Category Archives: history

if at first you don’t succeed …

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. … try and try again! And that is what Spartus did. A new name?A new town? A new camera style? The company began around 1934 in NYC as the Utility Manufacturing Company. It moved to Chicago in the 1940s … Continue reading →

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a nasty piece of work

Posted on August 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Seventy six years ago on August 9th, 1945 the Japanese city of Nagasaki woke to a terrible calamity. Around 11:00am, the second Atomic Bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped by the US Airforce, levelling a wide area of the … Continue reading →

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was ist das?

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2, umpteen American companies tried to hop on the American made camera bandwagon. One was the Vokar line made in Dexter, Michigan. The design was said to have originated pre war from the mind of Dick Bills. Mike … Continue reading →

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catching Graflexes

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Pre WW2 and for a few years there after, Speed Graphic and Graflex cameras reigned supreme as the press photographers’ cameras of choice. The Graflex series offered SLR capability for larger plate and film sizes. Those who saw the … Continue reading →

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Voigtlander cameras are here again

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. How do you get back your market share when your country was on the losing side of the war? Well. you can try to advertise in a magazine that is read by your potential  market. Voigtlander did. The famous … Continue reading →

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run silent, run deep

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Did you think this post was another subs and photos post? Nope, the deep in this case is Deep Fake – a term that introduces the nasty side of this new world of ours – you can’t take anything … Continue reading →

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Never Let the Truth Get In the Way of a Good Story

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The other morning, I idly wondered if there was a photo of Clementine. If so, I thought a post called, “the colour orange” could introduce her photo and give a touch of history. Unfortunately, she was apparently a fiction, … Continue reading →

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making memories

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The lowly family snapshot is often looked upon as a bit of kirsch by professionals but it serves to illustrate family history. The one used here was taken about 80 years ago when the youngest person shown was just … Continue reading →

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a new way to direct light

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Incident or reflected light, that is the question. This advertisement touted a new way to measure light, especially critical in the early days of low sensitivity, somewhat contrasty colour film materials. Instead of reading reflected light values from selected … Continue reading →

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it’s a date – don’t be late

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Home movie cameras were offered before, during, and after WW2. The top end models were the Bolex line from Europe and the Bell and Howell (B&H) line made in Chicago. Cheaper models were made and sold by Kodak. A … Continue reading →

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