Tag Archives: minicam

a metal miniature camera

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Robert

Toronto. Many of us think miniature cameras stem from the 1920s when the Leica was announced but there were many earlier ones. In this case it is a French camera named after Monsieur Marion, and sold around 1885. The late … Continue reading →

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Oh Sun-Ray Days

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. When minicams became the norm, enlargers were no longer an option but became a necessity to make prints from the tiny minicam negatives. Amateurs reluctant to buy high end enlargers (Durst, Omega, Beseler, Leitz, etc.)  costing much more than … Continue reading →

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what’s up doc?

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. .. as that wascally wabbit from Brooklyn said to Elmer Fudd in the movie cartoons of yesteryear. From its very beginning, photography has been a huge asset for medicine and dentistry. This Southworth and Hawes plate at left shows … Continue reading →

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THINK … small

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Decades ago, people said that to get ahead, one had to think big! IBM even had a catch phrase – THINK. Years later when I worked in  a data centre,  IBM folk could get these IBM signs in capital … Continue reading →

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faster than a speeding bullet

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. When photography was invented, exposures were measured in minutes. Between then and the end of film’s popularity something happened: Speed. The light sensitive media and lenses through research and innovation became much faster. In fact, after dry plates arrived, … Continue reading →

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minicams and interchangeability

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. The 35mm cameras were off and running in the late 1920s. Leitz touted their Leica as a precision camera and set out to compete with the physically far bigger cameras of the day, claiming that a small negative could … Continue reading →

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the keepers of night

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Robert

Toronto. Since photography began there was always some means to keep the plates or film protected from the light.  When the Leica and its competitors arrived. Leitz made a very heavy and elaborate reusable cassette that opened only in-camera as … Continue reading →

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New York in 1914 with the prototype Leica camera

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. On the eve of the Great War, the son and namesake of Ernst Leitz, Ernst Leitz II, arrived  in the Big Apple with the novel tiny ur-Leica created by Oskar Barnack. Leitz took a number of street scenes with … Continue reading →

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the power of persuasion

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In its May 17, 1954 LIFE (p64) ad, Leica rested on its laurels as the driving force in kick starting the  minicam era.  The ad featured its newest camera, the IIIf with the f/2 collapsible Summitar lens that replaced the … Continue reading →

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The Minicam Boom in the mid 1930s

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Robert

Toronto. In 1963 as part of my English assignment at university, I was to research and write a paper. One spring evening, I strolled down to the Montreal Bibliotheque on Sherbrooke Street East. I was unsuccessful  investigating the topic I chose, … Continue reading →

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