Category Archives: history

wither thou goest, Kardon?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. When America was finally dragged into WW2 on the side of Britain, they  had a problem. The Leitz NY organization was taken over by the US government, but no high quality American made 35mm cameras were available. Peter Kardon … Continue reading →

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it’s not easy being green

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. … sang Kermit the frog in his famous 1970 song on Sesame Street so many years ago. This apparently applied to a film called “Anken” too. The film was orthochromatic and, according to the ads, available in the most … Continue reading →

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all that’s fit to photograph

Posted on July 11, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The best known press cameras according to Hollywood seem to be the ubiquitous Speed Graphic models. This ad from the December, 1946  issue of Popular Photography [link repeated here for the viewer’s convenience]  suggests why. My thanks to good … Continue reading →

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want more about cabinet cards?

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. You are in luck! Our sister organization, the Daguerreian Society in the States is hosting an online talk this Saturday (July 10, 2021) afternoon by Senior Curator of Photographs, John Rohrbach, of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art … Continue reading →

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B B B

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Some decades back, my VP elected to meet with very junior staff. To break the ice and ease the tension of the many level spread between VP and computer staff, he wore a T-Shirt emblazoned with this alliteration: “Bullshit … Continue reading →

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blinding me with flash

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the early years of photography, it took daylight to create an image. The processes of the day were far too insensitive for gas light, and later electric light to be of practical use. In the mid to late … Continue reading →

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slipping into history

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post war, nomograms were great marketing tools. Arel, Inc. of St. Louis took it a step further creating an actual slide-rule, not with the traditional A, B, C, D, etc. scales but with calculation scales of interest to serious … Continue reading →

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box it up

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. You may have never before heard of a camera called the Micro-16. This little gem, advertised on page 199 in the December 1946 issue of Popular Photography, was only around for five years – 1946 – 1950. It is … Continue reading →

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caution, curves ahead.

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Traditional lens elements (before aspheric surfaces became economical) were all slices of a sphere making curvature of field common. Some added elements resolved this aberration to give a flat field at the film/sensor plane. Some cameras use a curved … Continue reading →

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thanks, Helen

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The CDV is roughly a large size business card with a photo mounted on thick card stock. Studios produced them in the 1850s/1860s by the dozens. People sent them to friend and relatives but few identified the person and … Continue reading →

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