Category Archives: history

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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an inspiration for the Hassy?

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Bentzin made cameras in Görlitz, Germany beginning in the late 1800s. The firm collaborated with Zeiss over in Jena to make high end cameras to use Zeiss lens designs. Sadly, both Jena and Gorlitz fell in the Soviet sector … Continue reading →

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an unusual roll film camera from Germany

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Have you ever heard about or seen a strange camera from the 1930s called a Makina III? Originally designed pre WW2 (one may have been auctioned off last May in Ohio), sales and manufacture were interrupted by WW2. The … Continue reading →

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when is a brick not a brick?

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. When its an Argus C-4! The Argus C-3 was an awkward rectangular weighty thing loved by all. In 1951, Argus took a shot at replacing it with a C-4 camera but the C-3 lived on. This ad on page … Continue reading →

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going for gold – a Kodak moment

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The late Jack Addison and wife Marge were very active in the society, especially in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Jack was president, journal editor, CNE Exhibits coordinator, curator, etc. while wife Marge was membership secretary when I joined … Continue reading →

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a photographer’s magnifier

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Anyone wanting to see a magnified view of a small object would likely use a simple magnifying glass – just like Sherlock Holmes in the many Conan Doyle stories. Predating photography, a projector (magic lantern) projected an enlarged view … Continue reading →

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out of the blue

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Journalists reporting battles in the Korean War came across a very high quality, professional camera made in Japan. A well known maker of microscopes in Japan, Nippon Kogaku, expanded into cameras post war and were selling them under the … Continue reading →

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si si d, doctor B

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Years ago, I discovered Bell Labs via the journal, Bell Systems Technical Journal. One issue in particular impressed me since it included a cardboard 78 rpm record of a computer singing, ‘A Bicycle Built for Two’!  Now-a-days computers are … Continue reading →

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