Sun Ray
Sun Ray Photo is an American company based in New York, NY during the 1940's and 1950's.
Sun Ray Mastercraft enlarger, February 1940 Popular Photography scan courtesy Voxphoto (Image rights) |
Enlargers
All models employed a double-condenser head with bellows focusing mechanism, save the Aristocrat A (which used a diffusion head):
- Sun Ray Aristocrat A
- Sun Ray Mastercraft 23
- Sun Ray Mastercraft 45
- Sun Ray Model A Mastercraft
- Sun Ray Model B Mastercraft
- Sun Ray Model B Miniture
- Sun Ray Model C Mastercraft
- Sun Ray Model C Miniture
- Sun Ray Model D Arnold
- Sun Ray Craftsmen
- Sun Ray Filmaster
- Sun Ray Grant Miniature
- Sun Ray Grant Senior
- Sun Ray Zenith 35
- This sturdy (11 pound)[1] die-cast aluminium alloy portable enlarger was originally designed for military use in the field. [2]
- Deployed as part of a complete suitcase-portable field darkroom kit that included the Bolsey B Special Special camera.[2]
- You can get a general idea of what these portable darkrooms looked like by viewing this video: "Cameras Used Before and During WW2"
- This 35mm format enlarger was designed to make prints from contact size up to 11"x14", and was designed for either vertical or horizontal projection.[3]
- Surviving the demise of the Sun Ray Company, the Zenith 35 continued in production by the TestRite company into the 1960's.[2]
Testrite Sun Ray Zenith 35 enlarger image by Neal Wellons (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ "JAPANESE PLAN A PHOTO CENTER" (New York, NY: New York Times, October 9, 1955; Page 24, Section X)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kalton C. Lahue & Joseph A. Bailey, "Glass, Brass, & Chrome" (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002; ISBN 0-8061-3434-8)
- ↑ "DARKROOM EQUIPMENT" (New York, NY: Popular Photography, Ziff-Davis Publishing, Feb 1956; Vol. 38, Num. 2, Pg. 314)