Tag Archives: ad

boys will be boys

Posted on January 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Most of us have heard of the rivalry between Leica (Leitz, Wetzlar) and Contax (Zeiss, Jena) last century. On page 455 of the October 1935 issue of American Cinematographer,  Leitz, New York placed this ad to extol the virtues … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out for Hirohito and Adolf

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. When I was a little kid, WW2 was still active. I remember one little toy made of wooden pieces. When the strings were pulled, Tojo (Japanese PM in WW2) and Hitler took swings at each other. While America considered … Continue reading →

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a star is born

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Today, with modern digital cameras and smartphones, we take colour for granted and convert the results to B&W only for a ‘special effect’. It wasn’t always the case. For many decades various colour processes were tried. Some had good … Continue reading →

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night moves

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Ahhh, 1934 (before I drew a breath) Kodak was advertising its newest film – Super Sensitive (SS)  Panchromatic – plus a couple of inexpensive cameras and special photoflood bulbs ready to screw into their special reflectors or into ordinary … Continue reading →

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never heard of Hessercolor – have you?

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sent me a link from the January, 1934 issue of International Photographer. titled, “The Wonders of Hessercolor“.  There is an interesting article on Hesser at “Broadway Photographs“. Hesser took on Kodak and failed to succeed. He was … Continue reading →

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black is beautiful

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1800s and early 1900s, black enamel was a choice for finishing metal. Sewing machines, microscope bases, lamps, and even the ubiquitous Model T Ford all came in the black enamel finish. When Leica cameras were first sold, … Continue reading →

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sparking a revolution

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. While Leica wasn’t the first camera to use 35mm movie film, it was one of the first commercially successful 35mm cameras. The tiny marvel was the brain child of Oscar Barnack. The prototype (UR-Leica) was made by Barnack in … Continue reading →

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gifts, Kodak, f/2 again

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Big Yellow Father was hitting on all cylinders when advertising for Christmas in the  January, 1934 issue of Popular Mechanics (page 114A and 115A in the Advertising section of the magazine) released before Christmas, 1933 of course. The ad … Continue reading →

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when f/2 was super fast

Posted on November 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1930s, the films and plates were very slow by today’s standards. Normal lenses were usually around f/3.5. To help this lack of sensitivity, Leitz designed a new lens around 1933. The 6 element lens was a modified … Continue reading →

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an early marketing phrase …

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1930s, the minicam rage was taking off, so how could you differentiate one camera from another? Leitz chose to call its camera an AUTOFOCAL camera in advertisements in various early 1930s magazines. An example is this small … Continue reading →

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