Kodak Signet 35

Kodak Signet 35 (1952) by Rick Soloway

The Kodak Signet 35 was Kodak's top American-made 35mm camera of the 1950's and the first of the Kodak Signet camera line. The Signet 35 has a coupled coincident image rangefinder, an excellent Ektar 44mm f3.5 lens with rear helicoid focus, automatic film stop counter with double exposure prevention, all built into a sturdy cast aluminum alloy body. You have to manually cock the shutter. The shutter works fairly well, but compared with the shutters on equivalent German and Japanese cameras of the period, it's a real disappointment. The Signet 35 originally sold for $95 USD (app. $810 USD in 2007). The design was by Arthur H Crapsey, and it was made between February 1951 - March 1958. The signet 35 is a very interesting camera as it shows some details that make it special, however not comparable to german and japanese counterparts of the time: The lens was the best Tessar formulae adapted to newer glass types and surprisingly focal distance (44mm) is the closest ever to the real DF for 35mm (it is 43.3mm). It´s extremely strong as the body itself is a thick cast machined aluminum single piece. Both advance and rewind are operated by big toothed wheels, able to be operated with gloves. The shutter release button is a big plate able too to be operated with gloves. The shutter itself is an extremely simple design having big levers to set both speed and aperture (also allowing to use gloves). Another unusual feature is the film pressure plate which, instead of being flat black, is made of a bright mirror finished chromed plate. The masive focusing assy. is made with a ball bearing making it easy and smooth, the focusing lever, again is able to be used with gloves because of its size. There are two other versions: one finished in black anodized aluminum made for the USAF, and another finished in olive green made for the Army. The camera itself is mad of aluminum alloy (body), chromed brass and some stailess steel part, which is unusual. Being the price of this camera when released (USD 95.00) much more expensive than other superior models of the same series (Signet 40 USD 50.00) leads to think that this camera was a civilized version of a military designed camera. What remains is that the designer made a simple and strong camera able to survive exposition to a very harsh environment and esay to be field serviced. Another interesting as well as unusual feature is the sliding rule type exposure calculator (that´s in the removable backplate), which is set for the available (at the time) film. The calculator is built upon two small sliding rules that shows suggested exposure settings depending on lighting conditions, and is very accurate but relying on personal experience and intended for use with Kodak made film only.

La Kodak Signet 35 era una cámara fotográfica de 35mm, americana de gama superior de Kodak de los años 50. Es telémetrica, con objetivo excelente Ektar de 44mm/f3.5, con el foco helicoide posterior, contador automático de película, con un sistema de doble prevencion de la exposición, construida todo en un cuerpo robusto de aleación de aluminio moldeado. Se tiene que cargar manualmente el obturador. El obturador funciona bastante bien, pero comparado con los obturadores en las cámaras fotográficas alemanas y japonesas equivalentes del período, es verdaderamente inferior. Diseñado por Arthur H Crapsey, y se realizó entre febrero de 1951 y marzo de 1958.

Kodak Signet 35 (1952) by Flickr user jgs4309976

Links

• PDF Manual on Mike Butkus's site
• Repair Notes
• Signet 35 at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr
• History of Kodak Cameras