Kodak Medalist II!!

[j-dogg]

Also got stuck last year lmao. 10 dollar bar tab got me out

 

[Dan Daniel]

A few quick things to note when using the Medalist-

1) Loading film and getting to frame 1 does NOT automatically cock the shutter. Best to always use the lever under the viewfinder to cock the shutter after getting to frame 1. No harm if the shutter is already cocked. Blank first frames are common because the shutter is not cocked by default in loading.

2) This is not a Leica. Practice with the shutter release if you plan to hand-hold. Best to press down to resistance point, pause, then fire the shutter.

3) Often the shutter release and the wind release go out of sync over time. Good to test: cock shutter (lever under viewfinder), set shutter to 1 or 1/2 so you can hear the escapement whirring, slowly, very slowly, press release down. See if the wind system releases before the shutter fires. Do a bunch of test firing. Blank frames in the middle of a roll often come about because of this issue. Field solution is to simply be certain to press the shutter release through the first click of the wind system until the button bottoms out.

4) When using a cable release (standard tapered threading works just fine, no special Kodak #2 or whatever needed), firing the shutter does NOT release the wind system. After taking the shot you need to press the shutter button down to release the wind system and wind on to the next frame.

Be sure to take some tripod shots. It can be hard to not get camera shake hand holding the Medalist, especially at first, as it is such a brick and a bit clunky. Some tripod shots will show you what that lens can do and should get you excited enough to keep using this strange lovechild of Rube Goldberg and Buck Rogers.

And even it stops working as camera, you can still drive nails and smash Nazis with the thing...

 

[guangong]

I trim down the 120 roll to fit and use the 620 as the take up. If you trim the outer ridge off with a nail clipper and then sand it smooth and also stand the 120 on it's ends and sand those down it works fine, just make sure you clean the dust off before putting in the camera. People will probably say that dust will get in but the way I look at if light can't get in, I don't think dust will.

What a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that. It allows for a more spontaneous choice of film, rather than rerolling film in advance. Going to try out with my next Medalist outing.
Since I rarely use flash, I prefer the fine focusing knob rather than a flash outlet.

 

[guangong]

From my experience, Holding the camera in its fitted case allows the camera to be held easier and more steady than holding camera alone.

 

[Chrismat]

I love my Medalist I. For me one of the reasons I love it is instead of using a cable release, the Medalist I has a self timer. I just set the self timer (with the camera on a tripod of course) fire the shutter release. No need to press the shutter release after the exposure to release the wind system.

 

[AZD]

The Medalist I saw and thought about it and was like, F it, if it's still there after Bonneville Swim Week I'll grab it, took it home today.

I've been doing Speedweek for 5 years I'm building a car for Blown Gas Coupe, here's one of mine from last year, Df/180 2.8ED

You must’ve been in Acme just hours before me, wish I’d seen you there.

Nice pictures! Excellent colors and composition. Thanks for posting those.

So what’s that hiding under a quad of Stromberg 97’s?

 

[gone]

Nice shot of the carbs. Blown Gas is a seriously high class, those cars are powerful and fast. Good luck w/ that. I used to build and race drag cars/bikes and dirt track roundy rounds. It was so much fun, and it will suck your bank account dry as well as photography too!

Back in the day, the street was really where the fast cars were. Guys w/ roller cranks, blue printed engines, headers, all stuffed into an innocent looking Chevy Nova 4 door.

 

[Larryc001]

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has tried the 35-120 adapters that were on eBay. They looked interesting, I wonder how the images looked on 35mm film. ETSY seems to have a variety of these.

 

[Bronson Dugnutt]

The Medalists are 620 IIRC. I adapt 135 to medium format using whittled spool ends.

 

[Larryc001]

One of mine has been converted to 120. However they also make these in 620 to 120 and 620 to 35mm.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

I have not tried this, but I don't think the automatic film metering mechanism in the Medalist will work with 35mm, since it has small gear teeth that ride on the outer edges of the film, so you'd have to count turns and account for the increasing diameter of the takeup spool.

 

[j-dogg]

A few quick things to note when using the Medalist-

1) Loading film and getting to frame 1 does NOT automatically cock the shutter. Best to always use the lever under the viewfinder to cock the shutter after getting to frame 1. No harm if the shutter is already cocked. Blank first frames are common because the shutter is not cocked by default in loading.

2) This is not a Leica. Practice with the shutter release if you plan to hand-hold. Best to press down to resistance point, pause, then fire the shutter.

