Category Archives: history

future history

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The title of this post may sound like an oxymoron but it isn’t. The American agency, NASA, successfully landed an explorer and a tiny helicopter (drone) on Mars a few weeks ago. The helicopter, Ingenuity by name, has a camera … Continue reading →

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a photo’s back pages

Posted on April 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the dirty thirties, the FSA in the States was busy recording the impact of the severe dry spell and depression on farmers. Dorthea Lange was one of their photographers. She captured this iconic image of a migrant mother … Continue reading →

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a camera fit for a Queen

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The German optical firm of Ernst Leitz began as a maker of optical objects including microscopes. In the mid 1920s to keep its factory open and staff working, Leitz began the sale and manufacture of the 35mm Leica camera … Continue reading →

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catching the wave

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. My now elderly NEX-6 boasts a maximum ISO of 25,600 (so noisy only black and white images are okay). Back in 1967, a maximum ASA (ISO) unpushed, was around ASA 400 (Tri-X). This speed was far too slow to … Continue reading →

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controlling the market

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. For decades Kodak controlled the film market by creating new film sizes and the cameras to use them. Heavy advertising prompted the ill informed public to buy the latest Kodak camera and use Kodak film.  An example is this … Continue reading →

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can you help us with this question?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. As many of you may know, amongst other ideals, we are devoted to helping others with photographic history questions – especially Canadian. The other day we had a question from the curator of the Lennox-Addington Museum and Archives in … Continue reading →

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deep thoughts developing

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. My thanks to Annex Photo here in the big smoke for the image illustrating today’s post. Give them a try if you are one of those folk determined to use film and film cameras. Ever since I was a … Continue reading →

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Mark Twain on Photography

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Mark Twain is a pseudonym used by American Sam Clemens in writing his books. As Mark Twain, he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, books commonly read last century by children everywhere including me. The stories were also turned … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. As this late 1971 LIFE ad for Kodak illustrates, marketeers had to be creative and inspired to create new copy far faster than the engineers and designers could make new cameras with new features. This version of Kodak’s relatively … Continue reading →

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the eye of the beholder

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto.  The very first issue of the Graflex Journal for 2021 shows a photograph of the news photographers up in Sudbury back in 1953 when cameras and flash were both big and bulky. One brave soul flaunts his Rollei and … Continue reading →

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