Category Archives: history

all aboard the gravy train

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the post WW2 years, photography grew in leaps and bounds: new amateurs, colour, slides, movies, etc. and all with easier, better ways to succeed as a photographer. The Chicago company, SVE, too wanted to profit from the enthusiasm … Continue reading →

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a linhofty objective

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. I dream about the last century when I used film and had a darkroom. I was sold on 35mm back then, but still dreamed of larger format media and cameras. For many years, I wanted to own and use … Continue reading →

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really, David? a Realist?

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The Stereo craze ebbs and flows reaching a peak about every 50 years. In the later 1800s and early 1900s it was stereo cards. A basket of cards plus a Holmes viewer took the place of television or movies … Continue reading →

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the alpha and the omega of enlarging

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. I first enlarged negatives when in high school. A few years later in Northern Quebec I bought my first enlarger – a very cheap affair labelled as a Federal. The small town I was in had only contact printing … Continue reading →

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a look in the future to see in the past

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Russ Forfar is a science nerd as well as once repairing film cameras in the days before electronics took over. Russ sent me a link to this intriguing article in Science Daily. The article, “Need for larger space telescope … Continue reading →

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in da frame

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. There are camera collectors and there are camera collectors. Over a couple of decades ago,  I analyzed the interests of our members so we could reflect the appropriate topics in our journal, and program material. At the time, about … Continue reading →

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an Exakta in my future

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. After a few months in Labrador, a few of us decided to buy a top quality camera. Many nights were spent discussing the pros and cons of various German makes, especially Exakta and Leica. A visitor had a IIIf … Continue reading →

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Montreal, Minolta, Marvellous

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Before heading north to Labrador, I spent a few months training in the old Salada Tea Building on St Lawrence in Montreal. To an Ontario boy, Montreal discounts were exciting. The best camera deals were said to be at … Continue reading →

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those were the days

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. As a kid I bounced between radio and photography. The first ‘real’ camera shop I ever entered was Vi and Joe Waterer’s CameraCraft in Barrie. The store was at one end of a long block. I had  joined the … Continue reading →

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where there’s a will …

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. … there’s a way. This old chestnut came to mind when I saw George’s email showing the famous NYC store, Willowbys, advertising the anvailability of Hasselblad cameras. A couple of words of explanation: Willowbys was a block-long 5th ave … Continue reading →

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