Tag Archives: Popular Photography

all things to all people

Toronto. Mid last century we called Kodak, “The Great Yellow Father”. Kodak was everywhere. To think photography was to think Kodak. Sure other companies touted their photographic wares but Kodak was photography to so many of us. The above advertisement … Continue reading

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Polarization is good for photography

Toronto. … but not so good politically. In the days of film, one of the tools available to the photographer was a polarizing filter. Judicious use of the filter could improve contrast and colour saturation by removing reflections from smooth … Continue reading

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all aboard the gravy train

Toronto. In the post WW2 years, photography grew in leaps and bounds: new amateurs, colour, slides, movies, etc. and all with easier, better ways to succeed as a photographer. The Chicago company, SVE, too wanted to profit from the enthusiasm … Continue reading

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really, David? a Realist?

Toronto. The Stereo craze ebbs and flows reaching a peak about every 50 years. In the later 1800s and early 1900s it was stereo cards. A basket of cards plus a Holmes viewer took the place of television or movies … Continue reading

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where there’s a will …

Toronto. … there’s a way. This old chestnut came to mind when I saw George’s email showing the famous NYC store, Willowbys, advertising the anvailability of Hasselblad cameras. A couple of words of explanation: Willowbys was a block-long 5th ave … Continue reading

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when is a brick not a brick?

Toronto. When its an Argus C-4! The Argus C-3 was an awkward rectangular weighty thing loved by all. In 1951, Argus took a shot at replacing it with a C-4 camera but the C-3 lived on. This ad on page … Continue reading

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out of the blue

Toronto. Journalists reporting battles in the Korean War came across a very high quality, professional camera made in Japan. A well known maker of microscopes in Japan, Nippon Kogaku, expanded into cameras post war and were selling them under the … Continue reading

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another inexpensive German made camera

Toronto. Post war, the photographic industry was awash with inexpensive cameras made in Europe or Japan and sold by North American distributors. An example is the Iloca line made in Hamburg, Germany. In the April 1951 issue of Popular Photography … Continue reading

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tiny, I can see you

Toronto. The makers of rangefinder cameras such as the Leica went to great lengths with accessories to allow the cameras to be used for any photographic project. On page 85 of the April 1951 Popular Photography magazine, Leitz NY ran … Continue reading

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through the wet-plate camera

Toronto. Being a photographer – and a good one – in the mid 1800s took exceptional skill and a fine, artistic eye. Author Lewis Carroll (A.K.A. the reverend Chas. Dodgson) was one such person. In Bruce Downes’s column (Let’s Talk … Continue reading

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