I am proud to announce a new series of posts here that I am calling “Keppler’s Vault”.
The name Keppler refers to none only than Herbert Keppler (April 21, 1925 – January 4, 2008), long time photographer, journalist, consultant, and editorial director at both Modern Photography and Popular Photography.
Herbert Keppler (1925 – 2008)
Mr. Keppler’s career at both magazines lasted a remarkable 57 years, 37 at Modern and 20 at Pop Photo. In that time, he wrote countless reviews, editorials, and articles covering almost every possible topic relating to film, cameras, and photography. His reviews signaled a change in how the industry tested and reviewed cameras and lenses. He developed objective tests in a lab environment that were repeatable between many different models to give measurable proof of a certain model’s performance. Some of his lens resolution tests are still used to this day and Keppler’s book “124 Ways You Can Test Cameras Lenses and Photographic Equipment” is still considered a bible for camera testing. The book is in the United States public domain and can be read online for free.
In addition to his work at both magazines, Keppler authored several books, considered at the time to be authoritative works about various Japanese camera companies like Nikon, Pentax and others. Herbert Keppler received many awards throughout his life for his contributions to the photographic world such as being inducted into the Photo Marketing Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement award by the Photographic Manufacturers and Distributors Association, and in 2002 was awarded the Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Emperor of Japan for his contribution to the Japanese photographic industry.
The Keppler’s Vault series will focus primarily on various articles published in Modern Photography magazine from the early 1950s to the mid 1960s. I think this era was one of the most fascinating chapters in photography as the number of new models, designs, and technology in the camera industry was vast and constantly changing. The original articles were painstakingly scanned in and published online by Marc Berger and used with his permission.
The goal of this series is not to plagiarize any of the original works, but as to highlight an article that I find interesting and share it with you. Throughout the 20th century, magazines published a countless number of articles and reviews that have been forgotten and are no longer available. Some attempts have been made to archive important works of the 20th century, but they can’t all be saved and unless someone takes the time to put them back online.
It is my goal to shine a light on these forgotten articles to inform, educate, and on occasion, entertain you all so that they do not remain forgotten. If you are like me and love the rich history behind the companies and models we use today, and are curious about what people were saying about those same companies and models over half a century ago, then hopefully you’ll enjoy this new series.
