1925Reputable sourceWell documented
The 35mm Camera and Candid Photography
On the timeline · around 1925 ·
What happened
In 1925 the German firm Leitz began selling the Leica, a small, precise camera designed by Oskar Barnack that used 35mm cine film. Light and quick, it could be carried anywhere and shot rapidly without a tripod, popularizing 35mm photography and enabling a new, spontaneous style of candid picture-taking.
Why it matters
The compact 35mm camera freed the photographer from the studio and the tripod, giving rise to modern photojournalism and street photography. The 35mm frame became the dominant format of film photography for the rest of the century.
Sources
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Leica 35 mm 1(A) Camera · Reputable source