Cameras.........

The old style cameras from like the 1800's.....The one where they had some powder on a scoop type thing and held it off to the side,that was the flash...What are those cameras called and what was that powder they used?

Google "flash powder"; lot's of info, recipes, etc. Wern't the cameras just view cameras?

Magnesium powder was used as a flash lighting medium with various types of cameras for quite some time. It was nasty, dangerous stuff.

Ken Tanaka said:

Magnesium powder was used as a flash lighting medium with various types of cameras for quite some time. It was nasty, dangerous stuff.

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I've used it for other purposes and concur - potentially very dangerous. I've had the odd nasty burn.

Mike

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Hmmm, so Mike probably safe to say those early photographers got burned a few times?

ErikJonas said:

Hmmm, so Mike probably safe to say those early photographers got burned a few times?

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And they started more than a few house fires when the sparks caught the lace curtains on fire. Happened to my grand parents just after they were married in the early 1900's. I have a print of the picture he was making.

I used a lot of flash powder for stage effects in the 70's and early 80's. I burned my self a few times, and I accidentally blew up a few things that I didn't mean to. Never hurt anyone though.

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What a wonderful story Charles!!!.....Well not that the homes caught fire...But really thats pretty neat to be able to relate that..

Least be it film or digital we dont have to worry about catching a house on fire lol...

ErikJonas said:

What a wonderful story Charles!!!.....Well not that the homes caught fire...But really thats pretty neat to be able to relate that..

Least be it film or digital we dont have to worry about catching a house on fire lol...

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My mother's parents were big fans of having pictures made. I have a professionally photographed family portrait from 1922, and studio portraits of my grandparents from the same period.

I wonder if our digital photos will remain to give pleasure to your grandchildren?

Charles L Webster said:

My mother's parents were big fans of having pictures made. I have a professionally photographed family portrait from 1922, and studio portraits of my grandparents from the same period.

I wonder if our digital photos will remain to give pleasure to your grandchildren?

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I think they are more likely to survuve if you print them and put them in frames on the wall or in a box or album that people can leaf through in later years, looking for the treasures. It's slightly ironic that if you leave a hard hard drive with 50000 images it will not be viewed even if it isn't corrupted, but a box of a couple of hundred pics will.

Mike

Mike Shimwell said:

I think they are more likely to survuve if you print them and put them in frames on the wall or in a box or album that people can leaf through in later years, looking for the treasures. It's slightly ironic that if you leave a hard hard drive with 50000 images it will not be viewed even if it isn't corrupted, but a box of a couple of hundred pics will.

Mike

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Well said, Mike. My wife often complains to me that since we started shooting digital (P&S before I got a dSLR) we never 'see' the pictures any more of our family as they end up on a hard drive never being viewed and she wants them printed and put in albums like all our old pictures...so there's a mammoth job I'll have to undertake sometime soon, although I would print them properly in a lab as I don't believe that inkjet photos will last as well as traditional prints

Nigel Allan said:

Well said, Mike. My wife often complains to me that since we started shooting digital (P&S before I got a dSLR) we never 'see' the pictures any more of our family as they end up on a hard drive never being viewed and she wants them printed and put in albums like all our old pictures...so there's a mammoth job I'll have to undertake sometime soon, although I would print them properly in a lab as I don't believe that inkjet photos will last as well as traditional prints

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It's a difficult call Nigel. The latest pigments are claimed ot be lightfast for much longer than an RA4 colour print (Epson, HP and Canon all suggest better than 100 years on appropriate papers). Also, very few labs print colour optically these days. Of course, they are not real world tested yet, but I've had no issues with any prints since I moved to a pigment machine. I'll have to do a test and print something twice then leave on in the window and one in a box for a few months.

Mike

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Prints...All my prints are printed on Fuji Crystal Archive paper and its rated at 100 years....

Now...I have a picture of my dad from like the 40's,well maybe its the 50's but anyway...That picture is in perfect condition..Its not printed on any kind of archival paper...When did we fall into this thinking that a image had to be printed on Archival paper in order to last any amount of time? I wonder what some of the oldest in tact pictures are. Theres got to be a lot i'm sure.

Agreed that printed pictures get far more appritiation...For that reason i have a lot of mine printed in various portfolios...And i myself like to look through them....

Charles not just us but others will be enjoying our work long after we are gone. I think about the family pictures i have done or the 3 years i spent shooting with Jordan, her kids will see some of those pictures. Pictures have a long life to them.

I wasn't talking about the paper, Erik, more the quality of the ink. I'd like to understand what Mike means by a 'pigment' machine. Can you give a few examples?

Nigel Allan said:

I wasn't talking about the paper, Erik, more the quality of the ink. I'd like to understand what Mike means by a 'pigment' machine. Can you give a few examples?

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Yes. The first inkjet printers used water soluble dye based inks. these had bright colour, but the dyes tend to fade over time with exposure to light, air and airborne pollutants. Later generations started to use pigment based inks (i.e. a suspension of pigment particles in a water based carrier). These inks have much greater stability over time, but didn't have the same colour gamut at first. However, this problem has been overcome and pigment ink machines now dominate 'fine art' printing circles and are able to deliver large colour gamuts and archival stability. If you see someone selling Giclee fine art prints (repro or limited edition) it's an inkjet print Giclee is a term used to hide its humble origins.

The three manufacturers active in the photographic market are Canon, Epson and HP. All three produce a range of machines (and all three still make some small dye machines) that in theory offer some advantages, but actually are all capable of good results - this is another area where some of the better known websites and mags will lead you into an endless upgrade cycle if you're not careful!.

I use an HP Z3100 (24 inch carriage) after my Canon IPF5000 had a head failure. Depending on your budget and your ambition in terms of print size, there are a range of machines available however. If you want any more info then please ask - as we've not even got to colour management yet...

Cheers

Mike