Category Archives: history

which twin has the Toni …

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Late last century was the hey-day for camera and image collecting. Bargains abounded. New books were published. Old books once destined for garbage became valuable items. Advertisements and other ephemera took on a pricier existence. Old, dusty publications were … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on which twin has the Toni …

look, ma – no hands …

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a zoom lens was invented with the zoom controlled by electricity? Smartphone could off these tiny marvels and a light finger motion could shift the tiny zoom lens’s focal length. PHSC member and friend … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on look, ma – no hands …

the summer of ’44

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. WW2 was winding down the summer of 1944 and would end in Allied victory the following spring/summer. Graflex gave a novel twist to the war effort and the American fighting men suggesting the average American was Part-Owner of cameras … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on the summer of ’44

a boatload of testosterone

Posted on June 13, 2021 by Robert

Toronto.  Our past president and friend Les Jones sent me this interesting photograph from the Rare Historical Photos website showing American troops arriving home on the Queen Elizabeth. Les is both a sports photographer and an author. I had an … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on a boatload of testosterone

mille feuille

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the spring of 1944, it seemed as if everyone wanted to make photographic paper, especially the fast variety suitable for enlarging (slower contact paper worked but took minutes of exposure, not seconds). In the 1950s, only the larger … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on mille feuille

a sharper kind of light

Posted on June 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Photography demands light, but so do other optical devices such as light microscopes. The resolution limit of light microscopes has usually been the light itself, forcing a transition to other devices such as an electron microscope if increased resolution … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on a sharper kind of light

brick by brick

Posted on June 6, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The photograph at left was faded and damaged, but I still bought it (cheap) at the Thornhill, Ontario Antique place the end of July, 1976 because it was unusual. Firstly, it was taken out doors and secondly it showed … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on brick by brick

feeling liverish?

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Well, in the late 1800s/early 1900s in Quebec City that likely meant you had an urge to have a likeness taken at the Livernois Studio. Many of the photographs taken by the Livernois family can be found at the … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on feeling liverish?

brave new world again

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Well into WW2, Kodak took this ad out in the January 1944 issue of Popular Photography showing how research by their labs resulted in lens technology that out performed the German industry and led to superior fire power when … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on brave new world again

Kalart saves the day

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. When I was a kid, I saw small ads in the American photography magazines of the day for a Kalart rangefinder to bolt on to a press camera. The strange name caught my eye. This particular ad is for … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Kalart saves the day