Author Archives: Robert

The Tree Planters at Stephen Bulger Gallery

Toronto. Stephen Bulger, long a force in this city, announced the latest exhibit at his gallery. The announcement states, “The Stephen Bulger Gallery is pleased to present ‘The Tree Planters’, our first solo exhibition of work by Canadian artist Rita … Continue reading

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The Giveaway Artist

Toronto. George Dunbar spotted this NYT article and suggested that he too was tempted to try it. Fred Cray is a New York photographer. For over ten years he has “hidden” his unique photos around the city – over 30,000 … Continue reading

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Antique Photo Show in DC early next Spring

Toronto. Do you have a great urge to drop by Washington DC this spring and have a chat with the Donald? No? Well, anyway, drop by Arlington Virginia on Sunday, March 11, 2018 and visit the popular and well known … Continue reading

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a projector for the common man

Toronto.  Back on September 27th my friend George Dunbar suggested those who own a smartphone (most people) can now buy and make a projector. George wondered if we had heard of such a gadget. Short answer, no! Since we are … Continue reading

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what’s new in photography for 1948-9?

Toronto. My thanks to my good friend George Dunbar for tracking down this issue of Popular Photography, now nearly 70 years old! On September 9th George writes, “Here’s a list that may interest PHSC members. “It’s huge, illustrated and shows … Continue reading

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double, double, toil and trouble…

Toronto. As Shakspeare’s girls say while making bat-wing soup in Macbeth. I bought this delightful little book by Kodak in January, 1960 for $1.25 – and no tax. I was busy absorbing all I could about the complexities of developing and … Continue reading

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a horse of a different colour…

Toronto. Photographic paper companies often had samples of their products to help you chose a particular style. Once you chose a paper style, there was the physical size, weight, and the dynamic range (contrast) to consider. Of course nowadays you … Continue reading

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getting to the end of the day…

Toronto. As a line from the TV series New Tricks says, this is the last of the Leitz enlarging and copying lenses offered as the film era quietly disappeared. This is the famous FOCOTAR series (FOCOTAR, FOCOTAR 1, FOCOTAR 2, … Continue reading

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not your father’s Elmar…

Toronto. Post war, the Elmar went to the DOOGS. The little camera mounted collapsible Elmar was redesigned as a reproduction and enlarging lens in a much more practical lens mount and the elements were coated to reduce the internal reflections. … Continue reading

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give me a ring…

Toronto. I mentioned in the previous post that Leitz made a special ring so the fiddly little aperture adjustment on the 5cm Elmar could be seen and moved by a ring that went around the accessory. This avoided the risk … Continue reading

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