Kansas cameraman documenting new gun hit by bullet ricochet
Toronto. Sometimes photography can be down right dangerous. In 1931, a movie cameraman experienced this first hand (er arm) as told in a brief article that appeared in the October, 1931 edition of International Photographer.
Click on the picture at left for the gory details. Any thing to get a photo, you say …
My thanks to that intrepid historian of all things photographic, my good friend George Dunbar.
Joseph Wyman Brown by Mitchell Clark of The Verge
Toronto. “You can even mail them…” This was a big advantage for tintypes in the days when most ‘likenesses’ were glass encased. Joseph Wyman Brown uses the wet plate process to create authentic modern day tintype portraits. An article by on The Verge website discusses Brown and the techniques he uses to create portraits right out of the 19th century.
Have a read and see what Brown is doing today with that 19th century technology. Note that over the years we too have had various local tintype photographers speaking at our meetings. One, Yvette Bessels, was even on the executive until she and her husband moved on to Spain.
A big warm thank goes to well known camera repairman (retired) and PHSC member, Russ Forfar, who sent me this piece via email. The post title reflects the article name for Joseph Brown as well as a riff on a 1934 movie called “The Thin Man“.
FED II copy of Early Leica Camera
Toronto. The FED II shown here is from the right top of page 1 in this month’s PHSC News newsletter. The FED was a Ukrainian copy of an early Leica camera, converted to interchangeable lenses.
What do you know? It’s March, 2022 already. We are anxiously waiting for the COVID rules to disappear as the pandemic subsides.
Meantime, our editor, Sonja, and team have produced another great issue of PHSC News for you. PHSC News (21-09) has the usual bunch of articles – short, crisp, and ripe for argument. Take a few moments and read them and feel inspired (or irritated) once again.
PUTIN’S FOLLY on page 1 touches on the invasion of the Ukraine as known everywhere but Russia where the government controls what is read and viewed. Page 2 in “PHSC PRESENTS (virtually)” discusses “Back to the Future of a Russian Revolution“. Page 3, under NEO PHOTOGRAPHY posits “Helga Stentzel: Household Surrealism“with samples of photos. STREAMABLES on page 4, speaks of, “The Story of a Working Class Nero”; while page 5 in THE OTTAWA FILE offers another editorial on the OTTAWA situation called, “A Family Album of Ottawa Counter-Protest All-Stars“. In David’s EQUIPMENT REVIEW (upbeat and cheeky as usual) he looks at Kodak cabinetry (wood) for the darkroom. John Morden’s trio of thoughtful WEB LINKS on page 7 are all worth a visit especially the first link (the links are live, no need to ‘cut and paste’).
Page 8 gets ready for our special late April (not March) speaker event via ZOOM. The seminar is in collaboration with ESHPh and Dr Hanin Hannouch on three colour photography c1900. And our friends Ivy & Izzy, on page 9, posit “The Shallow End of Deep Fakes“. As usual, we wrap up this issue on page 10 with John’s compilation of shows, wanted ads, books, and exhibitions of interest to collectors & photographers everywhere.
P.S. As usual, every link shown in the newsletter is a hot link just waiting for your click!
P.P.S. You can visit this issue by clicking here, or by g0ing to the menu item NEWSLETTER at the top of the page. There is a drop down menu that takes you to older issues dating back a couple of decades to the very beginning.
1937 ad announcing the 16mm model E Ciné-Kodak movie camera
Toronto. In February of 1937, Kodak advertised this movie camera as the running mate to the inexpensive model EE Kodascope (movie projector to you) using the American Cinematographer magazine to target potential buyers.
This 16mm movie camera and associated projector were entry level gear for all prospective movie makers on a tight budget. Like all Kodak cameras, the intent was to encourage the sale of film and supplies.
A big thanks to our resident photo historian, my good friend George Dunbar, for sharing this neat little advertisement from back when the mighty Kodak company introduced the model E 16mm movie camera.
Waddington’s lot number 2,
by Meaghan Ogilvie
Toronto. All those image collectors please note! Waddington’s is holding a SNAP Photography Auction March 11 – March 18, 2022. Have a look on their website here and see what you can get for your personal collection.
I chose a photo by Meaghan Ogilvie to highlight this post. Many of you will remember Meaghan as the bright young lady who spoke to us at our April, 2018 Toronto meeting in those cheery pre-pandemic days on Deep Sea Photography.
Thanks to Ian Archer for telling me about this photo auction. Ian is both a long time PHSC member and a frequent participant at our ZOOM sessions with many insightful and knowledgeable questions for our speakers.
ad for 1932 B&H innovative zoom lens
Toronto. We take zoom lenses for granted today. Almost all digital cameras – mirrorless or DSLR – use zoom lenses. We have grown lazy and just adjust the lens to frame the scene rather thsn moving back or forward physically.
