GENERAL RENÉ COGNY PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROBERT CAPA INSIDE A MORANE-SAULNIER MS-500 CRIQUET LIAISON AIRCRAFT ON MAY 24, 1954 SHORTLY BEFORE LANDING IN NAM DINH (VIETNAM)

José Manuel Serrano Esparza
SPANISH
General René Cogny, commander in chief of the French forces in the área of Tonkin (North Vietnam), was photographed by Robert Capa inside the Morane-Saulnier MS-500 liaison aircraft (in which was also the correspondent for Life magazine John Mecklin) during the trip from Hanoi to Nam Dinh on May 24, 1954.

                             © Robert Capa / ICP New York   

This highly meaningful picture reveals faithfully the definition of struggling photographer applied by Dirck Halstead to the great war photographer, because Capa masterfully captures the French general being thoughtful and worried.

René Cogny knows that the war is lost and that the life of thousands of men depends on his decisions, because he has had to simultaneously tackle two fronts after the route of transport between Hanoi and Haiphong has been greatly disrupted by Nguyen Giap by sending the Viet Minh 320^th Division, complemented by 14 regional battalions and three autonomous regiments, attacking at the same time the French outposts located in the rural zones between Phu Ly, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Thanh Ne.

Once more, Capa´s ability, sensitivity and nose to perceive and photograph the most representative moments, with an exceedingly accurate timing when pressing the shutter release button of his camera, stands out.

On the other hand, this image isn´t only the result of the photographic act during the exposure of the Kodak Super-XX High Speed Panchromatic black and white film but stems from a previous exhaustive work of observation of the character, his movements and reactions inside the plane by Capa, from the very moment of the aircraft took off at Hanoi Gia Lam airport, approximately half an hour before.

In addition, this very interesting picture is likewise relevant since it shows the perfect synergy for handheld shots between:

a) The Contax IIa rangefinder camera 

from 1950 (manufactured by Zeiss Ikon A.G.Stuttgart, improving the already masterpiece of optical and mechanical engineering Contax II from 1936 created by Zeiss engineer Hubert Nerwin - first model featuring combined rangefinder and viewfinder in a single window- ) in which the shutter was redesigned and greatly improved, replacing the connecting cloth of the curtains by geartrains, as well as reducing the number of components and the rangefinder baselength from 90 mm to 73 mm (with a 0.66x magnification and an affective base length of 48 mm), which enabled a more comfortable grabbing of the camera.

b) The Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 with one layer T antireflection coating. Such T coating, patented by Alexander Smakula in November 1935, rendered brilliant and high contrast images and was the fruit of twelve years of research by Carl Zeiss Jena from the study of the 1923 prototype CZJ 8,5 cm f/1.75 aimed at improving the quality of the lenses coating the surface of the optical elements with very thin layers of special materials which bettered the light transmission.

c) A highly experienced photojournalist who fights to his utmost with his 35 mm rangefinder camera within the very tight space of the aircraft to get the picture, since under normal circumstances this kind of plane can only transport the pilot and one passenger, so Capa and Mecklin (whom Donald M. Winslow has given his seat, because there wasn´t enough room for a third journalist) are exceedingly crammed behind the general, in such a way that Capa can barely move.

And though getting a high technical quality is not the priority in this sort of photojournalistic pictures, it´s really amazing the resolving power delivered (watch for instance the excellent detail in the general´s nose and the extinguisher) by the lens designed by the genius Ludwig Bertele twenty-two years before, for the picture is made within a very short distance, probably at f/5.6 and from a position very near the minimum focusing distance.

It speaks volumes of the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 T used by Capa and designed by Ludwig Bertele in 1932 in an utterly handcrafted way, using a lot of thousands of hours of manual tracing of light rays throughout the creation stages, without any help of computers or electronic calculators, only taking advantage of his impressive knowledge on optics, physics, mathematics and available optical glasses of the time, as well as making an extensive use of tables of logarithms, two years before Konrad Zuse started in 1934 the conceptual genesis of digital computers, which brought about two years later the Z1 (featuring sixty-four words, each one containing 22 bits) and the Z2 from 1938, which used 800 transmitters, managing to create in 1941 the Z3, first wholly operative digital computer in the world, and in 1946 the Z4, the most sophisticated of his digital computers (including the revolutionary Plankalkül software based on arithmetic logics and the application of pure states on doing the numerical calculi) that was the embryo of the 1951 Zuse Z5, first computer used by Leica to help in the design of its lenses and sporting plenty of electromechanical relays, making possible to attain a seventy times faster designing speed of high luminosity and top-notch quality photographic lenses than with manual calculi, thanks to the acceleration with floating coma calculum, which made possible to a great extent the automatization of improvements in optical designs, the increase in production capacity with new optical glasses and a far superior manufacturing quickness, which resulted in the launching into photographic market by Leica of the 7 element in 6 groups collapsible Summicron 50 mm f/2 Version 1 in 1953, the first one including the remarkable LaK9 rare earth glass.  

And this was a turning point in the history of photographic lenses, because both the Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 First Version from 1959 and the Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 2 (1956-1968), available in rigid mount and dual range (sharing identical optical design and reformulated with respect to the previous retractable Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 1 1953-1960, increasing its resolving power and contrast, as well as bettering image quality at the nearest focusing distances) were feasible thanks to the synergy between the tremendous knowledge possessed by the Leitz optical designers and mechanics and the use of the Zuse Z5 computer installed in Wetzlar since 1952.

