Tag Archives: Ansco

pushing all buttons

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. The invention of the dry plate in 1871 opened the door to sub-second exposures in sunlight through a normal photographic lens. And with sub-second performance came a need for shutters. And with shutters came a need for shutter buttons. … Continue reading →

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cute as a button

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Professionals in the 19th and early 20th century chose a camera size such that the final print was a contact print, and generally not an enlargement from the negative.  As movies grew in popularity, some manufacturers realized that a … Continue reading →

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low contrast 16mm colour in 1962

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Those of you who grew up with or use film know that the faster the film the lower the contrast. My first venture in colour was with Kodachrome when it was ASA 10. Hence it produced inky black shadows … Continue reading →

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trying to climb aboard the amateur photo express

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Talk about bad timing! This ad for a cheap Agfa camera “made in U.S.A.” appears in the July 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics. A few months later in December of that year, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the … Continue reading →

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Don Douglas 1931-2022

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. I was sorry to hear that Don Douglas passed away this month. His daughter Janet sent an email notifying me of the loss. Don celebrated his 90th birthday just last month. He was a continuous member of our society … Continue reading →

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lousy timing

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Ansco and its predecessors and future companies tried hard as number two to be better than Kodak in films, papers, cameras etc. In the 1920s, known as Agfa-Ansco, the company built a massive factory which went into production the … Continue reading →

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aunt Tilly’s camera collection

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Robert

  Toronto. Back in the 1980s, Don Douglas and I put on a dog and pony show to represent the PHSC. I did a slide show on milestones in the history of B&W photography up to the roll film era, … Continue reading →

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mille feuille

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the spring of 1944, it seemed as if everyone wanted to make photographic paper, especially the fast variety suitable for enlarging (slower contact paper worked but took minutes of exposure, not seconds). In the 1950s, only the larger … Continue reading →

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the RED button, aunt Tilly

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Late in the last century, past president Don Douglas and I represented the PHSC with a “dog and pony” show on the history of photography. Don used his camera collection to show the evolution of cameras while I showed … Continue reading →

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typewriters and cameras? really?

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. When I was a kid, a popular saying was that “a picture is worth a thousand words“.  In the late 1960s, there were two big ideas in amateur cameras: Super 8 home movies, and 16mm sub-miniature cameras. By then … Continue reading →

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