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.
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.
Calgary Snow by Todd Korol
Toronto. George Dunbar sent me this Instagram link to a Calgary Photographer Todd Korol. Like many today, Todd chooses to use social media to display some of his work as well as his own website.
You will need an Instagram account to see his work. It is easy to sign in and get an account, or you can go to his website and see some other aspects of his portfolio.
Exakta VXIIa bought the summer of 1958 while I was in Labrador
Toronto. The SLR design dates back at least a century. Checkout the older Graflex cameras. Ken Metcalf on the west coast of the States published a newsletter devoted exclusively to Graflex models of all sizes. There is even a website!
Recently John Linsky sent out an email with a wikipedia link to the history of the modern digital variety of SLR – the DSLR which is the choice of camera makers like Nikon and Canon for models intended for both professionals and serious amateurs. I use a mirrorless Sony camera with an APS-C sensor since an adaptor lets me use some Leica gear I have on hand.
Larry Boccioletti at the PHSC fair – Park Plaza Toronto
Toronto. As PHSC Webmaster, I intended to cover PHSC changes in 2016. On review of the year, I decided to go back a bit further.
Executive
We are truly blessed in the PHSC with a variety of willing and talented volunteers. While many other societies in North American have fallen by the wayside, we have continued to function, adding new venues and publications to our organization.
Our President, Clint Hryhorijiw, continues to bring fresh young people (male and female) into our executive. These included David Bridge, Louise Freyburger, Judy Rauliuk, Ashley Cook, John Kantymir, Doug Napier, and Oscar Li, a student at U of T (Oscar returned home to Beijing late this fall). New by invitation positions were opened on the executive board. The addition of a younger generation has produced a most active executive which is much envied by other photographic historical societies.
I had been looking after the Membership records since the abrupt loss of our Membership Secretary Jamie Marr in February 2006. At our April 2006 (and annual general) meeting, Wayne Gilbert offered to be our Membership Secretary, freeing me up to become President the following year.
At our regular monthly Toronto meeting in April 2007, I was ready to become PHSC President, but disaster struck. The then current PHSC Treasurer, Werner Drechsel, returned to his old company to address a merger in California and he announced his resignation from the PHSC that night, leaving some banker’s boxes for whomever succeeded him. Continue reading
Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier-Bresson taken with an early Leica
Toronto. George Dunbar sent me a Flicker link to people jumping. Use the big sideways arrows (< and >) to go from picture to picture.
When George mentioned the topic, I immediately thought about Leica photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and his famous Decisive Moment print of a man jumping a puddle.
Any of you who have studied physics will know that an object stops and reverses direction at the apex of its motion. The cameras and lenses of the day demanded such timing to ensure the subject would be at its sharpest.
C1917 Photo of US Flag using people as picture elements
Toronto. In this age of digital technology most of us know pixel means picture element which in the film era we called grain.
George Dunbar sent me this remarkable link to a c1917 Library of Congress (Washington DC) photograph of an American Flag using naval staff as the flag’s picture elements.
This and similar photos were taken by Arthur Mole with the careful coordination and supervision of the people by his partner John Thomas.
Think of the patience needed to get everyone in the exact place to replicate the flag in a light breeze. Remember, this photograph was taken with the technology current a century ago. Remarkable!
Fortune Magazine October 1936
Toronto. In 1963 as part of my English assignment at university, I was to research and write a paper. One spring evening, I strolled down to the Montreal Bibliotheque on Sherbrooke Street East. I was unsuccessful investigating the topic I chose, so I browsed for a bit and spotted an article on miniature cameras.
I asked the librarian to bring the October 1936 issue of Fortune Magazine up from the stacks. In that library as darkness fell, nearly 30 years later, I first read about the Minicam Boom that took place in the USA in the mid 1930s.
The pre-eminant camera at the time, the Leica, had been on the market for twelve years. It had been followed by the Zeiss Contax, Retina, Peggy, and many more. The little cameras had a number of issues to overcome, not the least of which was to sell a mainly contact printing population that a small negative and enlarging could result in a great print. Leitz and its imitators had chosen to use 35mm cine film simply doubling the frame size t0 24 x 36 mm. The earliest books on the Leica spent time persuading the readers that they really could make large prints from small negatives. This encouragement continued into the 1950s. Leitz used famous photographers such as Toni Schneiders in their ads.
Toronto. Yesterday, boxing day, I mentioned the box camera. How about the ubiquitous folder popularized by Kodak? The box camera user could upgrade his camera and skills by investing in a folder. These compact cameras used a bellows to set the distance from film to lens allowing even closer photos to be taken, while a better quality shutter and lens increased the range of speeds and f/stops.
Like its earlier siblings, a folder size was chosen to match the desired print size. It was popular in the days when contact prints were common and enlarged prints rare – enlargements came with the minicam craze of the 1930s.
EVENTS
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Stan White – Poems & Photos
Mise Au Point – sur la photographie Quebecois
