WELCOME TO THE PROJECTOR SECTION OF THE CAMERA MUSEUM. Still images can be viewed as prints. They can also be viewed as projected images, however, using positive transparencies. This was done well over 100 years ago. For example, the award winning children's book, Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Mary Azarian (Houghton Mifflin (1998)), describes Bentley, an avid photographer of snowflakes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as giving slide shows to his neighbors with a lantern projector. I believe these were with large glass plates and likely a negative image. My oldest projector, a Viopticon, was introduced in about 1912. It works by either a carbon arc ignited by AC current or by kerosene. Instead of large format slides, it used medium format slides of 2.25" x 2.75" and was the smallest projector at the time. This format was actually a "miniature" format at the time. Color 35mm slides began by 1936 using Kodak's Kodachrome. Vacation slide shows were a mainstay of households in the 1950s and 1960s as shown in the photo above at my grandparents from the early to mid 1950s. My brother and sister are in the photo, but it was slightly before my time. Kodak Carosel projectors were among the best known projectors from their introduction in 1961 until manufacture ceased in October 2004. While a casualty of digital cameras and LCD projectors, a 40+ year run for a technology is pretty impressive today. Film movies were, of course, always viewed with projectors. Today, most amateur and many professional movies are on video and viewed on a television or LCD or other digital projector. Many movie theaters are also switching to digital projectors.

I have many still projectors including my Viopticon, my grandfather's 1950s projector, an original Carousel Model 500 projector, my original Kodak Carousel Model 650 projector which my parents bought for me in about 1978, several other Carousel projectors acquired at garage sales, and a Dell digital projector using DLP technology. I also have several film projectors. While no longer available new to my knowledge, still and movie projectors are still relatively common in the garage sale market. Even I often pass on them as too bulky for my ever bulging garage! The projector section of the museum is new as of November 2008. It is starting with my very cool Viopticon. Projectors will be added as time allows. Movie projectors are in the Movie Camera section of the museum. Enjoy!

The company was headed by Alexander F. Victor. As explained at Samuel G. Rose, "Alexander M. Victor, Motion Picture Pioneer," Journal of the SMPTE 72 (August 1963, pp. 614-621)", posted at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/MSC/ToMsc200/MsC153/smpte.htm, Victor developed many innovations in motion picture projectors, especially for documentary subjects. That article states about the Viopticon:

The Viopticon, the first truly portable stereopticon, introduced in 1912, used a single-glass slide, with an outside measurement of 21 by 21 in., mounted in an embossed pressboard frame. No cover glass was used, the emulsion side being coated with a flint-hard collodion base coating which resisted scratches. It was practically unbreakable and very light in weight. This slide was the forerunner of the 35mm, 2 by 2-in. slides used today. A library of slide sets was created with several religious, educational and fraternal "illustrated lectures." Slides supplied were black-and-white or hand-colored and in either Viopticon or standard 3 1/4 by 4 in. sizes.

The Viopticon is also described in the right column of page 317 of the 1913 "Wilson's Photographic Magazine" at Google Books. A photo of a Viopticon similar to mine is shown at Northern Illinois University.

My Viopticon was purchased in La Mesa, CA on 11-16-08 for $75 (the asking price) from an ad on Craigslist. It comes complete in the box with both the electrical connections and the kerosene canister. My seller, acquired it decades ago as a boy from the original owner in payment for some work he did for the original owner. The original owner was apparently a family friend and a member of the same church. The original owner had used the projector for missionary work he did at an earlier time. The projector is in nice shape especially for likely being 90+ years old. My seller indicated he had turned it on successfully using electricity. He did not try it with kerosene. Also, the tubes for the kerosene are deteriorated. The lens is in good condition with a little internal dust. The condenser lenses are in decent shape with some internal dust and perhaps some slight mold. My seller indicated he painted the snout with flat black paint and polished the brass on the lens. The rack and pinion focusing appears to work well. I have not tried either power source myself. It comes with several carbon rods. The box is in fair condition. My seller stated he had taken the black paper which covered the box off since it was badly deteriorated. It also came with nearly 500 slides of varying scenes including religious art, black and white landscapes and people, and hand-colored landscapes. Looking at several of the slides, they appear to be in generally good condition with some dust and minor scratches. A truly terrific piece of photographic history!

Kodak

Minolta