1941: Photography

Every photographer has probably dreamed of that ideal process of photography which would have as the result a photograph in natural colors. Many attempts have been made during the past fifty years to achieve this result, and a few processes have shown great promise such as three-color carbon, the Vivex carbro, wash-off relief, and Chromotone. Each of these methods is open to the objections that it is somewhat complicated to work and rather expensive. Considerable time is also required to prepare a satisfactory print. The introduction of Kodachrome film in 1936 for snapshot photography with miniature cameras made possible the making of beautiful color transparencies for projection but color prints could not be made from them by any simple method. Not until August 1941 were prints by the Kodachrome process announced. As with Kodachrome film, the new prints were to be processed only by the manufacturer and supplied in two standard sizes, two and five times the original miniature color film. Actual sizes were 2 x 3 inches and 5 x 7 inches on a white pigmented safety (cellulose acetate) base having a smooth glossy finish. Thus, it became possible for any amateur who had a miniature camera to take color pictures for projection and obtain sharp, brilliant color prints.

Amateur Photography.

Besides the debut of color prints, the year was marked as outstanding because of the introduction of several fine American-made cameras of precision design. These were the Ektra, the Bantam Special, and the Medalist. Each of these cameras was fitted with lenses having glass surfaces specially treated to improve light transmission, reduce flare, and minimize any tendency for 'ghost' images when strong lights are included in the picture field. Other features of these cameras were: Ektra—a rapid film advance combined with shutter setting lever, focal plane shutter with a variable slit permitting accurate exposures from one second to 1/1,000 second, magazine backs for quick loading of various kinds of film, and a split-field coupled range finder with diopter scale for adjusting finder to users' eyes; Bantam Special—an f/2.0 lens of 45 mm. focal length, a high precision shutter with a range of one second to 1/400 second, and a military-type range finder; Medalist—takes an 8-exposure roll film (picture size, 2 x 3 inches), an f/3.5 lens of 100 mm. (4-inch) focal length built of a new type of optical glass, an automatically set shutter when film is advanced, a helical thread on focusing tube of lens, a view finder with parallax correction, an accessory back for sheet film, film packs, and plates, and a coupled split-field range finder.

Other apparatus of interest to the amateur were: parabolic adjustable safelight lamps; plastic safelights; flash lamps using shredded magnesium foil and a new type which did not use foil or wire but employed a combustible material on the lead-in wires in the bulb; improved synchronizers for flashlight photography; new models of enlargers, projectors for 2 x 2-inch slides, and a convenient daylight-loading developer tank for 35-mm. film.

A long list of ready-mixed chemicals was available for amateur use such as developers, fixing baths, toners, and solutions and powders for special purposes. In the last named group were included wetting agents for prevention of non-uniform drying of films and plates, stop bath and fixer test solutions, and liquids to insure print flexibility. A new fine-grain developer and replenisher called Finex was marketed by Agfa Ansco, for which it was claimed that low graininess was given without loss of film speed.

A wide variety of films were supplied for many purposes, including high speed photography, pictures at night, photocopying, infrared pictures, direct positives by reversal, and direct color photography. Further interest was noted in the use of exposure meters with most types of film and for indoor and outdoor photography.

Professional Photography.

Evidence continued to accumulate that a wider use of color photography was being made each year by a larger number of commercial photographers. Color-separation negatives were made to a limited extent with one-shot cameras (three negatives with one exposure) but sheet Kodachrome was preferred by many commercial illustrators. The technique of making color-separation negatives from Kodachrome transparencies improved appreciably, especially as a result of the introduction of the masking method a few years ago. Masks were prepared by exposing with colored light through the Kodachrome while it was in contact with a panchromatic film or plate and developing the negative to low contrast. This negative as then bound in register to the Kodachrome while color separation negatives were made. This method was improved still further during 1941 by the introduction of a special masking film consisting of a panchromatic emulsion attached to a thin support which could be dry-stripped and cemented to the Kodachrome. Exposure, development, and negative separation could then be done and exact registration was always insured. Much less hand correction was necessary when cuts were made from separation negatives in this way.