Ludwig Bertele, one of the greatest designers of photographic lenses ever. Among his abundant achievements highlight the legendary Ernostar f/2 lens from 1923 (for the 6 x 4.5 cm medium format Ernemann Ermanox, which allowed the dawn of the agile and dynamic indoor photojournalism with available light embodied by the towering figure of Erich Salomon), the birth in 1931 of the Sonnar scheme (derived from the 1924 Ernostar Type 2 but featuring a lesser quantity of optical groups, managing to greatly reduce the light scattering as well as generating a superior contrast) that made possible the creation of the not less mythical Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 from 1932 and Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 from 1932, without forgetting the Carl Zeiss Jena Biogon 3,5 cm f/2.8 from 1935, the Sonnar 180 mm f/2.8 from 1935 and others, which were followed after the Second World War by extraordinary photogrammetric wideangle lenses as the large format Aviogon from 1950 sporting a 90º coverage, the large format Super Aviogon from 1956 providing a 120º coverage, the Biogon 38 mm f/4.5 medium format 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ for Hasselblad cameras and many others.

It all proves clearly that the design by Ludwig Bertele of both the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 featuring 6 elements in 3 groups (used by Capa to get the picture of general Cogny inside the plane) and the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 sporting 7 elements in 3 groups make up one of the greatest feats in the History of Optics, since they were created with 100% manual designing and building parameters, without any help of computers or software whatsoever, with no aspherical surfaces and an strenuous stint of three years, started in 1929 and finished in 1932, nothing less than eighty-one years ago.

As a matter of fact, both lenses are excellent even to the very exacting current standards of quality, already in XXI Century, in which there are tons of objectives whose optical formula includes aspherical elements and there are available very powerful computers boasting highly sophisticated software programs, albeit when tackling the designing of ultraluminous class reference lenses in different focal lengths the key factor goes on being the personal touches provided by the best optical designers based on their expertise. 

It´s therefore not surprising the unquestionable fact that throughout nothing less than twenty-two years, between 1932 and 1954, the highly luminous lenses for 24 x 36 mm format photographic cameras made by Carl Zeiss (which had top class designers like Carl Paul Goerz, Willy Merté, Robert Richter, Sylvester Hubert, Ludwig Bertele himself and others) were by far the qualitative world benchmarks (above all the extraordinary for the time Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 from 1932 and the excellent Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 from 1932 , Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50 mm f/2.8 from 1932 and Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 85 mm f/2 – both in its version of 6 elements in 3 groups previous to the Second World War and in the one featuring 7 elements in 3 groups launched into market in 1951-, without forgetting the Biogon 35 mm f/2.8 from 1937 featuring 5 elements in 3 groups and the Topogon 25 mm f/4 from 1950 including 4 elements in 4 groups), to such an extent that among all the lenses manufactured by Leica between mid twenties and 1954, only the Leitz Elmar 5 cm f/3.5 designed by Max Berek could challenge Carl Zeiss standard objectives, although with much lesser luminosity.

The picture made by Capa to General Cogny inside the Morane-Saulnier MS-500 liaison aircraft corresponds to a tipping point year in the optical and mechanical evolution of 50 mm ultraluminous lenses, which have been and keep on being the quality yardstick of each brand, and is a good example of the formidable symbiosis between a 35 mm rangefinder camera built without any qualitative compromises and a rather experienced war photographer like Capa to carry out the mission for which they were created: the capturing of great images, even under the most extreme conditions.

In this regard, though there was a lot of available light inside the cabin of the aircraft thanks to its transparent cockpit design optimized for reconnaissance tasks, which enabled to stop down in the range f/5.6-f/11 without any problem, circumstances for Capa weren´t favourable on trying to get this picture: he had to work very near the minimum focusing distance of the camera, he had barely any space to move his arms, because he was behind general Cogny, very cramped next to John Mecklin, and the slight rattling generated by the 240 h.p Argus As 10 inverted V-8 air-cooled 90º piston engine of the STOL Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquet liaison plane (which is essentially a Fieseler FI 156 Storch with aluminum wings) generated risk of blurred picture because of lack of precise focus or camera shaking while the shutter was open, but the very wide 73 mm rangefinder baselength of the Contax IIa enabling a very accurate focusing, the non existence of a swivelling up and down mirror, the balance of masses of the camera body and above all the fight and experience of the photographer striving after getting the image, overcome the difficulties. 

As a matter of fact, during his career as a professional photographer Capa had already made other excellent pictures from a hugely close distance, surprising the persons photographed, as for example the Close-Up of Three Workers, Two of Them Wearing Beret and One with Moustache and Hat in Saint Ouen During the Sit-Down Strike at the Factory of the Building Firm Lavalette in May 1936; A Supporter of the Popular Front in Paris in 1936, wearing glasses and hat, captured by Capa at point blank range from neck upwards while he´s raising his right fist and is rendered slightly out of focus, also depicting the left fist of another demonstrator located on the left, behind him, on whom Bob plays the focus, providing a huge dramatism to the scene; Ernest Hemingway in Sun Valley (Idaho) Reading Some Typewritten Texts With a Pencil in His Right Hand and Some Light Entering Through a Window in October 1941; A German Parachutist Captured by U.S Troops in the South of Bastogne (Belgium) on December 23.26 1944 (he is wearing gloves, snow can be seen in the background and Capa photographs him by surprise from an exceedingly short distance and a framing from chest upwards), the picture of three American parachutists made inside an airplane of the 17^th United States Airborne Division on May 24, 1945 a few minutes before dropping on the German city of Wesel; Two Jewish Boys During the First Rosh Hashanah Office held at a Synagogue of Berlin on September 7, 1945 (Capa is just in front of them and captures them by surprise shooting at f/2.8 and a sloe shutter speed while both of them are attentively reading the Torah – the one located on the right of the image is pointing at a passage of the text with the index finger of his left hand, while the one on the left, also highly absorbed, has the front side of his right hand leaned on his chin, the book being rendered out of focus and the beret of the boy on the left slightly unfocused); Pablo Picasso and his son Claude in Golfe-Juan, France, in August 1948, in which Capa surprises the painter being joyful while he plays with the smiling child whom he holds with both hands, the photographer masterfully capturing the father´s enthralled and full of passion gesture, enhanced by some veins of his neck appearing swollen just at that moment.

