Wica
The Wica is a Leica copy (that is, a 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera) made by Wiener Camera Werkstätte and designed by Raimund Gerstendörfer of Vienna. It was presented in 1948 and is ultra rare: auction listings at Westlich auctions estimate that perhaps only 100 cameras were made. Gerstendörfer registered a patent for a 35mm camera in 1931, with the Vienna company Heindl & Petters;[1] it appears that the annexation of Austria by Germany, and the Second World War, delayed the development of the camera. Heindl & Petters probably made typewriters (to judge by their also holding at least ten patents relating to these[2]) and hoped to manufacture the camera. They had no involvement in the cameras eventually made.
 
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| Early model Wica no.117 with Rodenstock Heligon 5cm f/2 lens images by eBayer foto-hobby24.eu (Image rights) |
The camera has a synchronized focal-plane shutter from 1/20 to 1/1000 second, with no slow speeds. In an article in the April 2005 issue of VÖAV, it is said it was advertised with a top speed of 1/1600, but this might be a mistake. The camera has a coupled rangefinder, separate from the viewfinder, a detachable back and an accessory shoe screwed to the top plate, but being essentially a hand crafted camera, there are variations:
- early models:
- short top plate (like the Leica screw models), with R. Gerstendörfer Wien and Wica engravings
- 2-plug flash sync mounted at the top of the front plate
- advance/rewind knob protruding from the front plate;
- later models:
- longer top plate, with Wica, MADE IN AUSTRIA and serial number black-filled engravings
- recessed rewind knob, extracted by a side mounted lever
- normal sync post at the bottom of the front plate
- advance/rewind lever at the top of the front plate
- different winding knob
- higher shutter release
Some examples have a removable lens in a special mount (32mm fine thread), hand adjusted to the rangefinder. Some later cameras have a normal Leica thread mount. A few have a second, male thread to mount a long-focus lens.
Lenses reported in Wica mount:
- Angénieux type S1 50/1.8
- Angénieux type Z2 50/2.9
- Berthiot Flor 50/2.8
- Rodenstock Heligon 50/2
- Schneider Xenon 50/2.8
- Steinheil Culminar 50/2.8
Known examples at recent auctions and other known pictures:
- s/n 15, Westlicht Auction 21/5/2005, short top plate marked R. Gerstendörfer Wien and Wica, 2-plug sync, A/R knob, with Steinheil Culminar 5cm/2.8 VL #506977 in Wica mount
- s/n unknown, ebay auction, short top plate marked R. Gerstendörfer Wien and Wica, 2-plug sync, A/R knob, with Schneider Xenon 5cm/2 #1800997 in Wica mount
- s/n 130, Westlicht Auction 15/11/2002, short top plate marked R. Gerstendörfer Wien and Wica, 2-plug sync, A/R knob, strap lugs with Berthiot Flor 5cm/2.8 #1800997 in Wica mount
- s/n 139, Christies 8/6/1995, short top plate marked R. Gerstendörfer Wien and Wica, 2-plug sync, A/R knob, strap lugs with Rodenstock Heligon 5cm/2 #2039679 in Wica mount; the same camera was offered for sale again at the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction in June 2022.[3]
- s/n 152, 32nd Leitz Photographica Auction.[4] Rodenstock Heligon 5cm f/2 no.2050479.
- s/n unknown, pictured in McKeown, early model with both a 2-plug sync and a normal sync post, with an Angénieux 50/1.8 type S1 in Wica mount
- s/n unknown, pictured in Jason Schneider's Camera Collecting book, volume III, late model with an Angénieux 50/1.8 type S1 in Wica mount
- s/n 1017, Christies 8/6/1995, long top plate marked Wica and MADE IN AUSTRIA, normal sync, A/R lever, Angénieux 50/2.9 type Z2 #160700 in Wica mount
- s/n 1018, 33rd Leitz Photographica Auction, November 2018.[5] Long top plate marked Wica and MADE IN AUSTRIA, Angenieux 50/2.9 type Z2 #124578
- s/n 1026, 32nd Leitz Photographica Auction.[6] Angenieux Type Z2 50mm f/2.9, no.156751 in normal mount, and Tessar 18cm f/4.5, no.126549, the long lens with female M37 mount.
- s/n 1040, Westlicht Auction 29/5/2004, long top plate marked Wica and MADE IN AUSTRIA, normal sync, A/R lever, Leica thread mount, sold with a fake SONNAR made in USSR
- s/n 1042, late model with Leica thread mount, pictured in McKeown equipped with a Steinheil Quinon 50/2
- s/n 1044, late model, pictured in McKeown with a Berthiot Flor 50/1.5 in Wica mount
- s/n 1051, Westlicht Auction 23/5/2003, long top plate marked Wica and MADE IN AUSTRIA, normal sync, A/R lever, Angénieux 50/2.9 type Z2 #156141 in Wica mount
- s/n 1XXX, late model with Leica thread mount, pictured in McKeown equipped with a Leica-Sonnar 5.8cm/1.5
Notes
- ↑ Austrian Patent 132821, Kinofilmcamera, registered in 1931 by Heindl and Petters of Vienna and granted in 1933, naming Raimund Gerstendörfer as the inventor; at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
- ↑ Patents 1900-50 held by Heindl & Petters, at Espacenet.
- ↑ Wica serial no. 139 offered for sale at the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction, June 2022: several good photographs of the camera.
- ↑ Wica serial no. 152, offered for sale at the 32nd Leitz Photographica Auction, in March 2018.
- ↑ Wica serial no. 1018, sold at the 33rd Leitz Photographica Auction, in November 2018.
- ↑ Wica serial no. 1026 and two lenses, sold at the 32nd Leitz auction, in March 2018.
Links
- Oldcameras.at has a picture of a Wica (archived)
- Wica cameras amongst others on the Leica III, leica IIIF Copies page at Innovative Cameras 135
- Gerstendörfer Spezial Makro-Teleobjektiv 135mm f/6.3: lot 300 of the March 25, 2006 Photographica and Film auction by Auction Team Breker
- Wica enlarger with 75mm f/4.5 Berthiot Flor lens, sold at the 32nd Leitz Photographica Auction, in March 2018.
- Notes on the Wica and Gerstendörfer at Coeln Cameras (photographica pages of a camera dealer)