Another development of considerable importance to the commercial photographer was the announcement in August that enlarged color prints in sizes as great as 30 x 40 inches could be produced from any good quality sheet Kodachrome. These prints were made on an acetate sheet support by the Eastman Kodak Company and supplied under the name 'Kotava-chrome.'

Several new cameras were introduced for the press photographer and some of them were used by commercial photographers. The Graphic View camera was designed for use with 4 x 5-inch materials; its novel feature was the replacement of the conventional two track support by an inverted V-bar on which the entire camera frame moved backward and forward. The Super D Graflex incorporated an automatic diaphragm control which kept the iris at full opening while focusing and closed it to a selected setting just previous to the exposure. This camera was also equipped with a built-in open flash synchronizer.

Several improved fast orthochromatic and panchromatic films and plates were added to the already imposing list of sensitized products used by the professional photographer. Certain of these new materials were recommended especially for the making of color separation negatives. Black and white positive prints from Kodachrome or other transparencies could be made on a new direct reversal paper.

The necessity for hand correction of color printing plates made from color separation negatives of artists' drawings was practically eliminated by the use of a method known as the Fluorescence Process. A set of 18 water colors containing fluorescing pigments was supplied for the artist's use when preparing the original sketch. When the sketch was illuminated with arc lights covered with special filters which transmit ultraviolet rays and some visible light, and then photographed, a virtually correct set of color-separation negatives was said to be obtained.

Superior quality halftone cuts were being made by the use of the contact screen process, which was said to be applicable especially to the making of 200- to 300-line halftones. The important new steps of the process were (a) the making of a continuous tone magenta (dye image) negative from the print or copy, and (b) printing this magenta negative by contact through a special screen (orange, vignetted dot) on an orthochromatic film of very high contrast. Yellow or rose filters were used over the printing light source to control the contrast of the screen positive. The special screen was manufactured by a photographic process. One of the uses of the contact screen method which gave very encouraging results was the preparation of maps for civil and military purposes.

Banks of lamps emitting infrared radiation were adopted by photo-finishers for the drying of roll films and packs following their processing by automatic developing machines. It was claimed that this type of radiation penetrated the gelatin layer of the film and started the drying from the inside first with an actual saving of 50 per cent of the usual drying time.

Photographic Manufacture.

During the past decade or so, the film manufacturer has demonstrated his ability to do many remarkable things, such as selective sensitizing, coating of multi-layer films, and application of many types of anti-halation coatings. One of the most important recent discoveries was the method of making a film product which could be stripped while dry from a paper support and cemented intimately to metal, wood, or other sheet material. This product, Eastman Matte Transfer Film, was used extensively in the automotive and airplane industries for the making of photo-templates or part patterns which resulted in speeding up delivery of parts for trucks, tanks, airplanes, etc., for military defense. A considerable economic saving amounting to many hundreds of thousands of dollars also was effected.

For more than 25 years, several American firms with the aid of the Government have striven to make this country independent of Europe as a source of optical glass and it is now regarded to be so. This independent position was established further by the announcement of the Eastman Kodak Company in April that it had been successful in the production of a new type of optical glass. The work was based on suggestions made several years earlier by Dr. George W. Morey of the U. S. Geophysical Laboratory. No silicates were used and certain rare elements such as tantalum, lanthanum, and tungsten were employed in its manufacture. The new glass possesses a much higher refractive index than other glasses having the same dispersion.

Further progress was reported by several of the subcommittees of Sectional Committee Z-38 of the American Standards Association who were attempting to formulate recommended practices, dimensions, and definitions regarding materials and equipment used in photography. Proposed standards were published for printing and projection equipment, printing frames and masks, sizes of film pack cases and tabs, and other apparatus. A method for determining the speed of film was proposed and a standard agitation technique and apparatus for development.

