Kodak Signet 35

[elaydad]

Hi y'all
anyone using a signet 35 ?

[bmattock]

Hi y'all
anyone using a signet 35 ?

No, but I've wanted one for awhile. I occasionally watch an auction or two, they tend to sit there with a single 99 cent bid and then pop up to $20 at the last minute. Someday I'll get one for dirt cheap.

According to info on the web, it's the best of the Signet series, with a rather nice Kodak lens. I've handled one at a camera show - heavier than I thought it would be, a nice rangefinder patch (triangular, if I recall correctly) but the viewfinder on that one was dim, so I passed on it.

Have you one, and if so, do you like it?

[bob338]

great camera, i use mine all the time. here's a threqad from a few months back...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51704&highlight=kodak+signet

[elaydad]

I just got one , had it converted to X sync. ran a roll of iso 200 film through it . the results are on par with my Leica mini ,very nice indeed.

[bob338]

i was just in the reading room where i have a stack of old photography magazines and stumbled across this article from modern photography july 1953...

[bob338]

and the rest of the article and an ad from the back cover...

[elaydad]

thanks bob338 that's very nice of you-- I have more fun and better results with the signet 35 than most any rangefinder I own

[ErnestoJL]

Hi folks!
Nice to know that some Signet 35s are still shooting film!
Mine doesn´t have yet X synch as I didn´t have the need of it nor the adapter to a PC type plug, but as I almost never use a flash...
I agree with you elaydad in regard of the fun of using such a simple camera.
Bob 338, may I ask you to send me by mail the scanned pages telling about the Signet35?

Thanks in advance.

Ernesto

[FallisPhoto]

No, but I've wanted one for awhile. I occasionally watch an auction or two, they tend to sit there with a single 99 cent bid and then pop up to $20 at the last minute. Someday I'll get one for dirt cheap.

Exactly! I've bid on about 12 of them so far and the exact same thing happens every time.

[xayraa33]

these should be found at garage sales in the coming months.

[FallisPhoto]

I've bid on about 12 of them so far and the exact same thing happens every time.

Now it's 14. I got outbid on two more.

[FallisPhoto]

I Finally Got One!!!!!!!!!

Took 16 tries though.

[bmattock]

Congratulations!

[literiter]

I'm still sort of excited about a Retina iiia I've got coming. Perhaps in another week.

Now I've got my eye on a Signet as well. (thanks to you guys) It's a tad ugly, but if it's cheap enough I'll do it.

[pschauss]

After reading this thread I dug out the Signet 35 which belonged to my Grandfather. The shutter is a bit sticky, especially at 1/25 and 1/50. Is there anyone in the NYC area who can do a CLA on it for me?

[ErnestoJL]

After reading this thread I dug out the Signet 35 which belonged to my Grandfather. The shutter is a bit sticky, especially at 1/25 and 1/50. Is there anyone in the NYC area who can do a CLA on it for me?

If you feel confident to DIY, go to
www.daniel.mitchell.name/cameras/index.php
and then look for Kodak Signet 35.
You´ll see it´s a very easy task.

Cheers

Ernesto

[FallisPhoto]

After reading this thread I dug out the Signet 35 which belonged to my Grandfather. The shutter is a bit sticky, especially at 1/25 and 1/50. Is there anyone in the NYC area who can do a CLA on it for me?

This will be my first Signet, but I have worked on other people's before. Pretty much the only rangefinder I can think of offhand that's easier to CLA yourself is the Argus C-3. Go to Dan Mitchell's page (as mentioned in ErnestoJL's reply) for instructions on how to do it. It's a breeze. No need to send it anywhere.

[FallisPhoto]

Got my Signet this morning and spent most of the day working on it. It has been stripped down, cleaned, polished and buffed within an inch of its life, lubed and reassembled. Now it's loaded with film and ready for action. These are really easy to work on.

[bmattock]

Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[FallisPhoto]

Looking forward to seeing the photos!

And here it is:

[Windscale]

Beautiful rangefinder. But just that little bit too heavy for me.

[pshinkaw]

I picked up mine 3 years ago in e-Bay. They nice little cameras.

[Encinalense]

I just picked one of these up at Hollywood Camera, in Portland OR. It was a bit pricier than the e-bay sales, but then I got to examine it closely and -- way more important -- spend a bit of time chatting with the unbelievably nice old guy running that shop. He's generous with his experiences and happy to spend as much or little time talking about cameras -- and he likes RFs -- as you want.

Anyway. I posted some low-res shots to the gallery, stuff from a test roll of Kroger brand 200 (anyone know who makes that, really?). I'm really pleased with the camera. Here's a link to a slightly higher-res image at Picasa:

http://picasaweb.google.com/smchadwell/KodakSignetTestRoll/photo#5218217169950928754
http://picasaweb.google.com/smchadwell/KodakSignetTestRoll/photo#5218217169950928754http://picasaweb.google.com/smchadwell/KodakSignetTestRoll/photo#5218217169950928754
http://picasaweb.google.com/smchadwell/KodakSignetTestRoll/photo#5218217169950928754

[mh2000]

good lens, bad shutter... I got sick of fixing it every 4 or 5 rolls of film.