3) Often the shutter release and the wind release go out of sync over time. Good to test: cock shutter (lever under viewfinder), set shutter to 1 or 1/2 so you can hear the escapement whirring, slowly, very slowly, press release down. See if the wind system releases before the shutter fires. Do a bunch of test firing. Blank frames in the middle of a roll often come about because of this issue. Field solution is to simply be certain to press the shutter release through the first click of the wind system until the button bottoms out.

4) When using a cable release (standard tapered threading works just fine, no special Kodak #2 or whatever needed), firing the shutter does NOT release the wind system. After taking the shot you need to press the shutter button down to release the wind system and wind on to the next frame.

Be sure to take some tripod shots. It can be hard to not get camera shake hand holding the Medalist, especially at first, as it is such a brick and a bit clunky. Some tripod shots will show you what that lens can do and should get you excited enough to keep using this strange lovechild of Rube Goldberg and Buck Rogers.

And even it stops working as camera, you can still drive nails and smash Nazis with the thing...

View attachment 312885

ha! I've gotten pretty good at handholding big stuff, I can get clean shots on my RB67 down to 1/50th, I thought with the leaf shutter I'd have a smoother experience. we will see. I have a pretty steady hand and Im a big dude, but you aren't the first to say to put it on a tripod.

Always down for smashing Fascists then taking their portrait afterward lol

 

[j-dogg]

You must’ve been in Acme just hours before me, wish I’d seen you there.

Nice pictures! Excellent colors and composition. Thanks for posting those.

So what’s that hiding under a quad of Stromberg 97’s?

Flatty with Edelbrock heads

 

[j-dogg]

From my experience, Holding the camera in its fitted case allows the camera to be held easier and more steady than holding camera alone.

Mine has the case! Also found a full Wratten color filter kit for it and a lens hood that holds Wratten filters. Also copped a leather strap locally made.

 

[j-dogg]

Also calibrated the rangefinder. I'm fairly sure I did, I popped the top off and turned the adjustment screw maybe 1/4 turn not even that much and got it aligned with the distance scale.

Here's the body serial number:

 

[bernard_L]

Also calibrated the rangefinder. I'm fairly sure I did, I popped the top off and turned the adjustment screw maybe 1/4 turn not even that much and got it aligned with the distance scale.

The RF is probably more likely to be misaligned than the distance scale. Maybe more important: is the RF consistent with film plane sharpness?

 

[j-dogg]

The RF is probably more likely to be misaligned than the distance scale. Maybe more important: is the RF consistent with film plane sharpness?

We will find out after this test roll of Arista 400. I figured I would run a roll through it before I start messing with stuff inside. It's been serviced apparently so it should be fine. I should be able to verify it using Scotch tape like on a 35mm? I did that trick on my Kiev 4 to get the RF comparator aligned

 

[bernard_L]

I should be able to verify it using Scotch tape like on a 35mm?

Safest method IMO is:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-123.html
What Oleson calls "film rails" in the second sketch is normally the inner film rails, but I know of at least one camera where the pressure plate rests on the outer film rails.
Inspect carefully the pressure plate in relation to the film rails and determine whether the film is indeed pressed against the inner rails.

The proof is in the actual test that you have planned. A good test object is a fence with closely spaced posts or rods; mark one of them (tape, etc) as focus target. Take a picture from ~2m distance at a 45° angle and at full aperture (proper time of day, 2-3 stops overexposure is no problem here). You can also use a gravel alley, again with a specific point (a stick on the ground...) designated a focus target.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Also calibrated the rangefinder. I'm fairly sure I did, I popped the top off and turned the adjustment screw maybe 1/4 turn not even that much and got it aligned with the distance scale.

Well, no, you didn't calibrate the rangefinder. The distance scale is pretty much cosmetic on the Medalist. Sure, it's nice to have the rangefinder align at something ten feet away and have the scale say ten feet at the same time. But that scale means nothing to the camera's functioning. What really matters is if the rangefinder and the film plane agree. Inside, upper right corner of the plate on the back of the lens tube- loosen silver screw which is a lock screw, maybe 3/4 turn (not too much more). Use large black screw to the left and above to set rangefinder to match film plane focus. 1/2 turn at a time to see which direction you need to go. 1/4 turn to hone in. Smaller turns to fine tune. Rack the helical around a bit between changes. Tighten lock screw (not too tight!).

Film plane is the inner lower surface. Put tape, hard plastic, ground glass in place. Lock shutter open and use a target ten feet away. Check rangefinder. Move black screw in and out to get rangefinder to match film plane focus.

 

[guangong]

Mine has the case! Also found a full Wratten color filter kit for it and a lens hood that holds Wratten filters. Also copped a leather strap locally made. View attachment 313038

Mine has the case! Also found a full Wratten color filter kit for it and a lens hood that holds Wratten filters. Also copped a leather strap locally made. View attachment 313038

You Lucky Dogg! What a great find.

