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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.

Keppler’s Vault 8: Voigtländer Prototypes

What if? Those two words form a question that has been pondered by almost every person in every industry likely since the first humans walked the Earth. Early cave men invented the wheel after wondering what if I could take this rock and put it on a stick and attach…

Keppler’s Vault 7: Make a Milk Bottle Lens

The month of April is the first full month in spring, and is often associated with things like warmer weather, the start of Major League Baseball, Easter (most years), and for many people, April Fool’s Day. The history of April Fool’s Day goes back quite a bit farther than most…

April 6, 2018 April 6, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 6: How to Use the Rolleiflex

It might come as a surprise to those who collect vintage cameras today that not everyone knows how to use a TLR like a Rolleiflex. With a huge amount of information available on the Internet with countless review blogs like mine, easily searchable user’s manuals, and groups like the Vintage Camera…

March 23, 2018 March 23, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Germany / Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 5: Rangefinders Make a Comeback!

Good news everyone! Rangefinders are back! Wait a minute, where did they go? I guess a bit of perspective is due here. Prior to the early 1950s, the SLR was a niche product. The Ihagee Exakta was the only major 35mm SLR system around, and it was very expensive (yes,…

March 16, 2018 March 16, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 4: Kodak Medalist II

The Kodak Medalist I and II were two cameras built by the Eastman Kodak Company between the years of 1941 to about 1952. First produced for the American military, very few Medalist I’s were sold commercially to the public. It wasn’t until after World War II when Kodak released the…

March 2, 2018 March 2, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 3: A Polio Story

Polio is a horrible, horrible disease. During it’s peak in 1952, Polio infected nearly 60,000 children and caused over 3,000 deaths in the United States. The numbers were significantly higher in other, less developed countries. The virus most commonly affected children, specifically those aged 5 and under. When a child…

February 23, 2018 February 23, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 2: Ektachrome

For the past year and a half, film enthusiasts and camera collectors like myself have been reading about a resurgence of film photography. How the death of film that’s been ongoing since the early 2000s could be coming to an end. People are shooting more film than they have in…

February 16, 2018 February 19, 2018 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault

Keppler’s Vault 1: Shooting the 1952 Olympics

I am proud to announce “Keppler’s Vault”, a new series of posts dedicated to articles published in the 1950s and 60s in Modern Photography magazine. The name Keppler refers to none only than Herbert Keppler (April 21, 1925 – January 4, 2008), long time photographer, journalist, consultant, and editorial director…

February 9, 2018 July 28, 2021 Keppler's Vault / Photography Keppler's Vault