Category Archives: history

pre dating the reflex

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Camera makers could design a camera that used a lens to view and a second one to capture the scene, but did not know how to name the design. The term “divided camera’ fell flat and the term ‘reflex’ … Continue reading →

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pas de duex

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. The late Stan White chose to highlight the little Kodak Duex camera in the column “A Treasure from my Collection”. Only retailed for a couple of years, the Duex was an ugly duckling to camera collectors. Stan begins the … Continue reading →

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Dag-nab-it again

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. In journal issue 38-2, an article titled, “MATTHEW ISENBURG’S Collection Comes to Toronto” penned by our late editor Bob Lansdale expands on the then recent press release. Bob writes, “The Matthew R. Isenburg Collection of early photography has been … Continue reading →

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kidding around …

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. … in the 1870s. Hard to imagine, but this crisp, well exposed portrait of a little girl is over 150 years old! Many prints this old – or far younger – have succumbed to fading,  lost detail, etc. This … Continue reading →

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triple tengor tango

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. After WW1, the German camera industry was in a crisis – too many companies making too many cameras that were very similar. The government invited  Zeiss to  the dance and the mighty Zeiss-Ikon was formed. Zeiss Ikon and a … Continue reading →

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soft subject, soft lighting

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. An unidentified writer (our editor?) said in a prelude to the article “Wither Soft Light of the 1930s …” “I’ve been perplexed for years by certain lighting of nudes during the pictorial period. I don’t make any great study … Continue reading →

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colour! colour! colour!

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Like Leonardo before him, a Frenchman came up with all the ways to create colour photography long before technology made them possible. One concept was to catch the image simultaneously on three B&W plates, each plate exposed through a … Continue reading →

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a cheesy story c1870

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. First, let me say a happy July 4th to our friends south of our border on behalf of the PHSC! Enjoy your holiday, folks. The photos of box making in the 1870s are interesting in many ways: a record … Continue reading →

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and the bridge came tumbling down …

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Robert

Toronto.  Editor Bob Lansdale received an email from England and began a search for a mysterious bridge. Bob writes, “The monster footings to the Steel Arch Bridge at Niagara Falls, built in 1897-98, proved to be the down fall of … Continue reading →

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1867 and all that

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. … to paraphrase a bit of “British history”  (1066 and all that). We are fortunate that photography was invented years before 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was formed.  The British North America Act(s) combined the British colonies of … Continue reading →

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