Kodak Medalist II

[alexvaras]

Well... It finally came, it took one month to get Moscow from NJ thanks to the "wonderful" eBay Global Shipping Thingy.

Later I will post some pics of the camera, I just unscrewed the lenses to clean them. The camera is fine, just the high speeds are lower, as I read about this models and springs could be out of tension already, at the moment I can live with 200 speed maximum.
The first is on stand-by position, lens retracted, do not press or move anything at this point, manual says shutter will break.
Then lens is out and then focus and shutter release is possible, pics #2 and #3.
Its heavy yes, but still confortable to wear it with a wide strap, at least with a winter coat its fine. And yes, it takes people attention.

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Results from the test roll #1, sadly there are 3 pics I cannot post due the lack of permission to post of the subjects of the portraits, but I can tell one of those portraits is the best I made so far. C'est la vie.
The purpose of this test roll was check the rangefinder and response of the lens, I can say I'm more than satisfied with the results, just one comment... the DOF of 6x9 kills me, so narrow... two of them were slightly out of focus, I need or more sun or 400 asa film, this was ACROS 100, the good thing is that the rangefinder is super accurate and the out of focus things was just the subject or camera move 5cm back or forward and your are out already...





Thanks for watching,
Alex

[GrahamS]

Interesting camera - nice photos. It has a nice lens. Your B&W processing/scanning is superb, Alex.

[P C Headland]

Nice to see a camera that's gone the other way - west to east.

The portrait is really nice, the way the focus falls off, the natural lighting as well as some nice processing / scanning.

[alexvaras]

Thank you Graham and P C, I will take the half of the "credit" as you know I don't do the developing nor the scanning. I'm lucky for the lab we have here in Moscow.
I'm afraid if I start to do it, it will ruin all the photos till I can do it fine... And I cannot afford any of these super scanners, just the epson photo v550 is on my range, I would prefer to invest on a enlarger and all the stuff but still need the approval of my wife.

Yes P C, I never saw a Medalist II here in any ad in Moscow, only one Medalist I body without the lens Not common the west to east, for this market the farest west is Germany.

[Julio1fer]

Excellent camera and results there, Alex. The Medalist lens has a superb reputation and it looks like your example supports it.

I have find it useful to think of the DOF of 6x9 normal lenses as if they were a tele lens in 35mm. Care is needed with focus at the larger apertures, and you need a well-calibrated RF. A useful technique for precise focus is moving oneself a few centimeters towards or away from the subject, instead of moving the focus ring, to get focus exactly where you want it; it takes practice but it is much faster.

Your muscles will get stronger with the Medalist. It seems that you were able to respool 120 to 620 without trouble!

Developing your own B&W film is cheap, fun and simple. Once you get organized, it means just getting hold of a bathroom or kitchen for about 1 hour. It can be done almost anywhere with a changing bag or a closed space that can be completely darkened, such as a small interior bathroom or large closet.

In your position I would plan for scanning your own first; developing your own film as soon as you can afterwards, and only consider wet printing later on. Wet printing is more complicated in technique than film developing and needs a lot more space and gear. If you have a good printer (I use an Epson L210 with ink tanks), scanning and printing is good enough and a lot more practical than wet printing (which gives better quality, of course, but only if you master it).

The V550 would be excellent for 120 film and more than enough for 35mm - it is better than my V600 which gives me very good results.

[alexvaras]

Gracias Julio!

I will start with the scanner and then the film developing.
About wet printing... I did it already when I was 15 years old, I know that for a good print I will need at least one hour, the system changed since when I did it I had numeration to the print, 1 soft, 5 hard contrast, now I read its multigrade and you do put the contrast through filters on the light. Isn't it?
The backdraws of wet printing are 1) to kidnap the bathroom of my house, 2) busy life and family stuff won't let me 2-3 hours to setup, enlarge, pack and clean, it would be stressful and this has to be for enjoy. Number 2) means I need to wait my daughter get out from family-house and setup the lab in her room... 3) Find an enlarger with 6x9 holder is not going to be cheap Im afraid...
What was the printer you said?? I never found printers good enough comparing to wet printing, we will see.
Another option, join the nearest photo club with lab, sounds good in theory.

Thanks for the focusing tip Julio, I already tried and its much faster.

[Julio1fer]

Alex, you should try what works best for your case. A photo club with lab could well be a reasonable option.

I also did wet printing back in the old days of fiber paper with different contrast grades; I believe I made my last wet print about 1974 or so. Never used the current technology with filters for different contrast grade; and do not have the time, space and gear (and most of all, the will or taste) to start wet printing again. Besides I have about the same space / logistics problems that you mention.

My printer is an Epson L210, a desk / home model that combines document scanner and printer in the same box. The important feature is that It uses ink tanks instead of cartridges, which frees you from cartridge costs and issues. There should be more recent models.

[PFMcFarland]

Man, those cameras were made to last! I don't think I've ever seen an abused one, Alex, as the owners usually take very good care of them. Which is good for folks like yourself who now own them. Like I said on Flickr, it seems you've found your portrait camera. That quasi teary eyed happy face, and the male subject are excellent examples of what it is capable of. Congratulations on the ownership.

PF

[alexvaras]

Thank you Julio and Phil! Appreciated!

[BillyBob]

2) busy life and family stuff won't let me 2-3 hours to setup, enlarge, pack and clean, it would be stressful and this has to be for enjoy.

This! My experience was the same - though it was a photo club darkroom (as Julio suggests below). I rarely had time to go in, so when I did it was a mad scramble to get everything done; ended up being more stressful than enjoyable.

Part of my problem was that I was doing my developing in the same session. Developing your film at home and then focusing <rimshot> your darkroom time on printing - and setting realistic expectations on how many prints you're coming home with (pick a few negs to work on) - might be a reasonable trade off.

All that said, I've seen some fantastic b&w inkjet prints.

Cheers!
Bill