Pictorialism and Leitz

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Robert

April, 1980 portrait with Leitz Thambar and a Leica M4 camera

Toronto. A century or more ago a trend in photography called Pictorialism took place and photography merged with art resulting in soft, slightly fuzzy and some times grainy images in monochrome tones usually other than black.

Leitz belatedly responded with their 9cm portrait lens called Thambar. The Thambar first hit the market in 1935 and by 1949 it was gone.  Less than 3,000 were made but the strange lens missed the pictorialism movement. After the war years, interest shifted to sharp images once again. The f/2.2 soft-focus Thambar used peripheral spherical aberration to create the softness when the lens was used near its wide-open apertures. A special disk with a silvered spot was used to block central light rays.

I picked up my 1938 Thambar in December 1979 during one of my casual lunch-time walks downtown in Toronto. The massive industrial looking lens was like a 200m Telyt in design – black with a bit of soft chrome. The Thambar was difficult to use effectively – one had to experiment with f/stop, lighting, etc. Without the silvered spot filter and stopped down, the lens had the characteristic Leitz sharpness.

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Viktor Kolar – Canada 1968 – 1973

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Robert

Viktor Kolar Exhibit at Stephen Bulger Gallery One January – February 2017

Toronto. Stephen Bulger of Stephen Bulger Gallery dropped me a note announcing this exhibition by Czech photographer Viktor Kolar in his Gallery One at 1026 Queen St West (doors west of Ossington Av).

The exhibit runs from January 21, 2017 to February 18, 2017. Kolar fled to Austria in 1968 when his country was invaded and from there he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada (he later moved back home and now lives in Prague).

Kolar photographed across Canada  in that half decade – a fitting look at us on the 150th anniversary of our nation.

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On a Clear Day,

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Robert

Leitz Rangefinder FODIS 1924 – 1930

Toronto. —You Can See Forever or so the song, about a girl with ESP, goes.  Leitz sold rangefinders even before the Leica began to be marketed in 1925. It was a simple camera at the time – no slow speeds, no self timer, and no rangefinder. Enter the illustrious FODIS with its own leather case made especially for the Leica.

The long rangefinder base FODIS had a circular plate at both ends that would fit into the accessory shoe (flash shoe) of the Leica – and any other camera that adopted that format of accessory shoe. The FODIS was sold from 1924 to 1930 according to Leitz catalogues.

It came in both feet and meter scales. Mine is the meter version in black enamel with a nickel dial calibrated from one meter to infinity. The rangefinder input lenses are about 3.5 inches apart. To use it, clipped vertically in the original Leica, one looked through the eye-piece below the dial. The dial was rotated until the two images at the desired distance were merged into one. That distance could then be read off the dial across from a pointer and transported to the Leica lens. And voila! You were ready to set the speed and snap your photo. When the 135mm lens came out for the Leica, the rangefinder was  made with a larger diameter dial for greater accuracy.

By early 1932, the rangefinder was built into some Leica models and connected to the lens directly making the camera ‘automatic’.

 

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Let There be Light

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Robert

Weston Master III exposure meter with case. A selenium cell wonder in 1958.

Toronto. In the late 1950s I bought a meter to compliment my Exakta. I looked at all the options offered and decided the best of the bunch was the Weston Master III. I bought it with the “invercone” that clips over the light sensitive cell to produce a reading when facing the camera from the subject.

I was so disappointed to find that the meter barely registered indoors, just where it was most needed. Outdoors it was great, but often the film makers’ written instructions would do just as well.

It did help with colour-reversal film. The Kodachrome of the day was around ASA 10 and incredibly fussy.  Properly exposed clouds would plunge everything else into gloomy darkness. When the trees were correct, the sky was burnt out.

Anscochrome at ASA 32 was a bit better with a slightly greater dynamic range (number of stops from barely detectable dark shadow detail to barely detectable highlights). Tri-X black and white negative film clocked in around ASA 200 – 400 if you “pushed” it. This was a far cry from the digital cameras of today where ISO (i.e. ASA) of 100 is the slowest offered and the sensors range up to over 12,000 ISO. Colour is standard and black and white is a niche mode. How times changed in half a century!

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Ektachrome film is back

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Robert

Toronto. John Morden, our Treasurer, sent me a brief note and link to this article when it first appeared. This note was followed the next morning by a forwarded note from Bob Lansdale. Bob copied me Saturday morning on an email he received from PHSC member Jim Hall of Guelph. In the Waterloo Region Report of  MetroLand’s TheRecord.com, Todd Frankel announces that, “Kodak says it’s bringing back Ektachrome film“.