Needless to say that Capa would have made the photograph even if he had only had a Kodak Brownie 1900 with meniscus, because he was born to

© José Manuel Serrano Esparza

THE MILLIONTH LEICA, A M3 CHROME MATCHING A LEITZ WETZLAR SUMMICRON 50/2 NEAR FOCUSING RANGE SOLD AT WESTLICHT VIENNA FOR 840,000 EUROS

The Leica M3 Chrome with serial number 1000000 made in 1960 and matching a Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 DR with Near Focusing Attachment became the highlight of the 24^th Camera Auction held at Westlicht Vienna on 24 November, 2013, reaching a price of 840,000 euros, much more than the starting estimate between 400,000-500,000 euros.

Peter Coeln, Founder and Owner of Westlicht Photography and Camera Auctions, Ostlicht Gallery, Leica Shop Vienna and Westlicht Museum, holding the Millionth Leica M3 (made in 1960) and the Leica I Model C Luxus (manufactured in 1930) sold during the 24th Camera Auction held in Westlicht Vienna on November 24, 2013. A recognized authority on Leica cameras and lenses and all kind of photographic stuff of different brands and formats, this visionary man (who has had the wisdom of choosing world class experts on Leica like Paul-Henry van Hasbroeck, Lars Netopil, Ottmar Michaely, Zoltan Fejér, Dr Bahman Bawendi, James E. Cornwall, Peter Göllner, Larry Gubas, Mayumi Kobayashi, Uli Koch, Jim McKeown, Dr, Milos Mladek, Dr. Wolfgang Netolitzky, Bernd K. Otto, Dieter Scheiba and others to often counsel him) knew to understand the immense historical significance and prestige of the Leica brand and has been one of the key figures in the current remarkable worldwide renaissance of Leica, something really astounding if we bear in mind that the mythical German photographic firm was about to disappear in 2003, shortly before another visionary man, Dr. Andreas Kauffmann, had the brainstorm and decision to save the brand.
  

This historical camera made in 1960 and featuring a fantastic mint cosmetic condition had previously been displayed at the Leitz Museum with original sticker M 964 on its base plate and had belonged to the collection of Surat Osathanugrah, President of the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand, who died in 2008.

Back view of the Millionth Leica, the M3 Chrome Single-Stroke featuring serial number 1000000 and preserved in mint condition.

The Leica M3 is considered the best 35 mm rangefinder camera ever made along with the Nippon Kogaku Nikon SP and is a masterpiece of mechanical perfection with an exceptionally bright and brilliant viewfinder and an amazingly quiet and virtually vibration free cloth focal plane shutter boasting extraordinary accuracy, always with an almost inaudible sound and working with an exceedingly short lag of 17 milliseconds between the moment in which the shutter release button is pressed and the beginning of the exposure, a remarkable achievement in comparison to usual shutter lags in the range 80-100 milliseconds inherent to professional reflex cameras.

On the other hand, the creation of the Leica M system together with the launching of the Leica M3 camera in 1954 has been one of the greatest achievements in the History of Photography, since between 1932 and mid fifties Zeiss Ikon had managed to prevail in terms of quickness and ease of use and focusing precision with its Contax II featuring a combined viewfinder and rangefinder (instead of the independent RF and VF windows inherent to Leica screwmount cameras), an exceedingly large rangefinder base of 90 mm (with a magnification of approximately 0.75x, attaining an effective baselength of 67.5 mm) and its highly luminous lenses designed by the genius Ludwig Bertele (specially the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5, the Carl Zeiss Jena 5 cm f/2, the Carl Zeiss Jena Biogon 3,5 cm f/2.8 and the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 8,5 cm f/2) delivering extraordinary resolving power and contrast for the time and only matched by Professor Max Berek´s Leitz Elmar 5 cm f/3.5, a true reference class standard lens with unequalled compactness but featuring much less luminosity.

The impressive beauty of lines of the Leica Millionth M3 with its matching Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 with near focusing attachment is a relish to watch. Twelve years have elapsed since June 11th, 2001, when Westlicht Schauplatz für Fotografie opened in the Westbahnstrasse, 40 of Vienna (Austria), founded by its creator and driving force Peter Coeln through the private initiative of camera collectors and enthusiasts of top-notch photography, with the aim of enhancing the significance of photography both from a historical viewpoint and in terms of the relationship between photographic cameras and lenses and the art of photography. In all this time, Westlicht has become a world class reference as a camera gallery, picture gallery and very high quality selling point of new and vintage cameras, lenses and all type of accessories, simultaneously managing to likewise turn into a benchmark venue of photographic equipment and images auctions with its two already worldwide famous events Westlicht Camera Auction and Westlicht Photo Auction, and until now there have been twenty-four camera auctions and nine photo auctions.

But the arrival of the Leica M System and the Leica M3 camera in 1954 meant a turning point from which the legendary Wetzlar based German photographic firm took definitely the helm in the rangefinder domain that it has kept until nowadays throughout the amazing figure of sixty years, an unprecedented feat in the history of photographic cameras and lenses, being even able to adapt it to the digital era with the fulfilling of a dream come true: the Leica M9, Leica M9 Monochrom and Leica M Type 241 35 mm digital rangefinder cameras.

