Many nice photos from circa 1900.

[HeXen]

For all the people surprised by the picture quality, I would imagine you are too used to looking at crappy cell phone pics, and have developed internal anti-aliasing. Don't forget the fact that it took a relatively long time for digital sensors to get anywhere near the detail of even 35mm film, much less the medium format a lot of these photos were probably taken with.

No it's because we are used to seeing old pics look very grainy, blurry or poor lighting or in many cases just half destroyed with age.
I have a family album with tons of very old pics all kept from harm and they look like absolute crap compared to these here but most people probably had the cheaper cameras back then or something.

Perfect example here. These are the kinds of crappy old pics some of us are used to seeing. Has nothing to do with cell phone cameras.

 

[mmntech]

For all the people surprised by the picture quality, I would imagine you are too used to looking at crappy cell phone pics, and have developed internal anti-aliasing. Don't forget the fact that it took a relatively long time for digital sensors to get anywhere near the detail of even 35mm film, much less the medium format a lot of these photos were probably taken with.

No it's because we are used to seeing old pics look very grainy, blurry or poor lighting or in many cases just half destroyed with age.
I have a family album with tons of very old pics all kept from harm and they look like absolute crap compared to these here but most people probably had the cheaper cameras back then or something.

Both valid points. However, it's quite clear that the pictures in this archive have either been painstakingly preserved in museum quality archives, or digitally remastered. There's a few that haven't been edited, though I think most of them have.

 

[dennilfloss]

I'll have to fix its little bit of softness and remove specks & smudges before using it for my blog but this photo of a gun in the first American protected cruiser shows how much resolution those old glass plates could render.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/U.S.S._Newark,_6-inch_gun_LOC_4a14470v.jpg

 

[Malodrik]

I mustache you a question

 

[alkemyst]

The 1st thing that alwyas stands out to me is, no fat people.

OMG YOU JUST WON THE INTERNET!

Oh snap, you make < $50k a year.

 

[phucheneh]

These pictures; I enjoy them.

Lots of them just seem kinda mundane...maybe a little interesting...but then I say 'hey, look, I know that guy!'

But I don't, 'cause he's dead. I dunno, it's just the imagined familiarity with some of the faces, and the people interacting...'humanizes' an era where we're used to just reading or watching recreations.

 

[McLovin]

It's amazing how they went from this:

To this:

in less than 40 years. That ship from 1898 looks like it could still be in service today.

Honest to god, that's EXACTLY what I thought! Glad someone else recognized that.