The article summarizes details initially reported in the Washington Post newspaper by Frankel  last Friday. The film production and marketing will be by Kodak Alaris, the Kodak subsidiary established to continue Kodak’s legacy film and paper business. The article noted is by Petapixel and is much more positive than the headline implies.

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Review of 2016 December Show and Tell

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Robert

President Clint Hryhorijiw opening a picture taken over a century ago of two native women

Toronto. I presented at the meeting last month and also wrote this brief review. Thanks to those who kindly reviewed my draft and corrected any errors. A special thanks to Bob Lansdale for doing most of the photographs and Lorne Shields for his supportive input. I took the photos of Felix, Ed, and Bob Lansdale with a smaller, noisier sensor, slower speed, higher ISO  and no flash.

President Clint Hryhorijiw began the meeting with some announcements: He encouraged all to sign up for the PHSC News which was promoted by John Morden. Wayne Gilbert was introduced and attendees were asked to sign up if not already a member. The 2017 PHSC events were noted (Auction, March 19; Spring Fair, May 28). Bob Lansdale noted he had a few copies of Mike Smith’s new book on Reuben Sallows for a special price of $45.

The evening’s presentations followed next while attendees were encouraged to monitor the silent auction items and sign up for the gift exchange to be held at the end of the evening. Since the theme was “Small” a video camera and projector would have helped the audience to see the various tiny gizmos and photos presented tonight. Continue reading →

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Beautiful Teco 5 Box Camera

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Robert

Teco 5 Box Camera sold by the T. Eaton Co. Image courtesy of Noel Machado

Toronto. On Wednesday I had an email from Noel Machado with a question about this gorgeous box camera branded as a Teco Model 5. To my knowledge, most cameras of that era made with a varnished wood exterior and brass fittings were called tropicals.

The T. Eaton Co. of Toronto was one of the county’s largest, if not the largest chain of retail stores. Even their catalogues were massive undertakings. Most Canadians had at least one catalogue in the house or nearby.

Many private branded goods such as the Teco line, were made by other companies for Eaton’s. If you can shed any light on this model in varnished wood, please drop me a note at info@phsc.ca.

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Watch it!

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Robert

Apple Watch and new watch band camera

Toronto. Do you remember the gimmicky little ads of yesteryear that promoted odd ball cameras and tiny ‘spy’ cameras? George Dunbar sent me this note about a watch-band camera used in conjunction with an Apple Watch – you know, those nifty electronic watches with all sorts of dials, photos, and apps that pop up on screen at your command.

Unlike the grainy and slow novelties of old, this CMRA band has an 8 MPX camera facing sideways and a 2 MPX camera facing the wearer for selfies. The Apple Watch serves as the viewfinder and shutter release. At 8 MPX resolution this camera far surpasses the old tiny film based gizmos in resolution and ‘speed’.

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Camerama Show January 22, 2017

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Robert

Camerama Show January 22, 2017

Toronto. Gary Perry sent me a note last Tuesday, His January show will be the first out the chute this year.

The Toronto Event will be held at the Edward Village Hotel on Yorkland Boulevard in the north end of the city.

Click here or on the Leica icon at left to see a poster and full details.

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Alkaline Dry Cells

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Robert

How the Alkaline Cell works – as illustrated in the Globe and Mail

Toronto. I can remember when the Alkaline cells hit the market. They were touted as much more powerful and leak-proof to boot. The January 2nd, 2017 Globe and Mail had an article about Lewis Urry, born in Pontypool, Ontario and educated as a chemical engineer at the U of T.

Urry moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area lab of Union Carbide where he invented the Alkaline cell which was submitted for patent as an Eveready cell in 1957 and hit the market a few years later. The unique design of an Alkaline cell struck me  as a real stroke of genius. The traditional carbon-zinc cathode and anode were reversed so the battery could be housed in an inert steel container. The zinc, which disintegrated in leaky old carbon-zinc cells was in the centre of the cell and made into a paste with a far greater area, hence the greater power created in the same size container.

In mid October last year, I posted a note on batteries as used in digital cameras. The AA size Alkaline cells could be used in the Nikon Coolpix cameras as an alternative to rechargeable NiCads. Ditto in many small electronic flash guns. The benefit was ready access to substitute for rechargeable cells in a pinch.

 

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