Tag Archives: shutter

somethin’ flashy

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Did you ever hear of the ‘National Vulcanized Fibre Company’ (NVFC)? Neither did I. However, parts using that company’s products played a key role in the use of flash in photography. A number of companies in the early 1940s through … Continue reading →

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what’s leaves got to do with it

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Falling leaves. Cold. Damp. Windy. November in the city and winter is about to rush in. As I write this post on the 1st, we are seeing our first snow flurries of the coming season. Leaves have a lot … Continue reading →

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faster than a speeding bullet

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. When photography was invented, exposures were measured in minutes. Between then and the end of film’s popularity something happened: Speed. The light sensitive media and lenses through research and innovation became much faster. In fact, after dry plates arrived, … Continue reading →

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slow train

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In the early years of the minicam, leaf shutters were often used to allow for slow speeds. The early focal plane shutter Leicas had speeds from about   1/500 second down to about 1/20th second when both curtains were … Continue reading →

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you move too fast

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Once dry plates were in common use, shutters became a necessity to make reproducible second and sub-second exposures. If “you move too fast“, you are blurry even though the shutter is set to ‘I’ for instantaneous. As years went … Continue reading →

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gearing up for great pix

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In the early decades of photography, the media were so slow a hat or lens cap worked just fine to control exposures. Lenses were left open or used waterhouse stops inserted into a slot in the lens barrel until … Continue reading →

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slow down

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. by the early 1930s, the camera industry had settled on a slow shutter speed of 1 second. Anything slower could be taken using “bulb” or “time” settings. Leitz even offered an accessory called a HEBOO so those who bought … Continue reading →

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all that’s fit to print

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. I received an email Tuesday from Brad down in Florida. Brad came across an unusual camera there with a label by Kominek in Toronto. He has it up on Ebay at the moment. Brad explained the camera had been … Continue reading →

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photographic lenses – Conrad Beck

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Like most optical houses in the 1800s, The British house of R and J Beck at Cornhill (London, England) expanded their optical product repertoire to photographic lenses (and cameras). In this seventh edition of Conrad Beck’s small book, like … Continue reading →

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Self capping miniature FP shutter

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Robert

Toronto. When the Leica hit the market in 1924, it used a miniature focal plane shutter that was self capping.There are two curtains. The first moves across in front of the film followed by the second. The delay between the … Continue reading →

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