Tag Archives: Zeiss

shining Leitz on the human condition

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Before photography, we relied on paintings and sketches, like those of Hogarth in 18th century London, to depict the human condition. Later in the 19th century when photography found its legs, some enterprising photographers, like Mathew Brady  (American civil … Continue reading →

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a lens for all reasons

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. When Leitz first marketed the Leica in the mid 1920s, it was an innovative success. By 1933 other makers had competing cameras out. The mighty Carl Zeiss organization not only marketed cameras, but their Tessar lens was a excellent … Continue reading →

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boys will be boys

Posted on January 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Most of us have heard of the rivalry between Leica (Leitz, Wetzlar) and Contax (Zeiss, Jena) last century. On page 455 of the October 1935 issue of American Cinematographer,  Leitz, New York placed this ad to extol the virtues … Continue reading →

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Bob’s Zeiss Miroflex

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Our late editor, Bob Lansdale favoured Canadian photographic history and photographs, especially Chromotypes, over cameras and hardware. He was always concerned that there would be too few hardware/camera articles in each issue of Photographic Canadiana. To this end, Bob … Continue reading →

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an Exakta in my future

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. After a few months in Labrador, a few of us decided to buy a top quality camera. Many nights were spent discussing the pros and cons of various German makes, especially Exakta and Leica. A visitor had a IIIf … Continue reading →

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where there’s a will …

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Robert

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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an inspiration for the Hassy?

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. Bentzin made cameras in Görlitz, Germany beginning in the late 1800s. The firm collaborated with Zeiss over in Jena to make high end cameras to use Zeiss lens designs. Sadly, both Jena and Gorlitz fell in the Soviet sector … Continue reading →

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eye of the storm

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. It was ‘the best of times and the worst of times‘ between the world wars. After the first war, pent-up demand blossomed into unprecedented wealth in the first decade, followed by the worst depression ever in the next (world … Continue reading →

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cross purposes?

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. On page 9 in the April 1946 issue of Popular Photography, a company called De Mornay-Budd based in NYC, took out a large advertisement for an unusual Leica/Contax series of viewfinders. The viewfinder mounted on the camera’s accessory shoe … Continue reading →

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what’s in a name

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Robert

Toronto. In the early days of photographic lens design there was no established standard for the data recorded on the lens. Early lenses usually had the patent number and/or date shown, but what else was needed? The coverage of the … Continue reading →

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