Tag Archives: Ansco

low contrast 16mm colour in 1962

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

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

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

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

  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

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

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?

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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its the dye, silly

Toronto. In the days of colour film, it was somewhat common knowledge that colour photos faded badly and didn’t last. 60 years ago it was appropriate to get a mix of colour and B&W prints to commemorate special occasions like … Continue reading

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faster than a speeding bullet

Toronto, No, it’s not Superman – it’s Super Anscochrome colour film. Anscochrome touted its film as being “faster than standard black-and-white film” on pp32-3 of the June 17, 1957 issue of LIFE. With ads like this, the Binghamton Brigade set … Continue reading

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