Not in vain, the Leica M System of cameras and lenses has been and goes on being one of the most perfect optical and mechanical breakthroughs ever made and whose fundamental principles were set forth by Willi Stein (manager of the photographic design department at Leitz during fifties and father of the Leica M camera concept), Hugo Wehrenfenning (designer of the first Leica M lenses and inventor of the four part M bayonet lens mount making possible a much faster change of objectives than with the screwmount Leica cameras, by means of a short 30º turn that locked each lens in position, and enabling that the farthest areas of the corners of the image received the maximum amount of light coming from the optical system) and Dr Ludwig Leitz who financed the project and was also decisive to its fulfilment with its astounding patents during the eighteeen previous years: patent August 3, 1935 (Photographic Camera with Parallax Correcting Finder), patent August 8, 1936 (Camera Shutter Mechanism with Willi Stein), patent September 2,1936 (Combined Rangefinder and Viewfinder), patent August 23, 1938 (Combined Rangefinder and Viewfinder) and patent May 9, 1939 (Photographic Viewfinder). 

The Leica M3 serial number 1000000 was presented by Willi Stein to Dr Ludwig Leitz in 1960 and is one of the most important cameras in the history of the brand, to such an extent that it has been painstakingly preserved throughout more than fifty years and is presently in mint condition. 

It´s also the fruit of twenty years of intensive research and tests dating back to1934 and which gave rise to the building of the Leica IV Prototype in 1936, a full-fledged experimental forebear of the Leica M3 camera.

On the other hand, the rangefinder of the Leica M3, the cream of the crop of the RFs ever made by Leica and entirely manufactured from top-notch glass, though not featuring such a huge rangefinder base and effective baselength as the Contax II, sports a still very big 69.25 mm RF base with an effective baselength of 63 mm and a 0.91x magnification finder  begetting fairly sharp images, and above all, the viewfinder of the Leica M3 is the best ever made for a photographic camera and specially optimized for its flawless synergy with 50 mm lenses, a sphere in which it hasn´t been beaten hitherto, because albeit the viewfinders of both Contax II and Nikon SP are very good, they´re colored and their RF spots are much less brilliant than the exceedingly large, clear and accurate flare-free rangefinder spot featured by the extraordinary viewfinder (designed by Erich Mandler, Heinrich Schneider and Robert Eckhardt) of the Leica M3 in perfect symbiosis with the likewise amazing rangefinder (created by Willi Stein and Dr Ludwig Leitz) of the camera, a work of art including more than 150 high precision components.

The bright-line frame for 50 mm lenses is permanently visible in the viewfinder, while the ones for 90 and 35 mm objectives are activated on being attached (the 0.92x VF magnification of the M3 makes necessary to add an optical viewfinder attachment for the use of 35 mm lenses).

Needless to say that this M3 rangefinder (whose frame lines are parallel to the body of the camera - unlike the ones belonging to the rest of M cameras which are in angle- and featuring a ground glass diffuser that makes possible the even illumination of the mask, reducing flare to negligible levels), the best ever made by Leica and integrated into the viewfinder, attains unmatched fast and accurate focusing even under the worst light conditions, with the measuring base of the rangefinder remaining the same irrespective of the lens being used, which means a remarkable advantage over the dslr cameras, particularly when using the widest apertures.

Thanks to its near focusing attachment the Leitz Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 DR matching the Leica M3 serial number 1000000 is able to focus up to 48 cm. This astounding lens was the first standard 50 mm objective delivering a resolving power of more than 100 pairs of lines/mm, also featuring a mechanical construction and gorgeous cosmetic appearance second to none.

Besides, the 7 elements in 5 groups Leitz Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 DR (the one with Near Focusing Attachment matching the millionth Leica M3 sold at Westlicht features the serial number 1834555) was a milestone within the scope of photographic lenses created for 24 x 36 mm format cameras from its very launching into market in 1956, because along with the Rigid Mount model (introduced the same year sporting identical reformulated design with respect to the collapsible Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Version 1 from 1953) it managed to beat the Ludwig Bertele´s legendary designs CZJ 5 cm f/1.5 and CZJ 5 cm f/2 (which had reigned supreme during twenty-two years, between 1932 and 1954) thanks to the immense knowledge of Professor Helmut Marx, the use of four elements made with LaK9 top-notch optical glass and the help of the Zuse 5, the first computer optimized for lens designing, which had been installed in Wetzlar in 1952.

And another key factor of this sensational 24th Camera Auction at Westlicht - in the same way as happened with the previous ones- is the thoroughness and reliability of the information on the auctioned articles provided in advance along with very stringent and accurate criteria as to the real condition of the items, which means full guarantee for the bidders from a number of different countries all over the globe. As an evidence of it, suffice it to say to name only an example that the Leica I Model C Luxus from 1930 which got a final hammer price of 504,000 euros was thoroughly inspected and authorized by James Lager, Ottmar Michaelly and Lars Netopil.

© Text and Photos: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY´S STATE FUNERAL IN WASHINGTON D.C. 50TH ANNIVERSARY. PHOTOGRAPHIC COVERAGE BY LISL STEINER ON NOVEMBER 23, 24 AND 25, 1963

GERMAN
SPANISH
This month of November 2013 is celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, and his State Funeral.

                                       © Lisl Steiner

Picture made by Lisl Steiner in Times Square (New York) on November 22, 1963, a few hours after being known that JFK had been slain in Dallas (Texas), which prompted the launching of a number of special editions by the most significant newspapers and illustrated magazines of the time.

50 years later, Lisl Steiner inside Westlicht Vienna by a copy on black and white photographic paper of the picture she made in Times Square (New York) on November 22, 1963, a few hours after John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s death was announced.

The assassination, which happened in Dallas (Texas) on November 22, 1963, shocked the world and had an exceedingly comprehensive coverage within the whole both American and international press.

Throughout the following three days after the assassination, the State Funeral developed.

Firstly, the casket with JFK´s body was taken by the Air Force One aircraft from Dallas to Washington D.C, his authopsy being made at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, being subsequently transferred to the White House East Room on Saturday November 23, 1963 at 4:30 a.m, where the bier rested on a catafalque lying in state for 24 hours. The former United States presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight H. Eisenhower along with Herbert Hoover Jr (representing his father the former president Herbert Hoover, who was ill) arrived to express their condolences to Jacqueline Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Senator Edward Kennedy and the rest of JFK´s relatives.

