Category Archives: history

a loopy idea

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. I show three magnifier loupes at the left. The first is a Taylor, Taylor, Hobson brass loupe used in the late 1800s to focus a lens on the massive old field/studio cameras so that the subject was sharp on … Continue reading →

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two for the show …

Posted on January 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. I began working for Bell just months after Toll Area was formed. In those days Bell Labs in New Jersey did a wide variety of research. This article from the December, 1935 issue of Electronics tells of the collaboration between … Continue reading →

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metal detectors and photography

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. You may think metal detectors and photography have little in common but sometimes they do! When I was young, I saw pictures of people using war surplus metal detectors to find “buried treasure” – usually a few coins and … Continue reading →

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how to tell when a topic is HOT

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In the roaring twenties, a century ago, movies were all the rage. As a result, “get rich quick” ads were everywhere. A typical ad was this November 1928 ad in Science and Invention magazine on page 651. The ad … Continue reading →

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a searing legacy

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Well, Christmas and boxing day are over for most of us. Hope you managed to give/receive great gifts and find bargains in spite of the @#$#%^ pandemic we are all struggling with (well, most of us up here anyway). … Continue reading →

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ya gotta light, mister

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. For decades photographic studios were the epitome of Photographic businesses. In reality, the studios usually cranked out technically sound portraits using a tried and true combination of lighting including facial lights for modelling the features, background lights to illuminate … Continue reading →

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what a combination!

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Movies and Electronics (not the typical science fiction variety movie) came together in the 1930s to extend human understanding. The 1930s were an exciting time (aside from the devastating depression) in photography and in electronics, The minicam revolution gained … Continue reading →

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ain’t many coloured folks here

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1970s, I enjoyed the local library’s coffee table sized books of famous photographs and American photographers. In these books, I learned of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) program from the 1930s/40s and how it recorded the impact … Continue reading →

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valau for money

Posted on December 18, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Leitz first introduced the Leica in the mid 1920s to keep employment up at their optical works in Wetzlar during extreme inflation in Germany. Bad timing as it turned out. A few years later, the dirty 30s hit with … Continue reading →

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… the sincerest form ….

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. A very common expression is, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery“. And all the makers of high end cameras had it in spades! Manufactures in Russia, Japan, and even fellow German firms aped the design of the Leica, … Continue reading →

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