dance with me, Henry

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Robert

run, run, run – caught by electronic flash over 80 years ago

Toronto. By 1940, newspapers and newshounds alike were busy trying to find new cheery ideas as WW2 rumbled on with its sorrowful gloom and destruction.

Electronic flash suggested not only enough light for the slow film media of the day, but a way to have “shutter” speeds far faster than the physical shutter could possibly do. A new way to show how bright things were in spite of the war.

An example is this clever electronic flash news photo from the May 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics. The trio of track runners are frozen in time with every grimace and step captured forever! This amazing shot was taken at 30x the physical speed of the shutter – (even faster than that if it was a focal plane shutter)!

A big nod to good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for sending me this historic article in Popular Mechanics – ‘permanently’ captured via digital technology of today.

Note: this post name was inspired by the old Georgia Gibbs song of the same name from back when I was a teen-ager.

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eye of the beholder

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Robert

Ad for the 1936 model Foth Flex

Toronto. In the May, 1936 issue of American Cinematographer, the Home Camera Co. in NYC advertised the Foth Flex TLR camera. To the innocent eye, the camera seems to be made by the “Home Camera Co.” Since you could buy it from your dealer or Home Camera.

In fact, Home Camera Co. was an importer and distributor of the Foth Flex. The camera was manufactured by C. F. Foth and Co., Berlin, Germany.  Kind of a bad choice in 1936 since Foth also sold to Japan and both Japan and Germany were at war with most of Europe and the British Commonwealth in late 1939 and with America about two years later.

My thanks to good friend and retired photographer, George Dunbar, for sharing this advertisement with us.

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fade to black

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Robert

1940 article on a Polaroid fader for 8/16mm movie cameras

Toronto. Professional movies shot on 35mm film or larger used a variety of techniques to switch the film – and audience – from one scene to the next. In one method, the scene ending was slowly faded out while the scene beginning was slowly faded fully open.

A May 1940 filler article  in Popular Mechanics announced a Polaroid accessory for any amateur  8/16mm movie lens to create fades. As many people know, placing two Polaroid filters together and rotating one will vary light throughput from zero (dark) to maximum brightness (light). A clever fader design that works for both B&W film and colour film.

My thanks to a good friend and fellow photographic historian, George Dunbar, for sharing this tasty little article with us. I have a number of Polaroid filters to dampen reflections but no dual filter faders.

The title of this post is a popular song title. I chose Mark Knopfler and the Dire Straits rendition of, “Fade to Black” since I like them and have this CD. Even if you don’t especially care for the band, the black and white images and the use of the fade are worth watching!

 

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and you thought your camera was big!

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Robert

Article in American Cinematographer (Mar 1935) showing latest colour technology

Toronto. We often seem to be fond of making comparisons. In 1935, Technicolor offered a way to make colour films in Hollywood. The process was downright expensive so only some films – scenes – were in ‘full colour’.   This shows a scene in the movie “Becky Sharp” being shot in Technicolor. The Technicolor Corporation tried  many different techniques to simplify colour and make it more natural.

Surprisingly, they began back in the days of silent movies! The image at left is from the March, 1935 issue of American Cinematographer. Not only were the colour cameras huge, unwieldy machines, but a small army of Technicolor folks were involved in the taking, lighting, and processing of the colour movie.

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a penny for your thoughts …

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Robert

another use for 3D

Toronto. We have all tossed a quarter into those  clever ‘slot’ machines in arcades or other amusement areas to see a series of stills. In this article from the April 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics is a suggestion to use  3D stills and offer the viewer an experience a bit different from the usual.

As a kid a few years later than 1941, I was taken to visit relatives. In the living room was a basket of old stereo views and a Holmes viewer. The scenes, all in 3D, kept me busy as my elders enjoyed their visit. I never did find any coin machines that offered stereo stills while I was still young enough to find them worth a coin or two.

A thank you goes to that erstwhile seeker of photographic history, my good friend George Dunbar for sharing his find with us.  

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carousel anyone?

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Robert

Article about an early round tray window projection device

Toronto. For many years the Kodak Carousel series of slide projectors with round horizontal trays were the top of the line in North America. One series was sold for home use and a second series as industrial machines. This short article describes what could well be the ancestor if not the inspiration for Carousel projectors!

The article from the May 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics shows a “16 glass slide apparatus” intended for retail store window displays. I notice that some slides appear to be Kodachrome 35mm transparencies by the frames used.

The slides are positioned 90 degrees from those in traditional Carousel trays. Since Kodachrome was very new in 1940, an author might think of the much older glass slides for this store front automated marketing gadget.

Once again a big thanks to good friend and PHSC member, George Dunbar, for sharing this article with us.

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no tanks

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Robert

tray development under a safe light.

