Monthly Archives: May 2022

a flash in the (colour) pan

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Did ya ever hear about Multicolor? It was just a flash in the pan – on market in 1929 and dead in 1932. In those days, colour sequences were EXPENSIVE so movies were mainly shot in B&W with short … Continue reading →

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in case you missed …

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Kodak was really serious about their 8mm camera and projector line and the opening of home movies to a far wider audience. With 4x the running time per foot of film vs. 16mm gear, Kodak was aiming at the … Continue reading →

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when economy trumped quality

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the summer of 1932, the great depression was well underway and grabbing the countries of the world in a death grip, eased a few years later by a world-wide war. In  the August, 1932 issue of American Cinematographer, … Continue reading →

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a practical use of Edgerton’s research

Posted on May 28, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The July, 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics has a brief article on using rapid fire flash tubes to record the passage of a .50 calibre bullet through armour plate. The experiment was performed by the ATSC of the American … Continue reading →

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we have Contact

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. We always appreciate the efforts of our favourite editor, Rita Godlevskis, of PhotoEd. Rita recently sent a notice out of her activities at PhotoEd including a section on this year’s Contact festival sponsored by Scotiabank. I took the liberty … Continue reading →

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a niche in time

Posted on May 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. For the past couple of decades, die hard film (analogue) fans have flocked to our fairs and auctions to buy and use old cameras and film. The folks at Lomography have aided and abetted these die hards with cameras, … Continue reading →

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selective lighting – no sync cable needed

Posted on May 25, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The photo at left is from an article in the June, 1945 issue of Popular Mechanics. As the war in the Pacific neared its end (the war in Europe had already ended a few weeks earlier), American techies continued … Continue reading →

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a brilliant idea

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. For most of the 20th century, film reigned supreme in photography. In 1933 for example, the cheap Voigtlander Brilliant TLR camera was touted as the “The New ‘Good Companion’ for Movie Directors” in the April, 1933 edition of the magazine, International … Continue reading →

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be still, my heart

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. I don’t remember when I first saw the movie King Kong, but I was transfixed by the adventure. Years later I was astonished to learn that some scenes of the huge ape were shot with a six inch model … Continue reading →

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to colour or not to colour – that is the question

Posted on May 22, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Now-a-days most photos are taken in colour. Black and white is just one of the ‘special effects’ that can be used. Some apps like Photoshop even let you adjust various colours to be darker or lighter shades of grey. … Continue reading →

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