Stereographic Photography.

The introduction of a sheet polarizing material, known as Polaroid, by Edwin Land in 1935 stimulated greatly the interest in methods of three-dimensional or stereographic photography. Progress in this field was reviewed by J. A. Norling at the meeting of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers in Rochester, N. Y., in May 1941, and his paper was published in the Journal of this society in November.

Two projectors for still stereo pictures, black-and-white or Kodachrome, were demonstrated during the year. Both projectors required the use of Polaroid filters over the lenses and the wearing of Polaroid spectacles by each member of the audience. The Model SA projector made by the Society for Visual Education took 2 x 2-inch slides and used a new type of double filament lamp containing two 300-watt filaments placed one above another. The Real-Life Automatic Projector supplied by the Three Dimension Corporation required standard slides of 3 x 4inch size.

Military and Aerial Photography.

It is probably safe to state that no national program during the past forty years has utilized photography as much as the defense program. Many thousands of workers in defense industries were instructed in the use of tools and the manufacture of parts of equipment and munitions with the aid of slide films synchronized with records, and with sound motion picture films. A number of the training films were in color.

An enthusiastic response was reported from both officers and men of all branches of the service with regard to the value of still pictures, slide films, and sound motion pictures for supplementing oral and written instruction. A program of 160 training films was in production under the auspices of the U. S. Army Signal Corps. These films were being made at several studios in Hollywood, Calif., with the cooperation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Another Signal Corps production laboratory was located at Fort Monmouth, N. J., where Col. M. E. Gillette was in charge.

Active research and training programs were also in progress at the U. S. Army Air Corps Training School at Logan Field, near Denver, Colo., and at the Air Corps Photographic Research Laboratory, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. A well-organized program was also being conducted by the U. S. Navy and maps for most branches of the service were made by the Corps of Engineers at the Engineering Reproduction Plant in Washington, D. C.

Representatives of the U. S. Army, the Navy, the Department of Agriculture, the Army Air Corps, the press, and photographic industry helped prepare an exhibit on 'Photography in National Defense' and give a series of talks and demonstrations at Rochester. N. Y., in October. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Rochester Technical Section of the Photographic Society of America.

In Europe and Africa, aerial photography was used extensively by the fighting armies for tactical purposes, such as mapping and intelligence work. Examples of the latter were: the locating of troop concentrations and gun emplacements, spotting of targets for bombers, analyzing the effect of shellfire and bombing, detecting camouflage, and locating ships in harbors under repair or refueling. Fast panchromatic film, infrared film, and to a limited extent color film were known to be in use for aerial photography. The effectiveness of anti-aircraft fire up to 25,000 feet made it necessary to confine most photography to a region around 30,000 feet. For night photography, it was understood that the British Royal Air Force usually dropped flares to reveal the target, and then opened the camera shutter just before dropping the flash bomb. The shutter was closed by the light of the bomb when it acted on a photocell which was connected electrically to a shutter closing mechanism. The U. S. Army Air Corps, on the other hand, used a photocell device to open the shutter so that the exposure was synchronized with the peak of the flash bomb explosion. Small motion picture cameras using 16mm. film were mounted in the wings of combat airplanes and operated in synchronism with the firing control of the armament of the plane. The U. S. Army Air Corps used specially designed trailer darkrooms with side tents for map-making equipment. Small darkroom tents were also being used, which were set up very quickly by forcing compressed air into sections of the tent walls. Special processing and printing apparatus was described for the rapid development and printing of negatives during flight of an airplane, which permitted the finished print to be dropped to the ground within a few minutes after exposure.

A very high speed panchromatic aero film and an improved fast infrared aero film were introduced during the year. The former was reported to be very useful for night flashbomb photography and the latter for camouflage detection and haze penetration. Lack of a fast color film which could be processed in the field limited the use of this type of material; nevertheless, much experimental work was known to be in progress in this country and abroad.

