1950 ad for Ferrania Condor in Pop Photography
Toronto. This camera was ‘for the birds’, or was it? This advertisement by Direct Products Corp. in NYC appeared on page 125 in the June, 1950 issue of Popular Photography (about the only year the camera was around over here, although it was made in Italy from about 1947 into the early 1950s).
Twenty years ago the camera in good condition sold to collectors for $100 to $150 USD vs. $93 USD when new. Many dubbed the Condor a Leica “look alike” but others disagree.
My introduction to Ferrania was in the summer of 1960 when I tried its colour printing paper and chemistry. It took me and a friend nearly a night to get the paper exposure and colour right. By then, the chemistry was finished and we had to begin with a new batch the next night. Very tedious and costly. At the time, I had no idea Ferrania also made cameras and that the Condor had been its introduction to more expensive models.
In this advertisement, the American distributors hint at the camera’s Italian roots without saying so explicitly. Like many cameras of the day, the Condor attempted to get into the post-war North American photography market, but lost out to better or cheaper products. Please note that not all Condor cameras were labelled as Ferrania Condor. To add to the confusion, there was also a Japanese camera called the Condor.
My thanks to good friend, George Dunbar, for sharing this find on post WW2 photographic history in America.
