BOOWU. GX1, Leitz Elmar-V 65mm.

Today's Blip is of a Leitz reproduction device called by its telex code word, "BOOWU". It was offered in the Leitz catalog from 1952-1962. This is a piece of technology from before the days of Xerox and document scanning:
If one wanted to copy the page of, say, a reference book in a library, one set up the attachment with standard lens set at infinity on one end of the black collar, and one's Leica camera on the other. Everything at the base of the legs, and covered by the footprint is in perfect focus. The collar acts as an extension tube.
My late father used this setup to copy x-rays from medical journals to present to his radiology students at the medical school. The photograph shows his Leica II, bought brand new out of the box from the Leitz office in London, September 1939. The cable release (MQUOO) from 1954 features a mouth piece if your hands were otherwise occupied. The lens is a Summar 50mm f/2, offered in the catalog from 1933-1940. The glass is uncoated and this was Leitz's super-speed lens offering of the period. The chromed brass lens mount is a work of art in itself and apparently was so expensive to produce that it got the designer in hot water with the money guys at Leitz!
The most extraordinary part is that my little Panasonic GX1 will fit right onto the BOOWU in place of the Leica II.