[rollei_list] Re: OT:Walter Voss Diax cameras
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:22:53 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Williams" <dwilli10@xxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 1:30 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT:Walter Voss Diax cameras
At 10:54 AM 10/23/2009, Mike wrote:
Richard,
I suspect you were thinking about the Kodak Signet 35 --
it has a
44m Ektar lens, which is an outstanding performer. The
camera is a
little quirky (max. shutter speed is only 1/300), but a
real joy to use...
Mike
In my high school days I used to covet the Kodak 35 but
got an Argus
C4, which turned out just fine, that is until I got my
2.8C in Hong
Kong. I kept the Argus until 2007, in a home-made
underwater
housing, at which time I just gave it to someone in this
group, or
maybe the Exakta group.
I also wanted a Kodak Medalist- Is "Medalist" correct as a
Kodak product?
Now I would go for a Rollei 35 as a favored classic
camera. I was at
a lecture/book signing by David Breshears after he wrote
his book
about filming Everest in Imax format. He spotted a Rollei
35 in the
audience and had the owner bring it up, saying it was a
superb camera
for mountain climbing.
DAW
Medalist is correct. Kodak made two versions of it, the
Medalist and Medelist II, the latter having a full synch
shutter and fully coated lens. The original Medalist lens
was coated only on inside surfaces since Kodak was using a
very soft coating at that time. The Medalist also appeared
in a military version, AFAIK exactly the same as the
civilian version.
The Medalist takes 620 film. It can be modified to take
120 but the job is reportedly difficult because of some
rather thin metal that much be machined. Ken Ruth, of
Photography on Bald Mountain does this mod.
The lens is one of a series designed by Fred Altman of
Kodak. It is a Heliar type but Altman states in his patent
that the extra element is used to control rim-rays so as to
improve correction at wider openings. Lenses based on the
same design were offered by Kodak as Kodak Enlarging Ektars,
and as a 105mm lens for small press cameras. There were some
others. Altman seems to be among only a few designers to
revisit the Heliar. One other was Lionel B. Booth with the
Dallmeyer Pentac. The Kodak lens is reputedly excellent but
the camera shares with other Kodak cameras rather poor
ergonomics. Also, while the rangefinder has a long base the
very small focusing window makes it difficult to use. The
camera is also nose-heavy but that may actually steady it
for some people.
It has always bothered me that Kodak did not make
cameras of equal quality to their lenses. I think they had
the means to do it but for some reason did not. They did
make very good view and studio cameras and a good motion
picture camera but their still cameras mostly left something
to be desired. I do not include the Retina series in this,
they were quite good cameras, but it was not a product of
Kodak in Rochester.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
Rollei List
- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org
- Online, searchable archives are available at
//www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list
Other related posts:
