Bouncing light vs. difusion

[Bob Cole]

[Dennis Size] “the cameramen and their big “brownies””

I love Dennis’s posts — really informative and ingenious.

So I hate to admit, but what’s a “brownie?”

And if you say, “delicious,” you’re not funny.

Bob c

[Dennis Size]

Wow am I that old? Perhaps it’s time to change that “youthful” photo of me from the 50’s that has adorned the mast of the COW LIGHTING DESIGN FORUM for the past decade.
Sorry to create any confusion, I — and many of our colleagues — have used the term “BROWNIE” as a humorously pejorative reference for video cameras for so many years I just assumed everyone knew what I was talking about.
Brownie was the name of a long-running and extremely popular series of simple and inexpensive cameras introduced in 1900 by Kodak. It’s use lasted into the 60’s (…. and I think I may still have one in my mom’s attic!).
The Brownie popularized low-cost photography and introduced the concept of the snapshot. The first Brownie was a very basic cardboard box camera with a simple meniscus lens that took 2¼-inch square pictures on 117 rollfilm. With its simple controls — and initial price of $1 — it made photography accessible to everyone.
Every technology we use to communicate with pictures – photojournalism, motion pictures, television, satelite imagery, the internet –can trace it’s ancestry back to that little black box.

Thank you for appreciating the little pearls of wisdom I toss into the FORUM every now and then. Most people confuse my facetious and satirical approach as the ranting of a loony old fart.

DS

[Bob Cole]

[Dennis Size] “Brownie was the name of a long-running and extremely popular series of simple and inexpensive cameras”

Now I feel stupid! My first camera was an Instamatic but I remember the Brownie. Loved that Instamatic. Which wasn’t “instant” at all, of course.

What a great way to refer to video cameras. Very funny. Thanks.

Bob