Tag Archives: Dry Plate

for want of a board …

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. This is the famous English camera called the Lancaster ‘Instantograph’. The camera was made from c1886 to 1910. The name indicates a dry plate camera. The Instantograph used a revolutionary dry plate that was so much faster and neater … Continue reading →

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… and keep your camera dry

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Robert

Toronto. The wet-plate process became the primary process in photography for the next few decades until another Englishman, Richard Maddox solved its problems of slow speed, damp cameras, and the need for immediate exposure and processing. Maddox came up with … Continue reading →

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Photographic Canadiana Vol 47-4

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. This is our second issue by interim editors, David Bridge and Louise Freyburger who ably stepped up to the challenge of producing the journal after we lost our previous editor, the late Bob Lansdale, last summer. Members WITH an … Continue reading →

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Photographic Canadiana Vol 47-3

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Sadly, we lost our editor,  Bob Lansdale, this past summer. Bob left much of this material to help our interim editors, David Bridge and Louise Freyburger who ably stepped up to the challenge of producing this issue. Members WITH … Continue reading →

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it pays to advertise

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Robert

Toronto, In 1921, the Mission Art Company, of South Spring Street in Los Angeles sent this  truck cum camera and its phtographers to promote its business. Mark Osterman, who along with his wife, spoke to us back in June of … Continue reading →

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time slicers

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. I often think of a shutter as a means to control speed and illumination. However when the image is framed and the shutter button pushed, it captures on film, a ‘slice of time’ in the subject’s life. I have … Continue reading →

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a little BIT more

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Over the years from photography’s beginning in 1839 to current times there have been a few trends. Cameras have gotten smaller. Images became more realistic beginning with monochrome photos across part of the visible spectrum, then across all of … Continue reading →

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why the tripod?

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Did you ever wonder why so many old photos and drawings of cameras in use showed a tripod? Until the dry-plate era, the media were so insensitive that it took  seconds or minutes in bright light to record the … Continue reading →

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photographic lenses – Conrad Beck

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. Like most optical houses in the 1800s, The British house of R and J Beck at Cornhill (London, England) expanded their optical product repertoire to photographic lenses (and cameras). In this seventh edition of Conrad Beck’s small book, like … Continue reading →

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a c1890 Photosphere camera

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. In 1871, Dr Richard Maddox in the UK announced the dry plate process which replaced wet-plate photography which for decades was a standard process replacing the Daguerreotype in popularity. Dry plate went on to be the under pinnings of … Continue reading →

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