Gotta love Archived issues of Pop Photo

[Wexford]

I've gotten back into film this year and at the same time into vintage cameras. I downloaded a PDF scan of manuals for my vintage cameras and decided to poke around for back issues.

Fortunately Google has scanned nearly all of the back issues of Pop Photography magazine. I love those old advertisements. Cameras I've never heard of with full page ads.

Worth a look!

 

[PrestonR]

I agree! Lots of great stuff to read. I wish there were some older issues though.

 

[Maciek1]

I am a historian and those magazines are great source of knowledge. Tips, advertisement and articles shows us not only a practical knowledge but gives opportunity to get to know better what problems have to face amateur photographer in middle of XX century.

Some advertisements are written almost like small articles about advantages of particular camera or accesory. Great lecture for summer nights. (Especially issues from forties and fifties)

 

[Range-rover]

It was great back then I don't know how far back but between Modern
and Popular photography, it was a great source of info and who didn't
love when Pop photo would tear apart a camera for review, I bet it
made those big five sweat it out!

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

A Flickr member has also uploaded a number of articles and advertisements from Popular Photography issues of the 1950 to 1970s. You can find them here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/38552878@N02/page1
Cheers,
Brett

 

[Canyongazer]

That's quite true about the "advertisement education" available with Pop and Modern.
When first getting into photography I would read every page of every issue, and after each page would think, "I didn't know that."

Later I attended Brooks Institute of Photographic Arts and Sciences in Santa Barbara, CA. Did very well there academically that first semester in no small part because of the foundation built by those magazines' articles, columnists and their adverts.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

Last year, the instructor in my darkroom class brought in several really old copies of those magazines from the 1940's and 1950's. It was quite interesting to read the articles on the then-current issues of the day in photography. It was also amazing to see the prices that the products sold for back in the day. Very interesting reading indeed.

 

[p.giannakis]

There are also scanned issues of "Life" magazine. Some of them are simply amazing (i.e HCB's trip to USSR).

 

[mdarnton]

Can someone give a google link? I have searched every possible way and cannot find pop photo on google books--only as a pay-for subscription on their newsstand for current copies.

.....OK, I take that back. If I enter through google books on my android I get nothing, but the web interface shows them. I wonder why....