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Kodak 44mm f/3.5 Ektar (Signet 35) on Sony A7-II
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:25 am    Post subject: Kodak 44mm f/3.5 Ektar (Signet 35) on Sony A7-II Reply with quote
HI all,

As many of you know, the Kodak Signet 35 was a high precision Kodak camera manufactured in the US between 1951 and 1958. It had some wonderful features, chief among them was a superb 44mm f/3.5 unit focusing Tessar-type lens. The lens is sharp corner to corner, is color corrected, and coated. At $95 in 1951(same as $936 in 2018 dollars), the camera was pricey at the time. Today, they can be had for $30 - $50. The lenses can be easily removed and modified for use on digital, as I did with with one for my Sony A7 MII.
IMHO, Sharpness is excellent from f/5.6 to f/11, and chromatic aberrations are well controlled, as is vignetting. Flare resistance is typical for a well computed Tessar - I shot a bit into the sun without the benefit of a lens hood, and it shows! Except for the close-up, which was shot wide open, the rest of the exposures were made at f/8 - f/11.

The lens is held on to the focus helical via a simple retaining, which screws right off. All you need to mount this to an E-mount camera is a 42mm body cap with a 25mm hole drilled in the center, and an M42-E-mount helical adapter (17mm) like this one: Click here to see on Ebay

Photos with this lens are from this evening. Pics 1 and 3 have some 400% pixel peeps included, which show the lens clearly out resolving the sensor.



PIC #1


PIC #1 400%a


PIC#1 400%b


PIC #1 400%c


PIC#1 400%d


#2


#3



PIC#4


PIC#5


PIC#5 400%


PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nicely done. A good lens if you are looking for that "retro" feel to your photos. How hard was it to adapt?


PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks quite easy to adapt, using a drilled plastic M42 body cap. Its not difficult, and mistakes are easy to fix, just get another $1 body cap.

Since there are now cheap M42-whatever helicals for mirrorless I think most of these rangefinder lenses are ripe for conversion.

I have a pile of broken 1950's-60's rangefinder cameras. Petri, Ricoh, Canon, Yashica, Kodak, etc., and weirder ones too.
They usually have some nasty shutter or cocking linkage problem.
I need to give this a try. They probably won't be particularly distinctive, but heck, if thats the only way to get a Walz Envoy Sonnar or a Kodak Retina II Schneider Xenon back in action?


PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi Jamieolus,

It's a very simple adaptation. The lens is attached to the Singnet body by a single threaded retaining ring, which easily unscrews from inside the film chamber. All you need to mount this to an E-mount camera is a 42mm body cap with a 25mm hole drilled in the center, and an M42-E-mount helical adapter (17mm).

HI Luis,

I agree - with mirrorless it's time to bring these classics back to life. This particular lens is rather pure and well corrected Tessar. The rather slow f/3.5 max apererture is why I said "pure" - same formula as the original, just recomputed for higher index glasses and Kodak coatings.

Best,

Paul


PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a few Signets, one is pristine in the box, another in perfect working condition and somewhere on the shells are a broken one, or two. I have taking a lot of BW pictures long ago with Signet and was admiring the IQ and mechanical simplicity of this camera, it resemble somehow the magnificent Medalist.
The lens with helical unit could be removed, unscrewing a four scrolls (may be three) from inside. The lens is legendary, stated by Kodak is better than no less famous 50 mm Elmar.
Perhaps it has a sense to vandalize one broken camera.


PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Paulius wrote:

Perhaps it has a sense to vandalize one broken camera.


Agreed! and I performed the adaptation in such a way that I could easily reunite the original lens and camera body without issue. I like your comment about the similarity between the Medalist and the Signet. - I have often thought the same thing. I have performed the same surgical procedure as I completed on the Signet, on a broken Medalist with similar success. The Medalist, Chevron, and Signet all share a family resemblance. The Signet probably looks more like the Chevron,than the the Medalist (see pic). Certainly the Medalist was developed with military uses in mind, and the same is said of the Signet. Both a black navy model and an olive drab army model Signet were manufactured, but I have never seen either!

The Signet 35 was designed by Arthur H Crapsey, and as far as I know, he was not credited with the Chevron or Medalist designs.

Paulius - didn't realize your home base is Connecticut as well - we should compare notes some time.


P.




PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am in New Haven, far from your corner of CT, but it is nice to have someone from the same state. My main sours for the old lenses is a big flea market near the NY state border, called Elephant's Trunk. I saw a Signet yesterday at this place, but it was in very pure condition for unrealistic price, so I can play with my own broken one. Helical adapter is on the way from China.
Also I have an Ektar lens from Medalist II, mounted on the unit with diaphragm only, using it with a bellow on my Sony A7R2, magnificent lens, made in the year of my birth!
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