50 Years Ago - October 1964

<p>Welcome to October 1964. Did you know Kodak was producing 4 different slide films? Modern did a test to see which one was right for you.</p>

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<p>Let us look at this month's 35mm column.</p>

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<p>Here is Patricia Caufield's column.</p>

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<p>Here is Keppler's column.</p>

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<p>Here is this month's Too Hot to Handle column.</p>

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<p>Here is this month's Techniques Tomorrow column. I enjoy these more now than I did back then.</p>

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<p>Here is an article on color film available in 1964.</p>

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<p>Here is an article on film developers available in 1964.</p>

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<p>Here are this month's Modern Tests.</p>

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<p>Here is a 16 page guide to interchangeable lenses for 1964.</p>

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<p>Here are the camera equipment ads for the month.</p>

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<p>Only one dealer ad caught my eye for this month.</p>

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<p>That is it for October 1964. All comments and suggestions welcome.</p>

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<p>Another great look back. Color film article was interesting. Strange not to see Fuji in the line-up, but I think Fuji wasn't imported for a few more years. Thanks.</p>

<p>Bass Camera Store Ad: The BASS PLAN !</p>

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<li><strong>Topcon Super D</strong> with 50mm f/1.8, $44 Down and only 24 months at $14.50</li>

<li><strong>Nikon F</strong> (external CDS meter cell) with 50mm f/1.4, $44 Down and only 24 months at $16.50</li>

<li><strong>Hasselblad 500C</strong> (complete) with 80mm f/2.8, $65 Down and only 24 months at $22.50</li>

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<p>This probably helped get these premium cameras into many more photographer's hands.<br>

I'm guessing the store was <strong>self-financed</strong> ?<br>

Thanks again Marc !</p>

<p>Since you chose a dealer ad from the Bass Camera Co. in Chicago, I looked them up. Here is their catalog from 1919.<br>

http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/catalogs/1919basslp475.htm<br>

Nice slogans, even back in the day: <em>We are not satisfied unless you are. A Thousand-and-One Camera Bargains. Bass bargains satisfy.</em></p>

 

<p>Mike - Fuji Film USA was established in Dec. 1965. It will be interesting to see if it was imported unofficially before then.</p>

<p>Gus - Interesting point. I remember department stores having layaway plans. A camera store doing their own financing could drive a lot of market to their stores.</p>

<p>Andrew - Thanks for that link. I have quite a few Central Camera catalogs but don't recall having any Bass catalogs. Chicago did have quite a few nice camera shops.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the Fuji info, Marc. The E4 Fujichrome R100 was one of my favorite slide films back in the mid-70's. When the E6 Fujichrome came out, I remember a shop near the university closed out the R100 36 exp. with Fuji processing for a bargain price. </p>

<p>What a bewildering array of lenses! Many long-forgotten names in that lengthy list. Thank, <strong>Marc</strong>.</p>

<p>I love this series. Fantastic. I'd like to make a few observations about the Kodak slide films. Firstly, in the shot of the lighthouse, notice how the polarised shot lightened the shadow side of the lighthouse? Either that, or the photographer overexposed (beyond compensation) and blew out the highlight while lifting the shadow.<br>

How about that HS Ektachrome? Gosh, only ISO 160. And we complain that 400 isn't sensitive enough! Okay, well, progress does happen, and I think our expectations go with it. Sports photographers may have found 160 too slow even in the '80s. But, niches aside, I think we've had excellent equipment since the '50s and even before that. After the '50s, improvements were more luxuries than necessities. For the most part... IMHO.</p>

<p>And how about that shot of the two kids in front of the TV? What a charming time to be alive!</p>

<p>The next time I have access to bound periodicals at the university library near my home I plan to search for an article comparing Super Anscochrome (ISO 100) with High Speed Ektachrome. Likely one exists (since such comparison would have been welcomed by color enthusiasts). The interior shots with the Type B Ektachrome looked really nice. I tried the type B version in high school and liked the results. The much later E6 version of the type B film was also good. I often pushed it to E.I. 320 with decent results.</p>

<p>On the developers side, Rodinal and Diafine are still around.<br>

The Patricia Caulfield piece is outstanding. The Warhol image stealing from Caulfield made her better known. but after reading this I am looking for more material from Caulfield.<br>

Again many thanks for sharing these!</p>

<p>Rick - I expect you to get one example of each, take photographs, and show us that equipment doesn't matter, it is the photographer. That should keep you busy for a few years.</p>

<p>Karim - Glad you like the series. I will take a close look to see if I haven't blown out the highlights in my scanning. I remember thinking that HS Ektachrome was great for it's purposes. It was so grainy that you wouldn't want to use it for scenic pictures.</p>

<p>Mike - For some reason I enjoy looking at these film comparison articles. I hope you find this article.</p>

<p>Julio - I will include Patricia Caulfield's column on a monthly basis.</p>

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