Category Archives: history

Winterize your camera? How quaint!

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Smartphones have become the most common cameras today according to some social media outlets. Owners have no need to “winterize” or even repair their smartphones. Usually the battery wears out but long before that the current model becomes obsolete … Continue reading →

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when sub-minute was super fast

Posted on November 15, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. When we see a good shot, we pull out our smartphone, snap, correct (edit), and send the image a few chairs over or half way around the world in a few seconds – in full colour and crisp high … Continue reading →

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ringy thingy

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Leitz may have just as well used a variant of the early iPhone tag line: “There’s an app for that”, using, “There’s an acc (accessory) for that” instead. In the early years, Leitz made slip-on filters for the petite … Continue reading →

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it’s a long way

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. One of the popular cameras in the great war was the Kodak VP folder. Not only did it use the newly released 127 size roll film, it was small, metal bodied, and compact. A soldier could slip it in … Continue reading →

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Stanley, I presume?

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. About three years ago I did a post on Stanley park’s beautiful and massive old trees showing an ancient (today) automobile nestled in the trunk. Here you see another huge tree, this time shrouding a horse and rider! The … Continue reading →

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what’s leaves got to do with it

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Falling leaves. Cold. Damp. Windy. November in the city and winter is about to rush in. As I write this post on the 1st, we are seeing our first snow flurries of the coming season. Leaves have a lot … Continue reading →

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1932 – Technicolor and Doctor X

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. The first time I saw a Technicolor two colour process colour film was the other evening when I viewed the 1932 film “Doctor X” via TV courtesy of TCM who ran the UCLA Film Archive recreated version on safety … Continue reading →

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electricity to the rescue

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Whenever a new technology or process was announced people found ways to use it for profit. A few decades ago photographers set up multi flash units to light large areas when a shot was taken. The idea of harnessing … Continue reading →

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those wonderful old home movies

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. I recently did a post on “1839 and all that” featuring a short video on daguerreotype restoration from MoMA in New York City. This post borrows from MoMA magazine once again, this time a 10 minute video showing home … Continue reading →

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copy, copy that!

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. In  the early 1900s, some American companies sold fancy copy machines, that relied upon photography, to prosperous companies. Their machines snapped and recorded material directly to photographic paper, which was sometimes developed and fixed automatically. But not everyone could … Continue reading →

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