Barnack, Oskar

Oskar Barnack, (born Nov. 1, 1879, Lynow, Brandenburg [Germany]—died Jan. 16, 1936, Bad Nauheim, Ger.), designer of the first precision miniature camera to become available commercially, the Leica I, which was introduced in 1924 by the Ernst Leitz optical firm at Wetzlar, Ger.

Barnack was a master mechanic and inventor who joined the Leitz optical firm in 1911. Barnack had completed a prototype of the Leica by 1913, but World War I and the postwar chaos in Germany delayed production. The success of the Leica I promoted the use of 35-millimetre and other small cameras. Barnack determined the standard 24 × 36-millimetre picture size for 35-millimetre film and was partly responsible for designing the Leitz Elmar lens.