19 April 1961
THE BEAMING blonde, with her red Father Christmasinspired out t contrasting beautifully against a rich blue sky, was the perfect bait to draw readers into the ‘Colour Number’ and the delights of a world free from the tyranny of grey tones. Sadly only the glossy 12-page Picture Parade section in the centre was in colour. In the rest of the magazine readers were treated to articles such as ‘Colour in the garden’, ‘Colour and Figures’ and ‘Colour Film: Calculating Correct Exposure’ – all in black & white. RJ McNally’s ‘When is Colour Worthwhile?’ spoke of the suffering in icted by slideshows. ‘No longer do friends want to be entertained with our colour slides – they have at least 100 from their foreign tour alone. Even club members stir restlessly when too many holiday records are in icted upon them,’ he observed, adding, ‘Geographic records have a transitory and limited appeal which fades in proportion to the number shown.’ Even colour portraiture isn’t spared a tongue-lashing. ‘It is dif cult to realise that colour shots of the light-of-your-life, even when she adds a red jersey to her out t, can bore those who see her merely as a piece of femininity who is simply lling an appreciable part of the foreground only to improve the composition.’ Nevertheless McNally speculated on which of his mono illustrations may have worked better in colour. Those shopping at Dollonds for a camera for their colour lm could buy a Rollei ex f/2.8 for £3,610 in today’s money, a Leica M2 with 50mm f/2.8 (£2,895) or, for thinner wallets, a Kodak Retina Automatic I (£1,269), while a Weston Master IV meter cost £230.