The next day Sunday November 24, 1963, the bier with John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s remains and covered with the United States flag was borne on a caisson drawn by horses up to the Rotunda of Capitolium for its lying in state and wake, and during the whole day, hundreds of thousands of persons made very long queues to give their last farewell to the slain president, whose coffin was custodied by an honour guard.

A sepulchral silence ruled the vigil (only interrupted by the eulogies delivered by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana, Chief Justice Earl Warren and Speaker McCormack), with JFK´s coffin inside the Rotunda of Capitolium, overcrowded with personalities of United States in different scopes, relatives and friends of Kennedy family and a number of dignitaries from all over the world who were arriving during the day.

50 years later. Lisl Steiner at Westlicht Vienna by a copy on black and white photographic paper of one of the pictures she made with Leica M2 and Leitz Canada Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 Version 1 SAWOM 11308 inside the Rotunda of Capitolium of Washington during the lying in state and wake of the coffin with John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s human remains. In spite of the rather dim light conditions prevailing at the moment, she was able to shoot handheld at f/4 and a very low shutter speed of 1/8 sec thanks to the very compact size and weight of the Leica M2 and the tiny wideangle lens, along with the lack of a slapping mirror inherent to rangefinder cameras and the high for the time ISO 200 sensitivity of the 24 x 36 mm format Kodak Super-XX Safety Panchromatic black and white film used. This way, the photographer could get enough depth of field to render both the United States flag on the whole JFK´s coffin and the two members of the honour guard in focus.  

Lisl Steiner, who was covering the State Funeral as a photographer for Keystone Press Agency, spent all the night inside the Rotunda of Capitolium by her great friend Cornell Capa (sent by Life) and could live the huge emotional intensity pervading the event (presided by Kennedy family, the just sworn in new president Lyndon Johnson, the members of the Congress and a lot of civil servants of the American administration), getting some pictures both of John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s bier and the atmosphere reigning within the symbolic building oozing a remarkable architectural design, which also held among others the funerary services for Abraham Lincoln.

The State Funeral was also photographically covered by other acclaimed photographers like Elliot Erwitt (Magnum), René Burri (Magnum), Eddie Adams (AP), Cecil Stoughton (AP), Abbie Rowe (National Park Service), Henry L. Griffith (AP), Harry Naltchayan (The Washington Post), William C. Allen (AP), Robert Knudsen (Office of the Naval Aide to the President), Wally McNamee (The Washington Post), Henry Burroughs (AP), Charles del Vecchio (The Washington Post), John Rooney (AP), David S. Schwartz (U.S Army Signal Corps) and others.

On November 25, 1963, JFK´s coffin left the Rotunda of Capitolium and was taken in procession (headed by Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Lucy Baines Johnson, James Auchincloss, R. Sargent Shriver, Steven Smith and some secret agents in protection tasks, while the fairly abundant foreign dignitaries arrived from the five continents, walked behind them).

                                       © Lisl Steiner

After a frantic effort, Lisl Steiner manages to advance through the crowd and the security cordon and photographs with her Leica M2 and her Leitz Canada Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 First Version SAWOM 11308 well-known dignitaries from all over the world who have come to pay their last respects to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and walk towards St. Matthew´s Cathedral. From left to right can be seen: Heinrich Luebcke (President of West Germany), Charles de Gaulle (President of France), King Baodouin of Belgium, Queen Frederika of Greece, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Diosdado Macapagal (President of Philippines)

up to St. Matthew´s Cathedral, where a Requiem Mass was held.

Then, when the Mass finished, the casket with JFK´s body abandoned the cathedral and the funeral procession began with everybody walking the streets of Washington D.C towards the Arlington National Cemetery, where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was buried in the midst of grief outpouring shared by all the attendees, among whom there were 220 dignitaries coming from 92 countries.

                                      © Lisl Steiner

Photograph made by Lisl Steiner in which she captures the ceremony of folding flag over John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s casket previous to its interment at Arlington National Cemetery on November 25, 1963. Charles de Gaulle (President of France) and Haile Selassie (Emperor of Ethiopia) are clearly visible in the middle of the image. Ludwig Erhard (Chancellor of West Germany) is behind Haile Selassie, while on his right appear Diosdado Macapagal  (President of Philippines) and Chung Hee Park (President of South Korea).

Just beyond the United States flag are Hayato Ikeda (Prime Minister of Japan) and Herbert Charles Hoover Jr, son of the 31st President of the United States Herbert Clark Hoover(who couldn´t attend the funeral because of illness).

King Baudoin I of Belgium is in the middle far right of the photograph, and in front of him him are the Queen Frederika of Greece and Senator Edward Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy is the woman with mourning black attire and veil nearest to the camera, and the man by her on the right is Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

220 dignitaries from 92 countries were present at the state funeral.

                                                     © Lisl Steiner

Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy begin to abandon Arlington National Cemetery after the burial of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, being accompanied by Chief Justice Earl Warren. The Leica M2 proves to be an excellent photojournalistic working tool, particularly in symbiosis with the Leitz Canada Summicron Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 First Version SAWOM 11308 featuring 8 elements in 6 groups, 

designed by Walter Mandler at Leitz Canada factory in Midland (Ontario), following the classical Double-Gauss scheme but adding two further elements, with a weight of only 150 g and highly miniaturized dimensions, which provided great comfort of use along with a good quality at maximum aperture and superb quality stopping down from f/4, as happens in this picture in which Lisl Steiner shoots at f/8 taking advantage of the plentiful natural light available. Presented at the Photokina Köln 1958, its optical formula including a lot of rare earth glasses and exotic coatings was optimized by Mandler to achieve best results at f/4 and f/5.6, being likewise a cult lens, because of its famous and unique subtle gradation of the out of focus areas, its gorgeous cosmetic beauty 

and an exceptional mechanic construction greatly made by Hans Karl Wiese, an outstanding Leitz Canada fifties and sixties specialist on the mounting of optical elements during the assembling stage of the objectives and Horst Haseneier, a true optical genius sporting a painstaking artisan profile and a consummate expert in the grinding and polishing of those optical elements. In addition, already in 1957, Rudolf Seck, Head of the Applications Laboratory at Leitz (Wetzlar), had made abundant tests with several prototypes of this lens sent from Leitz Midland (Canada) to evaluate its performance in real use by professional photographers (something that Leica has always prioritized over the MTF graphs of its lenses on assessing their true optical and mechanical virtues), realizing its amazing image quality, very special fingerprint, versatility and duration keeping identical behavior during a lot of decades of intensive use.