 

[j-dogg]

Well, no, you didn't calibrate the rangefinder. The distance scale is pretty much cosmetic on the Medalist. Sure, it's nice to have the rangefinder align at something ten feet away and have the scale say ten feet at the same time. But that scale means nothing to the camera's functioning. What really matters is if the rangefinder and the film plane agree. Inside, upper right corner of the plate on the back of the lens tube- loosen silver screw which is a lock screw, maybe 3/4 turn (not too much more). Use large black screw to the left and above to set rangefinder to match film plane focus. 1/2 turn at a time to see which direction you need to go. 1/4 turn to hone in. Smaller turns to fine tune. Rack the helical around a bit between changes. Tighten lock screw (not too tight!).

Film plane is the inner lower surface. Put tape, hard plastic, ground glass in place. Lock shutter open and use a target ten feet away. Check rangefinder. Move black screw in and out to get rangefinder to match film plane focus.

That's what I figured that was, after some sleuthing. I'll give it a shot later today.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I have and have had many cameras, but the Kodak Medalist I and II are my all-time favorite film cameras. I've had a copy of one or the other for about 50 years now, and will still have one or two when I die. To me, the Kodak Medalist in the "American Classic" of all cameras. When I hear of somebody acquiring one, the first thing I suggest is to buy a copy of the Kodak Medalist repair manual. Once you have taken one apart a few times, it becomes "old hat" and you get a great idea how it all works together. I have two Medalist I's with flash sync added and one Medalist II, plus almost all the accessories that were made for the camera. Some people might laugh at me when I say I prefer the "look" of the shots I take with the Medalist lens to what I get out of my "T" coated 80mm f2.8 Hasselblad lens, but I truly do. I sold my very near mint Medalist cameras and now have only well maintained users since I use them for what they were made for. The best thing I have done to my user Medalist II was recovering it with one of the (grip style) black coverings on the Internet. The original old covering is usually worn so smooth that the camera becomes almost slippery and hard to hold. Now, with the new covering, it's almost like it's glued to my hands. Smartest move I've made in a long time. I hope you enjoy yours as much or more than I enjoy mine. Do yourself a real big favor and get that repair manual because if you screw something up there are no spare parts to order new whatever you trashed. Enjoy!

 

[j-dogg]

Well, no, you didn't calibrate the rangefinder. The distance scale is pretty much cosmetic on the Medalist. Sure, it's nice to have the rangefinder align at something ten feet away and have the scale say ten feet at the same time. But that scale means nothing to the camera's functioning. What really matters is if the rangefinder and the film plane agree. Inside, upper right corner of the plate on the back of the lens tube- loosen silver screw which is a lock screw, maybe 3/4 turn (not too much more). Use large black screw to the left and above to set rangefinder to match film plane focus. 1/2 turn at a time to see which direction you need to go. 1/4 turn to hone in. Smaller turns to fine tune. Rack the helical around a bit between changes. Tighten lock screw (not too tight!).

Film plane is the inner lower surface. Put tape, hard plastic, ground glass in place. Lock shutter open and use a target ten feet away. Check rangefinder. Move black screw in and out to get rangefinder to match film plane focus.

You were right, and turns out mine was WAY off, I've got the film plane and RF collimated exactly and checked with a loupe but the distance scale is hilariously off now. But it's getting there, thanks for the advice, learn something every time I come here.

 

[j-dogg]

You were right, and turns out mine was WAY off, I've got the film plane and RF collimated exactly and checked with a loupe but the distance scale is hilariously off now. But it's getting there, thanks for the advice, learn something every time I come here.

Update, it's dead nuts right on the money now. I even got the distance scale close, it's good enough at infinity but only goes down to like 4. Film plane is on the money at minimum and at infinity. I used Scotch tape as a ground glass and made sure it was tight and straight, then opened the shutter using a Kodak shutter cord (ha!) and made my adjustments. It's ready for film now.

I used your advice plus this nifty thread I found

Kodak Medalist I Help needed

[ATTACH] I am working on a Kodak Medalist I. Looking at the back with the back removed, on the right hand side of the chamber there is a bar called...

www.photo.net

Many thanks.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

On a separate but related note, any of you Medalist fans ever use a Chevron, and how does it compare in the fiddly business department? I toy with the idea of getting one but I don't know that it would do anything for me that my Rolleiflex 2.8E doesn't do at least as well if not better. And that shutter sounds like it's far less reliable than a more traditional one.