Category Archives: history

never heard of Hessercolor – have you?

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sent me a link from the January, 1934 issue of International Photographer. titled, “The Wonders of Hessercolor“.  There is an interesting article on Hesser at “Broadway Photographs“. Hesser took on Kodak and failed to succeed. He was … Continue reading →

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black is beautiful

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1800s and early 1900s, black enamel was a choice for finishing metal. Sewing machines, microscope bases, lamps, and even the ubiquitous Model T Ford all came in the black enamel finish. When Leica cameras were first sold, … Continue reading →

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sparking a revolution

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. While Leica wasn’t the first camera to use 35mm movie film, it was one of the first commercially successful 35mm cameras. The tiny marvel was the brain child of Oscar Barnack. The prototype (UR-Leica) was made by Barnack in … Continue reading →

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smaller can be better

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. For many years flash bulbs were used to illuminate scenes at night or indoors.  Early flash guns were somewhat big and required fresh batteries to reliably trigger a flash bulb via a cable connecting flash gun and shutter sync. … Continue reading →

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1940’s creme de la creme

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. 1940. America was a year away from being pushed into WW2 by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Color movies were very possible but very costly. That year, critic’s poll happened to choose black and white titles for the ‘top … Continue reading →

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flash dance

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In this 1949 ad from the April issue of International Photographer shows what can be done with the amazing Kodatron Speed Lamp by Kodak. Edgerton had demonstrated the use of the technology for photography a few years earlier at … Continue reading →

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for the ditherers of last century

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Robert

Toronto.  Back on May 10, 2019 before we were engulfed in COVID, I did a different post on the Alpa line of cameras. Those 35mm photographers who couldn’t decide whether the rangefinder or SLR style was best, could always have … Continue reading →

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a pro’s pro line

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In North America, most newshounds or wanna be’s used one brand of camera and accessories: Graflex. In the International Photographer for March 1941 on page 17, Folmer Graflex touted its line of cameras and accessories as ‘prize winning’ and … Continue reading →

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we owe a lot to the movies

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In 1932, Hollywood released the first movie shot in Technicolor’s three strip process. The shot here is via TCM and Sony TV and shows Jeanette MacDonald in a scene from the movie “Sweethearts”.  This was the first color film … Continue reading →

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Sonochrome, oh Sonochrome, where are you?

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Silent movies used colour tints to evoke moods – indoors, outdoors, creepy, fire, etc. When talkies came along, tints affected the sound recording. A solution by Kodak was their Sonochrome black and white film with a tinted base that … Continue reading →

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