Ermanox, name given to a range of German cameras made between 1924 and 1931. Launched in July 1924 by Ernemann AG of Dresden as the Ernox camera, it made exposures on 4.5 × 6 cm (1 4/5 × 2 1/3 in) glass plates with initially an f/2.0 and later an f/1.8 Ernostar lens and a cloth focal-plane shutter. It had the widest-aperture lens of any miniature camera at the time and was advertised as being suitable for night and interior photography without flash. It was therefore also ideal for the candid photography favoured by contemporary illustrated magazines in Germany and elsewhere. Its most celebrated exponent was Erich Salomon, who from 1928 used it for famously ‘indiscreet’ shots of statesmen at international conferences. Another notable user, from 1929, was Felix H. Man.
A new collapsible model with bellows was introduced in 1925. Ernemann became part of the Zeiss Ikon combine in 1926 and the camera continued to be made until c.1931 in a variety of plate sizes up to 13 × 18 cm (5 × 7 in), each with the f/1.8 lens. A reflex version was made between 1927 and 1929. The Ermanox was eventually overtaken in popularity by 35 mm cameras, notably the Leica (for which a f/1.9 lens was available by 1932) and Contax (1932- ), which were smaller and used the more practical roll-film.
— Michael Pritchard