50 years later. Lisl Steiner inside the Café of Schönbrunn Palace Gloriette in Vienna, by a copy on black and white photographic paper of the picture made at Arlington National Cemetery during the ceremony of folding flag some seconds before the interment of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 25, 1963.

Lisl Steiner on November 24, 2013, the day of the 50th Anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy´s Funeral, in the balcony of the Gloriette of Vienna Schönbrunn Palace, visible in the background. The photographer remembers very well every detail both regarding the whole night she spent inside the Capitolium Rotunda of Washington D.C on November 24th 1963 and the scenes of collective distress she witnessed during the interment of the 35th President of the United States on November 25th, 1963 in Arlington Cemetery.

© Text and Indicated Photos: José Manuel Serrano Esparza

LISL STEINER: 63 YEARS OF PHOTOJOURNALISM

MARTIN LUTHER KING FUNERAL APRIL 9, 1968: LISL STEINER IN ACTION 

SOCIETY IS KAPUT AND OTHER TRUTHS FROM AN AGELESS SPIRIT: LISL STEINER REACHES 400,000 YOUTUBE VISITS

LISL STEINER IN BRATISLAVA: OPENING DAY OF " PORTRAITS FROM PARADISE " PICTURE EXHIBITION AT THE AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM

EL GENERAL RENÉ COGNY FOTOGRAFIADO POR ROBERT CAPA EN EL INTERIOR DE UN AVIÓN DE ENLACE MORANE-SAULNIER MS-500 CRIQUET EL 24 DE MAYO DE 1954 POCO ANTES DE ATERRIZAR EN NAM DINH (VIETNAM)

José Manuel Serrano Esparza
ENGLISH
El general René Cogny, comandante en jefe de las fuerzas francesas en la zona de Tonkin (Vietnam del Norte), fue fotografiado por Robert Capa en el interior del avión Morane-Saulnier MS-500 Criquet (en el que también iba el corresponsal de Life magazine John Mecklin) durante el viaje de Hanoi a Nam Dinh el 24 de Mayo de 1954.  
                            

                              © Robert Capa / ICP New York

Esta muy significativa fotografía revela fielmente la definición de struggling photographer aplicada por Dirck Halstead al gran fotógrafo de guerra, ya que Capa lucha al máximo en el muy reducido espacio interior de la aeronave captando con maestría al general francés, pensativo y muy preocupado.

René Cogny sabe que la guerra está perdida y que la vida de miles de hombres depende de sus decisiones, ya que desde hace tiempo ha tenido que atender simultáneamente a dos frentes a la vez, al haber sido neutralizada en gran medida la ruta de transporte entre Hanoi y Hai Phong por Nguyen Giap mediante el envío de la División 320ª del Viet Minh, complementada por 14 batallones regionales y tres regimientos autónomos, atacando a la vez el general vietnamita los puestos avanzados galos ubicados en las zonas rurales entre Phu Ly, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh y Thanhn Ne.

Una vez más, la capacidad, sensibilidad y olfato de Capa para percibir y captar los momentos más representativos, con un timing muy preciso al apretar el botón liberador del obturador de su cámara, brilla con luz propia.

Por otra parte, esta imagen no es producto únicamente del acto fotográfico durante la exposición de película de blanco y negro Kodak Super XX High Speed Panchromatic, sino que es fruto de un trabajo exhaustivo previo de observación del personaje, sus movimientos y reacciones dentro de la aeronave por parte de Capa desde el momento mismo del despegue del avión del aeropuerto de Gia Lam en Hanoi, aproximadamente media hora antes.

Además, esta muy interesante fotografía es también relevante porque muestra la perfecta sinergia para tiro a pulso entre:

a) La cámara Contax IIa 

de 1950 (creada por Zeiss Ikon A.G Stuttgart  mejorando la ya de por sí obra maestra de ingeniería óptica y mecánica Contax II de 1936 creada por el ingeniero de Zeiss Hubert Nerwin -primer modelo en incluir telémetro y visor combinados en una ventana única- ) en la que se rediseñó y mejoró notablemente el obturador, sustituyéndose  la tela de conexión de las cortinillas por trenes de engranaje, reduciéndose además el número de piezas y la base de telémetro de 90 mm a 73 mm (con una magnificación de 0.66x y una longitud de base efectiva de 48 mm), lo cual posibilitaba un más cómodo agarre de la cámara.

b) El objetivo Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2 con revestimiento T antirreflejo de una capa. Dicho recubrimiento T, patentado por Alexander Smakula en Noviembre de 1935, producía imágenes brillantes y de alto contraste y supuso la culminación de doce años de investigación por parte de Carl Zeiss Jena a partir del estudio del prototipo Versuch CZJ 8.5 cm f/1.75 de 1923 encaminados a mejorar la calidad de los objetivos cubriendo la superficie de los elementos ópticos con capas muy delgadas de materiales especiales que mejoraban la transmisión de luz.

c) Un experimentado fotoperiodista que lucha al máximo con su cámara de 35 mm dentro del muy reducido espacio de la aeronave para conseguir la foto, ya que este tipo de avión en condiciones normales sólo puede llevar al piloto y un pasajero, por lo que Capa y John Mecklin (al que ha cedido su plaza Donald M. Winslow, porque no había espacio para un tercer periodista) están muy apretados tras el general, de tal manera que Capa apenas puede moverse.