Flashbulbs coated with black lacquers which transmitted infrared radiation were used in England for 'black-out' photography. In this country, the Wabash Photolamp Corporation marketed a similar type of lamp which was used by press photographers and by the Signal Corps during maneuvers.

An application of the Recordak system of microfilm photography was put into operation during the year as a rapid method of mail transportation between England and the British forces in Africa and the Near East. A special sheet of paper was used having a space at the bottom for the address to be inserted in block letters. These sheets were photographed on 16-mm. film and shipped to England by airplane where they were enlarged onto rolls of paper to give a 4 x 5. inch print of the original 8 x 11-inch letter. These were processed on special machinery, cut apart by an electrical chopping machine, folded so that the address panel showed through the opening in an envelope, and delivered to the addressee. About 1700 letters could be copied on a 100-foot roll and 85,000 letters in this form weighed approximately 20 pounds compared to an estimated 1 tons in the usual size in an envelope. The project was called the Airgraph System and it was carried out by the British Post Office and Kodak, Limited.

The use of Matte Transfer Film for making photo-templates by the airplane and automotive industries, as noted in the Photographic Manufacture section of this article, represented one of the most important applications of photography for national defense.

Motion Pictures.

The loss of European markets, except Great Britain, and the expanding program of pictures for military instruction caused a drop in the American production of motion pictures for theater use. Compared with the annual production cost of 1940, however, the production outlay was three times as great.

Progress in many fields of motion picture engineering was discussed at meetings of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers in Rochester, N. Y., in May and in New York City in October. Problems were discussed dealing with many subjects, including: improvements in microphones, sprocket design in cameras and projectors, durability of non-reflecting lens coatings, stereophonic sound recording and reproducing systems, the use of finegrain films for sound recording and release prints, the increased range system for attaining greater depth of field with various lens systems under controllable lighting conditions, color television, and mobile television equipment.

Commercial operation of television stations who satisfied certain requirements was authorized to start on July 1, 1941, by the Federal Communications Commission. It was anticipated that motion picture records will be used to some extent for television programs.

Eighteen feature pictures were produced in color by the Technicolor process during the year. It was estimated that 100,000,000 feet of positive color prints were produced, about 20 per cent more than in 1940. Plans were announced in November for the making of two- or three-color prints in Hollywood, Calif., by the Gasparcolor process. This process is based on the use of a special reversal type positive film containing dyes; the three-color film stock having on one side two emulsion layers containing the magenta and yellow dyes respectively and on the opposite side a third emulsion containing the cyan (blue-green) dye. Color separation positives from Kodachrome or any three color film are required when making prints by the Gasparcolor process.

A rapid rise in the footage of 16 mm. and 8 mm. Kodachrome film consumption was reported by photographic dealers. In September, it was announced that very good quality 35 mm. Technicolor prints could be made from 16 mm. Kodachrome pictures. (See also MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY.)

Applied and Scientific Photography.

The great fire started by the bombing of London on Dec. 29, 1940, destroyed many documents and damaged others. Methods of photographing the charred documents were worked out which gave quite good results. Several applications of a chloral hydrate solution were made on the document until a mass of crystals were formed which produced a 'clarifying' effect on the ink or printed portions of the document. When copied with a contrasting non-color sensitive plate, a readable result was said to have been obtained. By another method, charred documents were illuminated with an intense narrow beam of light from an are lamp and then photographed.

Hall and Schoen reported in April on their investigation with the electron microscope of the structure of the photographic image and showed that silver which had been reduced by chemical development of silver bromide possessed a filamentary appearance. These results were similar in many ways to those of von Ardenne, a German investigator, who had published his work in 1940. Previous to these reports, developed silver had generally been described as having a coke-like appearance.

Photographs were made of the great auroral display of Sept. 18, probably one of the most brilliant ever seen in this country. Several reels of motion pictures and other photographic records were understood to have been made of the total eclipse of the sun on Sept. 22 at Lintao, Kansu Province, China. See also ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING.