Category Archives: history

ghost of fairs past …

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … with apologies to Dickens and his short story, “A Christmas Carol”. Our spring 2000 fair offered fodder for a photo essay in issue 26-2 of our journal. The camera at right is just one of the items offered … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on ghost of fairs past …

a man and his collection …

Posted on December 26, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. We collectors often seem too busy to notice others. In issue 26-2, editor Bob Lansdale used this photo of past president Les Jones and just some of his collection at the time. Les was a professional sports photographer specializing … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , | Comments Off on a man and his collection …

focussing issue resolved …

Posted on December 24, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. Consistent with editor Lansdale’s inspiration to celebrate our 25th anniversary, the folks at the Cascade Panorama Historical Society sent in a juicy article by Milan Zahorcak titled, “What the …?”. Milan describes the problem raised when an old lens … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , | Comments Off on focussing issue resolved …

cooking the books …

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. … is a common expression for redoing accounting entries to intentionally favour someone. In the case of photography, some products were re-badged to show a different maker and/or country. In this case, the maker and country are shown as … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged | Comments Off on cooking the books …

pottering about …

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. A small subset of PHSC members who collect cameras also collect microscopes. For example, the late Ron Walker collected Zeiss cameras and old microscopes. At some point in time, I noted Chas. Potter (Toronto) as a microscope maker. Ron … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on pottering about …

lordy, lordy, lordy

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. We held our monthly meeting for December on Wednesday the 17th. I managed to hang in for about an hour before my eye issue intervened. I saw/heard the AGM speech by our president and the first of the series … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged | Comments Off on lordy, lordy, lordy

niagara

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. The mighty Niagara Falls straddle the American and Canadian borders with the Canadian side full of parks and many areas of interest including rides like ‘the Maid of the Mist’ and walks like that under the massive Horseshoe Falls. … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , | Comments Off on niagara

really, really, really close.

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Robert

Toronto.  In 1969, Neil Armstrong stated the first of  his iconic statements, “the Eagle has landed” as the Lunar Module ‘Eagle’ touched down on the moon ready for  his decent into history. In 1910, the T. Eaton Drug Company produced … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , | Comments Off on really, really, really close.

predating the minicam revolution start

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. In 1888 Eastman marketed the famous “Kodak” camera to use its newly developed roll film. Initially stripping film was used due to issues with the transparent material but the issue was resolved quickly and in a few months tradition … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on predating the minicam revolution start

look ma, no glasses …

Posted on December 15, 2025 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1950s, a new ‘lenticular’ technology threatened to turn the 3D world  on its ear. A camera took multiple shots from slightly different angles. When the images were printed, a special lenticular screen was added to the print … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , | Comments Off on look ma, no glasses …