Monthly Archives: August 2018

rapid rectilinear lens design

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Robert

Toronto.After the announcement of photography early in 1839, there was a flurry of competing lens designs across Europe, each design trying to better the resolution and error correction qualities of the other. In 1866, two Germans, one an immigrant to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, lens | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on rapid rectilinear lens design

Empire State View Camera c1910

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Around 1960, I would drive down to Toronto on a Saturday and browse down Yonge Street above and below Wellesley. One one such trip, I discovered and bought an old view camera called an Empire State. It was in … Continue reading →

Posted in camera | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Empire State View Camera c1910

sprocket rocket

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. A century ago the panorama print was popular. Cameras like the Cirkut models could turn about the lens nodal point while affixed to a tripod by using gears and a spring wound motor. This format is common place today. … Continue reading →

Posted in camera | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on sprocket rocket

brush and comb

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Christmas, 1980 was rapidly approaching with its usual challenges as to suitable gifts. I said to my wife that I had a great suggestion: a 20 inch lens for my Leica. Sure enough that Christmas I was the proud … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on brush and comb

April 17, 1996

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. The late 1980s were a busy time. Film was still king. Personal computers and bulletin boards were all the rage with techies. A telephone call to another country was very expensive. Few had heard of the internet or emails, or … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on April 17, 1996

on sight

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. I shot this photo some 46 years ago in Montreal’s Lafontaine Park. It showed my family searching for some food while the goat and the other family watched what was happening. The photograph is a still but has lots … Continue reading →

Posted in photos | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on on sight

the brick

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. No, not the famous Canadian furniture discounter, but an American camera made in the very late 1930s to mid 1960s by an Illinois company that touted itself as the “world’s largest manufacturer of 35mm cameras“.  The company began as a … Continue reading →

Posted in camera | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on the brick

and now for something completely different

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. No, not the Flying Circus routines of Monty Python fame. A couple of decades ago I dealt with a small private publisher in Pennsylvania called Schiffer Publishing Ltd. I was interested in the quilting books they published. The books … Continue reading →

Posted in book | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on and now for something completely different

Wet-Plate Photography

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. PHSC Meeting, Wed, Sept 19 2018 at 7:00 pm In the BURGUNDY ROOM of the Memorial Hall Wet-Plate Photography – Stephen Brûlé The technology of wet-plate photography was invented by Frederick Scott Archer in 1851. It replaced the first … Continue reading →

Posted in processes, program | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Wet-Plate Photography

Taking of Niagara – review

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. On May 16, 2018 we held our second meeting in the newly remodelled Burgundy room A at the North York Memorial Hall. We were pleased to have Dr Anthony Bannon retired from the GEM as our guest speaker. Tony spoke … Continue reading →

Posted in program | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Taking of Niagara – review