The mechanical design of the accessory shoe now common on most cameras dates back to 1913, when Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the Leica, devised it for attaching an accessory viewfinder.
In 1911, he was in charge of microscope research for Ernst Leitz at Wetzlar.
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Between 1913 and 1914 he was head of development of the camera company Leitz in Wetzlar, Hesse, Germany.
Oskar Kokoschka | Oskar Schindler | Lee Oskar | Paul Oskar Kristeller | Oskar Sima | Oskar Pfister Award | Oskar Luts | Oskar Linnros | Oskar Kohnstamm | Oskar Fischinger | Oskar Eustis | Oskar von Miller | Oskar Vogt | Oskar Sosnowski | Oskar Seidlin | Oskar Schlemmer | Oskar Piotrowski | Oskar Homolka | Oskar Heil | Óskar Halldórsson | Oskar Barnack | Barnack | Viktor Oskar Tilgner | St John the Baptist's Church, Barnack | Oskar von Watter | Oskar von Hutier | Oskar von Hindenburg | Oskar Skarsaune | Oskar Schmiedel | Oskar Sala |
Oskar Barnack, who was in charge of research and development at Leitz, decided to investigate using 35 mm cine film for still cameras while attempting to build a compact camera capable of making high-quality enlargements.