When the Ernst Leitz Company of Wetzlar, Germany introduced its revolutionary Leica 35mm compact camera in 1925, the concept of a compact, high image quality camera using roll film was revolutionary. The seed was planted for competition, and the crop was bountiful! A vast market was born, and it continues today.
A huge change occurred when an electronic sensor replaced film as the recording medium. The change was so rapid and pervasive that most folks today have no experience with non-digital imaging. A camera's heart, however is its lens. However the image is captured, its quality is bounded by the rays of light coming through the lens.
Some of Leica's high-end competitors in the "35mm Era" built outstanding instruments, and fortunately, many of these wonderful devices survive and still produce outstanding images on the film that some of us grew up with. We can still enjoy the science and workmanship they embody.
This portfolio pf images begins with some examples of photographs from so-called box cameras that were more mass-market "point and shoot" affairs. Following are images of some cameras of the era that I enjoyed using.