Not surprisingly, the first use of zoom lenses was on movie cameras. When I bought my Exakta IIa in the late 1950s, prime lenses were king. Zoom lenses for still cameras were expensive with a rather narrow range of focal lengths and modest apertures.
This announcement by Bell & Howell in the January, 1932 issue of International Photographer gave readers a taste of the future of photographic lenses. Today, smart phones are still in the prime lens stage with recent designs adding multiple lenses and technology to switch from one to the other. Soon we should see the zoom technology on the ubiquitous smart phone too!
A big thanks to our good friend George Dunbar for sharing this unique find with us.
scanning negatives with Lomography kit and smart phone
Toronto. The folks at Lomography are best known for their odd ball films and inexpensive cameras and lenses. In this digital era, the film aficionados are in a minority. Those of us with negatives galore have discovered the virtues of digitizing the frames and using key words etc. in the resulting files as exif, etc. data. This discipline makes searches simple (if relevant key words were used).
We progressed from specialized scanners, to general scanners, to office machines that united printers, scanners and fax functions, to copy stands and digital cameras, to copy stands and smart phones. Software took off with means to store, retrieve, and ‘develop’ i.e. edit digitized photos.
Now Lomography has joined forces with a copy stand and light source to use either a digital camera or a smart phone to ‘scan’ negatives (those taken on Lomography films and others as well). Check out the details at this web site. Prices shown are C$.
Note. The title of this post is a riff on the line ‘dialling for dollars’ in the song sung by the late Janis Joplin called “Mercedes Benz”. Joplin’s songs may be an acquired taste but this one like ‘Me and Bobby McGee‘ is worth a listen!
Article on accessories for the Kodak Ektra
Toronto. When the USA joined the WW2 fight, it lost all the Germany minicams. In the mid 1920s, the tiny Leica set the close-focus standard for the normal (50mm) lens at 1 metre (or 39 inches). Closer shots meant using extension tubes or close-up lenses or other gadgetsuld
Once the European minicams were lost to America, Kodak stepped up to the challenge and created the Kodak Ektra, an amazing camera that out did the specifications for all traditional German high end minicams. Kodak intended that the Ektra would fill the gap left by the loss of cameras like the Contax, Leica, and its own line of German-made Retinas.
If you happen to have an Ektra, especially without flash sync, then you have a rare camera indeed. First sold in 1941, the Ektra was reintroduced again post war. Unfortunately, the Ektra suffered from a few fatal problems: It was very expensive; it had the worst shutter on any camera (shutter failure was almost inevitable); and every lens interchange was incredibly complicated.
The June, 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics has an article on accessories for this amazing design by Kodak. A big thank you is due to our good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for sharing this article with us! My friend, the late Bill Belier, also mentioned to me that the Ektra shutter was prone to mechanical failure and any potential camera buy for a collection absolutely had to be tested.
Ad introducing the Argus C3 minicam which became very popular
Toronto. Talk about great timing! On the eve of WW2 Argus announced their new C3 camera. This ad from the March 1938 issue of International Photographer aims at the average America with these key points: This miniature camera has features like more expensive or foreign cameras; the camera sells for a fraction of the cost of a German high end camera; it is fully made in America.
The C3 went on to be a long running top selling model for Argus. Many C3 cameras were sold here as well.
Since it had a box-like sharp edged body design and was rather heavy, owners affectionately called it “the brick”. A buddy of mine had a C3 and loved it.
Thank you, George Dunbar, for sharing this find with us!
Note, the title is a riff on a song titled, “Another Brick in the Wall” from Pink Floyd’s 1979 dual CD opus, “The Wall”. It was also an LP record and a movie!
February, 1938 ad from the International Photographer
Toronto. Bell & Howell had many famous trade marks. One was the Eyemo movie camera for professionals. This rugged camera was the darling of the movie newsmen of the day. Many of us saw their results in the movie house news reels that preceded the Main Feature.
Eyemos were used in the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944 as noted by the late Bob Lansdale and linked on our website. The Eyemo ad shown here is from the February, 1938 issue of International Photographer, about a year and a half before War in Europe broke out..
The post title is a riff on the ancient child’s counting rhyme, “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” popular in various wordings and spellings the world over. As a child, I remember it being used to choose the first seeker for a game of “Hide and Seek”.
A big thank you is in order for our good friend and photo historian extrodinare, George Dunbar who shared this advertisement with us.
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Stan White – Poems & Photos
Mise Au Point – sur la photographie Quebecois
