Photographica-Fair – October 18, 2015

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Robert

Banner---2015---FallFall is here and so are the camera and image shows and auctions. Click here or the above icon for a larger view!

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250 Megapixels anyone?

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Robert

canonmonstersensor-smToronto. Russ Forfar, owner of Kominek Camera Repair, sent me an email mentioning that Canon has announced a monster 250 megapixel sensor this month as reported on the AIP Scitation web site last week.

This sensor is a smallish size APS-H (smaller than a full 35mm frame but bigger than the Sony APS-C that I use). If you Google ‘Canon 250 megapixel sensor’ you will see that many digital sites such as PetaPixel also noted the new Canon sensor. Canon feels that its new sensor will be useful initially in surveillance work and perhaps later on to the photography industry.

You may wonder why an Historical site finds this interesting until you realize in a very short few decades such sensors will be common place making this indeed an historic event. Think of the Leica in 1924, when most professional cameras were massive beasts that remained competitive for the next half century or more… Rangefinders and 35mm SLR cameras eventually took over the professional field only to give way to digital cameras a few decades later.

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A 40 year Photographic Canadiana Index

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Robert
40th-anniversary-DVD

Label courtesy of Jennifer Jones, wife of our President, Lewko (Clint) Hryhorijiw.

Toronto.  Back around 1986, both me and then editor Bill Belier had the idea of compiling an index of articles published in the Photographic Canadiana. Bill had started outlining his ideas  using index cards while I began a file on my Amiga computer. Bill quickly saw that my computerized version would be far more versatile and asked me to proceed.

In the January, 1988 issue of Photographic Canadiana, a note by Bill Belier was published announcing that 12 years of the journal had been indexed by me and was available as a hard copy (paper)  document (in later years the journal itself included an index of all articles published in an issue). Continue reading →

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Newsletter 15-4

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Robert
Projector at Trunk Sale

Projector at Trunk Sale

Toronto. Editor David Bridge serves up an eleven page extravaganza to open our fall sessions. Member Scott Rickard will kick off this fall with his talk about enactment of the famous Chilkoot Trail trek between Alaska and the Yukon in memory of the late 1880s when it was the route to the gold fields of nearby Dawson City.

There is a colourful photo essay on last July’s trunk Sale, and an article on the Educo Projector found at the trunk sale (see at left). Ron Greene writes about Carlo Gentile, the 1860s gold rush Photographer.   Continue reading →

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Photographic Canadiana 41-2

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Robert

Kean-OrilliaToronto. Our latest issue of the journal has been packaged and will hit the post office this coming Tuesday, September 8, 2015.

There are two major articles in this issue: The story of Orillia wet-plate photographer, Charles Ellis, by author and PHSC member Leon T. Piniuta has been carefully researched. The photographer’s glass-plate negatives were discovered out west in the 1980s. Piniuta traces  Ellis to Orillia and then out west to Manitoba. The Kean General Store (Orillia) photograph is shown at left. Continue reading →

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Camerama Show September 27, 2015

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Robert

Camerama_Sept_2015-smToronto. PHSC Member announced his first fall show, Camerama Camera Show. As was the case for his recent shows, this one is at the Delta Toronto East at Kennedy Road and the 401.

Admission is $7 and there is free parking.

Click here or on the icon at left for full details.

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The Chilkoot Trail of 1897-1899

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Robert
Scott Rickard by Robert Lansdale

Scott Rickard by Robert Lansdale

NEXT TORONTO MEETING: Wed, September 16, 2015
During the famous gold rush era of the late 1890s, the Chilkoot Trail served as a route from Skagway Alaska  to the gold fields near Dawson City in the Yukon as described by Pierre Burton in his book Klondike.

Member Scott Rickard once lived up in the Yukon and at our September meeting he will recall the exciting days of the Chilkoot Trail, those brief years when it was a corridor for the mail, miners, and would be miners between Alaska and the Yukon.

The public is welcome.  Go to our Programs page for times and directions. More details on Scott appear below. Continue reading →

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Who invented the first digital camera?

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Robert

9a079d26-4163-11e5-9d05-e21db24024da_20150811-lens-sasson-slide-QS7V-superJumbo--363x363Toronto. Russ Forfar, a frequent contributor to this site dropped me a note today about the first digital camera ever invented.

In mid August, James Estrin in Australia’s Business Review Weekly wrote a column titled “In 1975, this Kodak employee invented the digital camera. His bosses made him hide it“.

In 1973, engineer Steve Sasson joined Kodak. Two years later Sasson who was given the task of seeing if the CCD had any practical use, put together a heavy and awkward device that would take a 100 x 100 pixel image on a CCD and record the digital version to an audio tape. Continue reading →

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Where have all the cameras gone?

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Robert
Bald faced Hornets drinking rain drops

Bald faced Hornets drinking rain drops

Toronto. ….to smart phones and tablets one and all.

A few days ago as my wife and I set out shopping, I spotted a bunch of bald faced hornets sipping water on the euonymus hedge at the front of our house. I quickly pulled out my iPod Touch (basically a phoneless iPhone) and snapped this picture using its fill flash option.

While the sensor is tiny and the file a compressed jpeg file, the result is quite pleasing. If I had to run in and get my Sony (or Leica) and take a shot with a “real” camera, the nasty little insects may well have disappeared. As I think about recent events I attended,  smart phones and tablets were everywhere while traditional cameras were seldom to be seen.

It reminds me of the old adage “the best camera is the one you have in hand”. Not only can you “snap” a photo with a smart phone, you can quickly send it to friends almost instantly, eliminating much education (focus, lighting), processing, mailing, etc.

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Alfred Pyner 1917-2015

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Robert
Alfred William Pyner 1917-2015

Alfred William Pyner        1917-2015                                  by Robert Lansdale

Toronto. I received an email recently from Alf’s daughter, Marilyn. She sadly informed me that Alf had passed away a few weeks ago.

Her father,  Alfred William Pyner was born in Barking, Essex, England on November 12 1917. He joined the RAF during the second world war flying Spitfire aircraft and performing aerial photography. Late in November 1944, Alf married his wife Emily. After the war, Alf joined the famous British firm of Ilford, noted for its films, papers and photographic chemicals. At Ilford, Alf became an industrial and scientific photographer. He was involved with Ilford as the company evolved its colour processes.

In his spare time, Alf enjoyed working with his hands and in 1952, he built his own home. A decade later this was topped when he built his own yacht! Both a yachtsman and photographer, Alf loved to travel throughout the UK. Continue reading →

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