Tag Archives: ad

marks the spot

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. After the end of the war, all camera makers used marketing to try to increase market share. Even the most trivial difference between camera makers was touted as an amazing breakthrough. For example, Argus chose the viewfinder of their … Continue reading →

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I shot an arrow up in the sky …

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. WW2 had ended three years earlier and the world was getting back to normal. Just a year before this December 1948 ad appeared, Ansel Adams took a photograph of mountain climbers on  the top of Yosemite Park’s famous ‘Lost … Continue reading →

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cheap is how I feel

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post war, the camera industry exploded with pent-up demand. Federal in Brooklyn was mainly known in photographic circles for their enlargers (I had one). Their enlargers were cheaply made and cheaply sold. Around 1948, the company decided to do … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out for colour

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. The earliest photographic processes captured only a monochrome image – usually black and white – of the luminance values of the subject. Over the ensuing decades, many efforts were expended to create natural colour from the effects of light … Continue reading →

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not clarifying matters

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Post WW2 many American companies dreamt up clever ways to gain traction in the booming retail camera market. The Clarus Camera maker in Minneapolis had an added difficulty to overcome – their products suffered from poor quality, especially the … Continue reading →

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catching Graflexes

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Pre WW2 and for a few years there after, Speed Graphic and Graflex cameras reigned supreme as the press photographers’ cameras of choice. The Graflex series offered SLR capability for larger plate and film sizes. Those who saw the … Continue reading →

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Voigtlander cameras are here again

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. How do you get back your market share when your country was on the losing side of the war? Well. you can try to advertise in a magazine that is read by your potential  market. Voigtlander did. The famous … Continue reading →

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a new way to direct light

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Incident or reflected light, that is the question. This advertisement touted a new way to measure light, especially critical in the early days of low sensitivity, somewhat contrasty colour film materials. Instead of reading reflected light values from selected … Continue reading →

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taking the measure of light

Posted on July 18, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Last century, a professional was able to decide the needed exposure for a printable negative. To be safe, critical shots could be bracketed – a shot taken at both double and half the estimated exposure. Also, with orthochromatic film, … Continue reading →

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wither thou goest, Kardon?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. When America was finally dragged into WW2 on the side of Britain, they  had a problem. The Leitz NY organization was taken over by the US government, but no high quality American made 35mm cameras were available. Peter Kardon … Continue reading →

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