Y aunque obtener una calidad técnica alta no es la prioridad en este tipo de fotografías fotoperiodísticas, resulta verdaderamente impresionante el poder de resolución alcanzado (obsérvese por ejemplo el excelente detalle en la nariz del general y el extintor) por el objetivo diseñado por el genio Ludwig Bertele veintidós años antes, ya que la foto está hecha a muy corta distancia, probablemente a f/5.6 y desde una posición muy próxima a la distancia mínima de enfoque.

Ello dice mucho en favor del objetivo Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50 mm f/2 T usado por Capa y diseñado por Ludwig Bertele en 1932 de manera totalmente artesanal, empleando muchos miles de horas de trazado manual de los rayos de luz durante las fases de creación, sin ayuda alguna de ordenador ni calculadora electrónica, utilizando únicamente sus impresionantes conocimientos de óptica, física, matemáticas, y de vidrios ópticos existentes entonces, además de un uso extensivo de tablas de logaritmos, dos años antes de que Konrad Zuse iniciara en 1934 la génesis conceptual de los ordenadores digitales, que desembocó dos años más tarde en el Z1 de sesenta y cuatro palabras, cada una de las cuales contenía 22 bits y en el Z2 de 1938, que utilizaba 800 transmisores, consiguiendo crear en 1941 el Z3, primer ordenador electrónico digital del mundo plenamente operativo y en 1946 el Z4, la más sofisticada de sus computadoras digitales (dotada con el revolucionario software Plankalkül basado en lógica aritmética y la aplicación de estados puros al realizar los cálculos numéricos) que fue el embrión del Zuse Z5 de 1951, primer ordenador utilizado por Leica para ayudar al diseño de sus objetivos y dotado de abundantes disyuntores electromecánicos, que permitía obtener una velocidad de diseño de ópticas fotográficas de alta luminosidad y calidad de imagen setenta veces más rápida que con cálculos manuales, gracias a la aceleración con cálculo en coma flotante, lo cual posibilitaba además en gran medida la automatización de mejoras en los diseños ópticos, y el aumento de la capacidad de producción con nuevos vidrios ópticos y mucha mayor rapidez de fabricación, lo cual tuvo como resultado el lanzamiento al mercado fotográfico por Leica del Summicron 50 mm f/2 Version 1 retráctil en 1953, que fue el primer objetivo en incorporar el mítico vidrio óptico LaK9.

Y este fue un punto de inflexión en la historia de las ópticas fotográficas, ya que tanto el Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 First Version de 1959 como el Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 Versión 2 (1956-1968), disponible en modelo rigid mount y dual range (con idéntico diseño y reformulados con respecto al Summicron 50 mm f/2 Versión 1 1953-1960 retráctil, aumentando su poder de resolución y contraste, e incrementando además la calidad de imagen a las distancias mínimas de enfoque), fueron posibles gracias a la sinergia entre unos tremendos conocimientos por parte de los ópticos y mecánicos de Leitz y el uso de un ordenador Zuse Z5 ubicado en Wetzlar desde 1952.

Ludwig Bertele, uno de los más grandes diseñadores ópticos de todos los tiempos. Entre sus abundantes logros figuran por méritos propios el legendario objetivo Ernostar f/2 de 1923 (para la cámara de formato medio 6 x 4.5 cm Ernemann Ermanox, que permitió la eclosión del fotoperiodismo ágil y dinámico en interiores con luz disponible por parte de Erich Salomon), el alumbramiento en 1931 del esquema Sonnar (derivado del Ernostar Tipo 2 de 1924 pero caracterizado por una menor cantidad de grupos ópticos, consiguiendo reducir notablemente la dispersión de luz además de generar un superior contraste) que posibilitó la creación de los no menos míticos Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 de 1932 y Carl Zeiss Jena 5 cm f/2 de 1932, sin olvidar el Carl Zeiss Jena Biogon 3,5 cm f/2.8 de 1935, el Sonnar 180 mm f/2.8 de 1935 y otros, a los que sumó tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial extraordinarios objetivos angulares fotogramétricos como el Aviogón de gran formato y ángulo de 90º de cobertura de 1950, el Super Aviogón de gran formato y 120º de cobertura de 1956, el Biogon 38 mm f/4.5  para Hasselblad de formato medio 6 x 6 cm y muchos otros.

Todo ello demuestra en mi opinión claramente que el diseño por parte de Ludwig Bertele tanto del Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50 mm  f/2 de 6 elementos en 3 grupos (utilizado por Capa para hacer la foto del general Cogny dentro del avión) como el Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 de 7 elementos en 3 grupos constituyen una de las mayores proezas en la historia de la óptica, ya que fueron creados con parámetros de diseño y constructivos 100% manuales, sin ayuda de ordenadores ni programa informático alguno, sin superficies asféricas, y un trabajo ímprobo de tres años, iniciado en 1929 y culminado en 1932, hace nada menos que ochenta y un años.

De hecho, ambos objetivos son excelentes incluso para los muy exigentes standards cualitativos de hoy en día en que proliferan los objetivos en cuya fórmula óptica hay distintos elementos asféricos y se dispone de potentísimos ordenadores con programas de software de enorme sofisticación, si bien el factor clave a la hora de diseñar objetivos ultraluminosos de referencia en distintas focales sigue siendo los toques personales que aporten los mejores diseñadores ópticos basándose en su experiencia.

