Tag Archives: film

not up to code …

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Photography has many uses. One is recording work places for history. This photo of the “camera room” at our National Archives in 1910 makes me shutter! A fire such as the one that consumed a large chunk of our … Continue reading →

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first motion picture (movie)?

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Robert

Toronto.  My good friend, George Dunbar, writes, “For those of us who have an interest in the history of motion pictures, there’s now a new book about the ‘first known motion picture’ — The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, A … Continue reading →

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getcha daily colour here!

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The Universal Camera Corporation in the Big Apple (NYC) made many still cameras such as the popular Mercury with the weird circular shutter. They also made movie cameras and projectors. This ad appeared in the August, 1941 issue of … Continue reading →

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give her a hand!

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The August, 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine has the article shown here. An image of a human hand was blown up about 52 diameters from the original on a 35mm negative. Years ago in Montreal, our company enlarged … Continue reading →

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variations on a theme

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the early 1900s, Butcher in London, England sold a “Royal Mail Camera” that used multiple lenses to create as many as 15 postage stamp size images on one small  plate. The July, 1934 issue of Popular Mechanics has … Continue reading →

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stills from movies

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. A few years ago, at our PHSC monthly meetings (when we met in person – ie pre-COVID) my good friend Ed Warner took videos of each presentation and could easily snap stills without affecting the digital video he was … Continue reading →

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checking shutter sync a half century plus ago

Posted on May 1, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the dying days of WW2, an article was printed in Popular Mechanics showing an impromptu way to ‘test’ a shutter – flash synchronization. The February, 1945 issue suggests photographing a flash bulb with caution and slow film to … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Ahhh! The roaring twenties. What a great time to be alive (according to the movies). Radio was invented a few years earlier, automobiles had been around for a couple of decades, aircraft were experimental, movies were silent, TV not … Continue reading →

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perhaps well named?

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The December 1925 issue of American Cinematographer carried an ad for the Debrie Interview, model E camera called “The Greatest of all Motion Picture cameras”. It was said to be ‘light’ at 14 pounds. With a body made of … Continue reading →

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another rope trick

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In a recent post, I noted the Hitchcock movie “Rope” and why it was significant. In this article from the November, 1948 issue of Popular Photography, Alfred Hitchcock himself wrote the compelling story about making “Rope”. The story and … Continue reading →

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