I wanted a Signet 35 for decades, but I was only dimly aware of that desire until just recently.
My step-father acquired one of these in the mid-'50s when I was a teenager. I don't recall him using it, but I do remember how impressed I was at the time with the compact, elegant styling of the camera. What brought that distant past into focus was an ad on Craigslist for a Signet 35 for $10.
The cosmetic appearance of the camera was not bad, but the shutter only worked sluggishly and the viewfinder was nearly opaque. Luckily, this is one of the easiest rangefinder cameras to work on, and a bit of light cleaning of the optics and mechanics got everything working fine. There are excellent on line resources for servicing the Signet 35 including the pheugo site, Mike Elek and Chris Sherlock. The Kodak Signet 35 user manual is available on line from Butkus.
The Signet 35 shares a number of design features with the contemporary Kodak Bantam RF, however the plastic-bodied Bantam used 828 roll film, while the even smaller Signet accommodated 35mm cassettes. The Signet 35 body was sturdy cast aluminum, which made it more suitable for the military applications to which it was put during the Korean War period. The manual cocking shutter has a limited but adequate range of speeds going up to 1/300. The Ektar lens is a Tessar type, and of outstanding quality.
I included a bit of the camera's frame mask in the last shot to illustrate a curious feature which the Signet 35 shares with both the plastic and the metal-bodied Bantams. I have never found a satisfactory explanation for those little notches on the left side of the image. I assume they had something to do with the assembly or adjustment of the camera in the factory. Kodak, like most big manufacturing concerns in those days, was very secretive about their design and construction processes, and it seems unlikely at this point that the question of the notches will get an authoritative answer. It is also something of a mystery as to why the company did not further pursue the design innovations incorporated in the Signet 35.
My step-father acquired one of these in the mid-'50s when I was a teenager. I don't recall him using it, but I do remember how impressed I was at the time with the compact, elegant styling of the camera. What brought that distant past into focus was an ad on Craigslist for a Signet 35 for $10.
The cosmetic appearance of the camera was not bad, but the shutter only worked sluggishly and the viewfinder was nearly opaque. Luckily, this is one of the easiest rangefinder cameras to work on, and a bit of light cleaning of the optics and mechanics got everything working fine. There are excellent on line resources for servicing the Signet 35 including the pheugo site, Mike Elek and Chris Sherlock. The Kodak Signet 35 user manual is available on line from Butkus.
The Signet 35 shares a number of design features with the contemporary Kodak Bantam RF, however the plastic-bodied Bantam used 828 roll film, while the even smaller Signet accommodated 35mm cassettes. The Signet 35 body was sturdy cast aluminum, which made it more suitable for the military applications to which it was put during the Korean War period. The manual cocking shutter has a limited but adequate range of speeds going up to 1/300. The Ektar lens is a Tessar type, and of outstanding quality.
I included a bit of the camera's frame mask in the last shot to illustrate a curious feature which the Signet 35 shares with both the plastic and the metal-bodied Bantams. I have never found a satisfactory explanation for those little notches on the left side of the image. I assume they had something to do with the assembly or adjustment of the camera in the factory. Kodak, like most big manufacturing concerns in those days, was very secretive about their design and construction processes, and it seems unlikely at this point that the question of the notches will get an authoritative answer. It is also something of a mystery as to why the company did not further pursue the design innovations incorporated in the Signet 35.
Kodak Signet 35
Reviewed by Unknown
on
April 04, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
April 04, 2018
Rating:
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