Category Archives: history

checking shutter sync a half century plus ago

Posted on May 1, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the dying days of WW2, an article was printed in Popular Mechanics showing an impromptu way to ‘test’ a shutter – flash synchronization. The February, 1945 issue suggests photographing a flash bulb with caution and slow film to … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Ahhh! The roaring twenties. What a great time to be alive (according to the movies). Radio was invented a few years earlier, automobiles had been around for a couple of decades, aircraft were experimental, movies were silent, TV not … Continue reading →

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sky high amusement 1930s style

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. This pictorial courtesy of the Illustrated London News in 1930 shows the inside of a transcontinental aircraft – very cramped unlike today’s wide bodied aircraft – and the use of an amateur projector to show movies while flying over … Continue reading →

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perhaps well named?

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The December 1925 issue of American Cinematographer carried an ad for the Debrie Interview, model E camera called “The Greatest of all Motion Picture cameras”. It was said to be ‘light’ at 14 pounds. With a body made of … Continue reading →

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another rope trick

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In a recent post, I noted the Hitchcock movie “Rope” and why it was significant. In this article from the November, 1948 issue of Popular Photography, Alfred Hitchcock himself wrote the compelling story about making “Rope”. The story and … Continue reading →

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trying to climb aboard the amateur photo express

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Talk about bad timing! This ad for a cheap Agfa camera “made in U.S.A.” appears in the July 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics. A few months later in December of that year, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the … Continue reading →

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roped in

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In 1948, Alfred Hitchcock produced a film called ‘Rope’. I saw it recently – twice – on TV. It seemed odd to me and I wrote it off as an early attempt to recreate  a play as a movie. … Continue reading →

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gone fichin’

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. We usually think of photography as synonymous with pictures. But it also had a very practical side as a means of record keeping – even before digital technology and EXIF el al file data. In the 1960s, when I … Continue reading →

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celluloid memories

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The October, 1942 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine has a small article on a little plastic 35mm transparency or film strip viewer. I have a wooden transparency viewer of similar vintage that also uses a frosted screen to spread … Continue reading →

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something to think about

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. We are all movie/video/TV fans at heart. But consider this – movies  preceded the minicams of the day (and the smartphones of today). We often think of great movies, but seldom of the equipment used to make them. While … Continue reading →

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