The Reicka is a folding stereo camera for 10 x 15 cm glass plate negatives that was developed by Emil Wünsche from Dresden. The camera is named after the Reick district where Emil Wünsche’s factory was located. The Reicka was also available as a single lens camera and there was a model with three lenses that could take both stereo photos and panorama photos. The camera was continued after Wünsche AG merged into ICA and was labeled ICA Stereo Reicka.
Specifications
| Manufacturer: | Emil Wünsche |
| Year of introduction: | c. 1905 |
| Year of manufacture: | c. 1907–1908 |
| Type: | Stereo camera |
| Serial number: | None |
| Negative type: | Glass |
| Negative format: | 10 x 15 cm |
| Lens: | Two 105 mm Dr. Staeble anastigmatic lenses |
| Serial number lens: | None |
| Lens aperture: | Seven diaphragm settings: f/5.9, f/9, f/12,5, f/16, f/18, f/25 and f/36 |
| Focus: | Yes |
| Shutter: | Eight shutter speed settings from 1/200 to 1 sec. |
| Dimensions (L x W x H): | 18.5 x 18 x 13 cm |
| Construction: | Leather, Nickel |
| Other features: | The front panel with the lenses can be moved up vertically and shifted left and right to control the perspective of the image. |
Glossary: anastigmatic lens / negative
Emil Wünsche
Emil Wünsche started a photography store in 1887 with the name Bedarfsartikel für Fach- und Amateurphotographen in Dresden. From 1896, he manufactured his own photography products, and his first camera was the Mars Kamera for 12 x 16,5 cm glass plates. He published a monthly photo magazine with the name Der Lichtbildkünstler (The Photo Artist). The magazine featured Wünsche’s products and articles on photography. 55.000 copies were printed each month from 1900. Wünsche built a factory in the Reick district of Dresden. The factory was severely damaged by a fire in 1898. The firm became a public company and was renamed Emil Wünsche Aktiengesellschaft für photographische Industrie Reick (Emil Wünsche AG). With the accumulated capital he built a new larger and modern factory. In 1902, Wünsche AG was the second largest camera manufacturer in Dresden, after Hüttig, but Wünsche had personal and financial problems and he took his own life in the same year. The business activities were continued and Wünsche AG merged in 1909 with Hüttig AG, Kamerawerk Dr. Krügener and Carl Zeiss Palmos AG to the new International Camera Actiengesellschaft (ICA). Wünsche manufactured 400 different camera models in different variants up to 1909. The original factory buildings were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in February 1945.