No sorprende pues el hecho incuestionable de que durante nada menos que veintidós años, entre 1932 y 1954, los objetivos de alta luminosidad para cámaras fotográficas formato 24 x 36 mm fabricados por Carl Zeiss (que contaba con diseñadores ópticos de primerísimo nivel como Carl Paul Goerz, Willy Merté, Robert Richter, Sylvester Hubert, el propio Ludwig Bertele y otros) fueron con diferencia los referentes mundiales cualitativos (sobre todo el extraordinario para la época Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/1.5 y los excelentes Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5 cm f/2, Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50 mm f/2.8 de 1932 y Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 85 mm f/2 - tanto en su versión de 6 elementos en 3 grupos anterior a la II Guerra Mundial como en la de 7 elementos en 3 grupos lanzada al mercado en 1951-, sin olvidar el Biogon 35 mm f/2.8 de 1937 de 5 elementos en 3 grupos y el Topogon 25 mm f/4 de 1950 de 4 elementos en 4 grupos), hasta tal punto que de todos los objetivos con montura de rosca producidos por Leica entre mediados de los años veinte y 1954, únicamente el Leitz Elmar 5 cm f/3.5 diseñado por Max Berek podía competir con Carl Zeiss en el ámbito de las ópticas standard, si bien con mucha menor luminosidad.

La fotografía que Capa le hace al general Cogny dentro del avión Morane-Saulnier MS-500 se corresponde sincrónicamente con un año de inflexión en la evolución óptica y mecánica de los objetivos ultraluminosos de 50 mm, que han sido y siguen siendo considerados el patrón de cada marca y es un buen ejemplo de la adecuación de la formidable simbiosis entre una cámara telemétrica de 35 mm sin espejo basculante, una soberbia óptica standard no retrofoco construida sin compromisos cualitativos de ningún tipo y un experimentado fotógrafo de guerra como Capa para llevar a cabo la misión con la que fueron creadas: la captación de grandes imágenes, incluso en las condiciones más extremas. 

En este sentido, pese a que había abundante luz natural disponible en el interior de la cabina de la aeronave merced a su diseño de carlinga transparente optimizada para labores de reconocimiento, lo cual permitía poder cerrar el diafragma en el rango f/5.6-f/11 sin problemas, las circunstancias para Capa no eran favorables a la hora de realizar esta fotografía: tuvo que trabajar muy cerca de la distancia mínima de enfoque de la cámara, apenas disponía de espacio para poder mover los brazos, debido a que estaba tras el general Cogny, muy apretado junto a John Mecklin, y el ligero traqueteo producido por el motor Argus As 10 de ocho cilindros en V y 240 caballos de potencia, refrigerado por aire, del aparato STOL Morane Saulnier MS-500 Criquet de enlace (que es esencialmente un Fieseler FI 156 Storch con alas de aluminio) generaba riesgo de trepidación o desenfoque, pero la muy amplia base de telémetro de 73 mm de la Contax IIa que permite un enfoque muy preciso, la ausencia de espejo basculante, el equilibrio de masas del cuerpo de cámara y sobre todo la lucha y experiencia del fotógrafo por conseguir la imagen, superan las dificultades.

De hecho, durante su carrera como fotógrafo profesional Capa ya había hecho otras muchas excelentes fotografías desde una distancia enormemente próxima, sorprendiendo a las personas captadas, como por ejemplo el Primer Plano de Tres Trabajadores, Dos con Boina y uno con Bigote y Sombrero en Saint Ouen durante la Huelga de Brazos Caídos en la Fábrica de la Empresa de Construcción Lavalette en Mayo de 1936; Un Partidario del Gobierno del Frente Popular en París en 1936, que lleva gafas y sombrero, captado por Capa de cuello para arriba a bocajarro mientras levanta el puño derecho y sale algo desenfocado, plasmando además el puño izquierdo de otro manifestante ubicado a la izquierda, detrás de él, y en el que sitúa el foco, confiriendo un enorme dramatismo a la escena; Ernest Hemingway en Sun Valley (Idaho) Leyendo Unos Textos Mecanografiados Con Un Lápiz en su Mano Derecha y Luz que Entra por Una Ventana en Octubre de 1941; un Paracaidista Alemán Capturado por las Tropas Estadounidenses al Sur de Bastogne (Bélgica) el 23-26 de Diciembre de 1944 (lleva guantes en las manos, se ve nieve al fondo, y es captado por sorpresa de pecho para arriba); la foto hecha dentro de un avión de la 17ª División Aérea de Estados Unidos a tres paracaidistas norteamericanos el 24 de marzo de 1945 pocos minutos antes de lanzarse sobre la ciudad alemana de Wesel; Dos Muchachos Judíos durante el Primer Oficio de Rosh Hashanah celebrado en una Sinagoga de la Ciudad de Berlín el 7 de Septiembre de 1945 (Capa está justo delante de ellos y les capta por sorpresa disparando a f/2.8 y una velocidad baja de obturación mientras ambos se hallan leyendo con atención la Torah – el que está situado a la derecha de la imagen señala un pasaje del texto con el dedo índice de su mano izquierda, mientras el ubicado a la izquierda, también muy concentrado, tiene el anverso de su mano derecha apoyado en la barbilla y boca, quedando el libro fuera de foco y la boina del chico de la izquierda ligeramente desenfocada); Pablo Picasso y su hijo Claude en Golfe-Juan, Francia, en Agosto de 1948, en la que sorprende al pintor entusiasmado mientras juega con el niño sonriente al que sujeta con ambas manos, plasmando Capa con maestría el gesto embelesado y repleto de pasión del progenitor, realzado por varias venas de su cuello que aparecen hinchadas justo en ese momento.

Ni que decir tiene que Capa habría hecho la foto del general Cogny aunque hubiera tenido una Kodak Brownie de 1900 con menisco, porque nació para conseguir la foto

© José Manuel Serrano Esparza