Author Archives: Robert

23 skid-ZOOM

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Well our  twenty-third executive meeting via ZOOM was held last Wednesday and we did decide a few things of note: Most importantly, our spring fair location will be taken over by Elections Ontario for 2022 so we are busy sourcing … Continue reading →

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a camera called Iris

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. After the minicam revolution took off, some camera makers tried to ‘fake’ their products as great minicams. Univex in the States tried a number of different models and business plans (guessing this from models and ads). For the Iris … Continue reading →

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a rip van winkle photograph

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Shades of pinhole photography! Madeleine Muzdakis wrote this article for “Modern Met” on December 15, 2020. The article, “University Discovers Photo With 8-Year-Long Exposure That Was Taken With a Beer Can“, describes the technique used. The article begins, “The London 2012 … Continue reading →

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in the days before CAD

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Computer Aided Design (CAD) made huge changes in how products were manufactured.  Before CAD, photography stepped in to speed up aircraft production. This article from the February 1941 edition of Popular Mechanic explained how a giant camera and projector … Continue reading →

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light up the night

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Photography played a key roll in WW2. High flying aircraft with aerial cameras mapped the ground searching for enemy troops and armaments. A bright idea, tested over upper NY State, was the ‘light bomb’ described in this January 1941 … Continue reading →

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we are all amateurs in something

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1960s, my physics professor, Dr S___ came in one Monday morning with a very raspy voice. Being unfamiliar with alcohol, hangover remedies, or over the counter medication, he had picked up some Bromo-Seltzer tablets to ease a … Continue reading →

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to catch a spy

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. During WW2, photography found many ways to be of service. This article in the January 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics shows photography making photo I.D. passes that helped separate the workers from the ‘spies’ in America during the war … Continue reading →

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four flasher

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Robert

Toronto.  … or more than one way to skin a cat (sorry cat fanciers). In the February 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics, a filler article suggests using two  special synchronizers for a Graphic camera to quadruple the light output over … Continue reading →

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read da fine print, dummy

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The February, 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics came out when I was a little kid still figuring out when to use a spoon (not really). Six years later, I took a bus ride with the rest of my grade … Continue reading →

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when I grow too old to dream …

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. … I’ll have you to remember. Or so the song says. To try for memory beyond a generation or two, people relied on a photograph – then and now! George, like anyone with a curiosity – and access to … Continue reading →

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