top dangling from the camera. I could scan and post the photo but I'm not sure of copyright issues.

And it's a chrome plated 1(a), which was not otherwise issued as a stock item by Leitz Wetzlar -- so the first of the specials made for HC-B by Leitz during his career

Tha answers some questions on this forum about whether he used a 50mm lens.

actually he very much stated what lenses he preferred. In his writings he says he preffered the 50mm until he came to the USA, where he found such a large country that called for the 35mm focal length. He also stated that he never used the 135mm and that he liked to use the 90mm for landscapes to avoid getting too much foreground.

 

Thanks for the FYI, Markus.

So is this the one he buried in the ground for the duration of the war?

<i>OMG, and it looks like he used an ERC (judging from the blue mold on the chrome, it was actually kept in the case). Say it ain't so Joe ;-)</i>

 

<br><p>

 

It is so, Vinay. Using cameras without Ever-Ready Cases is a 1960s, Nikon F kinda thing, AFAIK. Check out what a real photographer used to look like...

<br><p>

<a href=http://snipurl.com/q2x9>Robert Capa in Indochina</a>

Hmm ... is that really his FIRST Leica? The one he buried in a French farmyard before he was taken POW by the Germans?

Don't forget that Leicas, or almost any other camera of that era, wasn't sealed against dust

and moisture. The case provides a lot of protection. Cameras like the Contax, Leica and Rollei

were difficult to replace if damaged, unless you were shooting for the other side.

 

feli

Thanks, Markus, I haven't seen it before. Can anyone make out the serial number?

I'm guessing he probably used the eveready case for the strap more than protection of the camera, no strap lugs on that body.

 

Travis

And <a href=http://img3.pcpop.com/upimg2/2004/9/27/6750811169090328.jpg>another one of Robert Capa and George Rodger</a> (later the founders of Magnum) in Naples during the Second World War.

<br><p>

Both appear to be using everready cases!

>OMG, and it looks like he used an ERC (judging from the blue mold on the chrome, it was actually kept in the case).

 

Chrome and ERC, eh? Just proves once and for all that HCB was either a rank amateur, a poseur, or both.

 

>Don't forget that Leicas, or almost any other camera of that era, wasn't sealed against dust and moisture.

 

I never knew they made the M7 and MP concurrently with this one.

I see Mani has read my posts here: http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GAzx

Was it really the first? I can't tell, at least that is what they say ;).

 

Here are two more photos of it:<div></div>

second:<div></div>

And the serial-number Gurus go here:<div></div>

Does it really matter whether he used a leather case or not? Whether his camera was banged and dashed? What's the point? He made many many fabulous images and died peacefully, without being killed in the mud of some faraway battlefield. Now that's what I call genious. Let's give the man the credit he deserves. Many of us would only be too happy if we could produce these kinds of images (with or without leather case). It's really a discussion about nothing IMHO.

I guess it's a bit of historical trivia that is of interest to some of us. Maybe that's why we have museums.

>feli , may 05, 2006; 05:30 p.m.

 

>Don't forget that Leicas, or almost any other camera of that era, wasn't sealed against dust

and moistur

 

Kinda like all the Leicas since, too.

Leica better seal the digital M if they want any pro to touch it.

 

I could never figure out why they didn't make an effort in that direction with the current M

line up. It would be fairly simple to do since the camera has such few dials and entry points.

 

I just shot a project in New Orleans and upon my return I augmented my M's with a Canon 1v,

so I could shoot in the pouring rain without having to worry about my gear getting killed.

"I could never figure out why they didn't make an effort in that direction with the current M

line up. "

 

Are they really that bad? I remember features that Leica ran showing happy, smiling

scientists snapping away, with M6s, in the Antartic (in the 40th anniversary booklet). My

M3 has always been ok in the rain, as has any Canon I''ve owned.

 

Having said that, I've never really tested my M out in seriously heavy weather and most of

the Rs I've owned would break if you so much as sneezed at them.

 

The SL is an honourable exception and, I must confess, I've never tried burying any of

them.

Aha! That's where I saw it first...in Fred C's. post. Thanks for the reminder, Fred! No offense, you get full credit of course, I just couldn't remember where I'd seen the image, and searched for it in Google...