Toronto. Popular Mechanics often ran short ‘filler’ articles which were interesting and seemed to be practical to the frugal but of  little value. Typical is this darkroom article from the April, 1941 issue on a way to increase productivity when tray developing B&W negatives (it would help if all films were the same speed, type, and exposure).

This approach may have worked to develop orthochromatic film, but panchromatic and colour films demanded total darkness during development. Tanks accommodated the total darkness need while allowing the darkroom enthusiast to follow his/her time and temperature guidelines in full light.

Thanks to good friend and historian, George Dunbar for offering this ad and giving me the idea for this post!

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about that land in Florida

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Robert

demonstrating lens coating in America just months before they entered WW2

Toronto. An article in the May 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics suggests a coating can double the lens speed (if only this were so …). We used to suggest to gullible people that if they believed something improbable, we have some (swamp) land in Florida they might like.

In reality, coating lens elements does increase the light transmission through a lens and may mean a smaller aperture can give the same amount of light to the sensitive media, but most obvious to a photographer is the increase in contrast and the saturation of colours (plus the capability to increase the number of lens elements without rapidly increasing internal reflections [zoom lenses anyone?]). Wikipedia gives a more technical explanation of lens coatings as anti-reflective coatings.

The lens ‘speed’ or aperture is a basic mathematical function:  focal length divided by the effective lens diameter or simply the f/stop. Compare, for example the coated post war and uncoated pre war Elmar 90mm lenses. Both are f/4 aperture but the coated lens gives far better contrast and colour saturation than its older sibling.

And another ‘tip of the hat’ goes to my good friend, George Dunbar for sharing this article with us.

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Polarization is good for photography

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Robert

Article shows how polarizing filters let an audience see 3D colour transparencies

Toronto. … but not so good politically. In the days of film, one of the tools available to the photographer was a polarizing filter. Judicious use of the filter could improve contrast and colour saturation by removing reflections from smooth surfaces.

Another major use was in colour stereo for an audience. As is well known, each eye sees a scene from a slightly different angle and the brain combines these images in 3D. Stereo viewers for individuals keep the two images separate for each eye so the brain can do its thing.  Early projection of drawings and monochrome photos overlaid the two images through rad and green filters. Similar filters over the eyes (one eye with a red filter, the other with green) showed a separate image for each eye merged by the brain to show 3D once again.

Polarized filters such as described in this February 1939 article in Popular Mechanics allowed colour transparencies to be projected and viewed in true 3D colour. This was shortly after Kodachrome came on the market.

Our thanks to good friend, George Dunbar, for the suggestion and article. Nice work, George.

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Wilhelm Willi Eduard Nassau 1922 2022

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Robert

Wilhelm-Willi-Eduard-Nassau-1922-2022

Toronto. I was sorry to hear that a good friend and member of the PHSC passed away a few days ago. Willi was a charter member of our society, having joined in its first year. I learned about his passing in an email from his wife, Hermine. Going online, the following obituary of Mr Nassau was found and is repeated here courtesy of  Nécrologie Canada who in turn used the wording posted by Erb  & Good.

“Passed away peacefully at home in his 100th year on February 6th, 2022 surrounded by his wife, Hermine of 55 years and family. Willi will be deeply missed by Hermine, brother-in-law Josef Seidl, nephews Paul Seidl (Monique), Christopher Seidl (Diana) and son William and daughter Sara, as well as relatives and friends in Austria.

“Willi was born in Vienna where he received his early education. He then studied Fine Arts and Graphic Technology and worked in Photography, Film and Television. In 1959, Willi came to Canada. He worked for CBC and CTV in Ottawa before Willi arrived in Kitchener-Waterloo. He was the founder of the audio-visual department at WLU, then Waterloo Lutheran University, where he also taught photography and film related courses. After his retirement in 1988, Willi volunteered for over 20 years at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. As a result of various projects with museums, WLU awarded Willi the distinction of Dr. honoris causa in 1991.

“Willi had many passions, photography being one of them, which was also his profession, as well as history of Roman and pre-Roman Glass. Willi had a lifelong desire to learn and as a hobby enjoyed building a model railroad based on the steam train period of the Austrian Railroad system.

“We [his family] would like to thank Parish nurse Christine Ramseyer, for her unlimited support and care, as well as our friends and neighbours for their tremendous support.
To attend the visitation and service, personal face coverings are required, and relatives and friends must RSVP at www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445. Visitation will be held at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo on Tuesday, February 15th from 2 – 4p.m. The funeral service will take place in the funeral home chapel on Wednesday, February 16th at 10 a.m. with interment following at Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo.

“For those unable to attend, a livestream will be available at www.erbgood.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or Mount Zion Lutheran Church, Waterloo and can be arranged though the funeral home.”

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