Category Archives: history

one grand

Toronto. A few days ago, Wendy Elliott wrote the article “Continuing the health-care work“. Her article is on Saltwire in the Opinion section of its Atlantic Canada file. To read the article you will need to sign in with your … Continue reading

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pushing all buttons

Toronto. The invention of the dry plate in 1871 opened the door to sub-second exposures in sunlight through a normal photographic lens. And with sub-second performance came a need for shutters. And with shutters came a need for shutter buttons. … Continue reading

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cute as a button

Toronto. Professionals in the 19th and early 20th century chose a camera size such that the final print was a contact print, and generally not an enlargement from the negative.  As movies grew in popularity, some manufacturers realized that a … Continue reading

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Lazarus

Toronto. The famous little Leica and 35mm film have a long and storied history. The evolution of the current Leica Camera group from the old E Leitz organization is nicely covered by Dennis Laney in his 1992 “Leica Collectors Guide“. … Continue reading

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mr roboto

Toronto. After the 1807s when the faster ‘off the shelf’ dry plates became available, camera makers looked at ways to speed up the photograph taking process. It became evident that the way to speed things up was to find a … Continue reading

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will that be cash or …

Toronto. … ChargeX (later VISA)! The digital era in photography brought many things – both good and bad. For much of the glass plate/silver plate/film era, cameras were all mechanical and relatively easy for an experienced camera repairman to clean … Continue reading

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In Search of Geraldine Moodie

Toronto. Yesterday’s post on PhotoEd items mentioned Geraldine Moodie. This triggered in my mind an article on Ms Moodie in our journal. It was actually a book review of the book, “In Search of Geraldine Moodie”. The review is in … Continue reading

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six things to know

Toronto. In the course of browsing the web for photo history, George Dunbar came across the American “National Gallery of Art” website in Washington DC. Included on the site was this article on Dorothea Lange, “Who Is Dorothea Lange? 6 … Continue reading

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when Kodak was King

Toronto. For much of the 20th century, Kodak and photography were synonymous. By the mid 20th century Kodak was among the biggest – if not the biggest – in the industry, world-wide. Home base was Kodak Park in Rochester. George … Continue reading

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what the heck?

Toronto. Around 1931, Leitz decided to make their tiny Leica an interchangeable lens camera and produced the first few new focal length lenses. Within a year, the Leica’s film to lens mount distance was standardized and thereafter any screw mount … Continue reading

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