[racoll]

It really is a great lens with a cheap shutter. The camera can allow you to get really nice shots, though.

[FallisPhoto]

It really is a great lens with a cheap shutter. The camera can allow you to get really nice shots, though.

Fortunately, the only easier shutter to work on came on a Argus. The Signet's shutter is very easy to get into and it's easy to fix and clean. Good thing, because I think we'll be doing it a lot.

[racoll]

Fortunately, the only easier shutter to work on came on a Argus. The Signet's shutter is very easy to get into and it's easy to fix and clean. Good thing, because I think we'll be doing it a lot.

I think it's about time for me to take mine apart and give it a good once-over.

[retro]

A black (olive?) Signet 35 recently sold on eBay for $231 here (http://cgi.ebay.com/kodak-signet-35-camera-synchro300-shutter_W0QQitemZ350075321828QQihZ022QQcategoryZ47 01QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem).

[68degrees]

Got my Signet this morning and spent most of the day working on it. It has been stripped down, cleaned, polished and buffed within an inch of its life, lubed and reassembled. Now it's loaded with film and ready for action. These are really easy to work on.

how far did you strip it down? Have any pics of the final buffed camera?

[CliveC]

I just picked up one of these myself. Pretty decent shape cosmetically, but two problems so far:

1. The shutter button requires a large amount of force before the shutter snaps (though the speeds seem relatively accurate)
2. The rangefinder is extremely dim, pretty much only viewable when pointed at a bright contrasty light source. When I put a finger over the viewfinder hole, it shows two triangles. Probably a misalignment somewhere. Ranges seem a little off as well.

I may shoot a roll with scale focusing to get a gander at the lens and see if the shutter is indeed accurate, but it'll probably be mostly a display piece.

[ZeissFan]

Sounds like your camera needs to be serviced. The shutter release requires very little pressure to trip the shutter, and the rangefinder patch (although small) should have good contrast.

These are very nice cameras, although I find it to be a bit small.

[Tiger 68]

Hello Clive,

The Signet 35 is quite easy to work on. After years of neglect, I cleaned up mine with some simple tools, Q-tips, alcohol and Naptha. There are some good instructions here:

http://pheugo.com/cameras/index.php?page=signet35&WEBMGR=709e563a7cd93ab89523392c6cdc2ffe

Regards,
BV

[CliveC]

I found out why my shutter was so hard to press, and it's a completely boneheaded thing I did. I forgot that some cameras lock out the shutter if the middle sprocket does not turn (i.e. no film in the camera). I gave it a few turns and voila, shutter released.

I managed to disassemble the lens using the instructions above (you guys were right, dead easy to open up). No problems seen really. I'll have to see if I can go in and clean the rangefinder bits. Still doesn't really explain the two triangles I see.

I guess I will need to insert film to test the advance and frame counter.

[CliveC]

Okay, I had a bit of time this evening so I opened up the Signet and wiped down the pieces of glass (ignoring the mirror, which I'm told should not be touched). The view is now cleaner (and my Q-tip dirtier), but I am still seeing two superimposed triangles where there really should be one. Doing my first rangefinder calibration using the adjustment hole at the top of the lens (under the aperture scale), I've managed to align it somewhat (the left triangle seems to correspond with correct distance now). If the two triangles were aligned, it would give me a much brighter patch, but alas, it's barely visible indoors.

Anybody have any ideas where the misalignment could be that would cause two horizontally superimposing triangles?


Also, I've read through the site mentioned and I do not quite understand how to make sure the film counter works. I have yet to test the camera with film, but in my eye, the film advance never worked when it arrived. It seems like a rather simple system where the advance will ratchet the gear in the counter one tick, but I don't see how I can position the lever while inserting the top back on simultaneously.

The instructions on the site reads: "When reinstalling the top cover, push down on the lever next to the film sprocket so that the film counter pawl is pulled back. Slide the cover on and release the lever. This is necessary to reseat the film counter ratchet."

I can manually pull back what I assume to be the pawl, but as I said, it would be impossible to slip the cover back on without it snapping back in place.

Please forgive my ramblings, I'm a complete novice to camera repair, though the Signet 35 seems like a good place to start.

[68degrees]

Okay, I had a bit of time this evening so I opened up the Signet and wiped down the pieces of glass (ignoring the mirror, which I'm told should not be touched). The view is now cleaner (and my Q-tip dirtier), but I am still seeing two superimposed triangles where there really should be one. Doing my first rangefinder calibration using the adjustment hole at the top of the lens (under the aperture scale), I've managed to align it somewhat (the left triangle seems to correspond with correct distance now). If the two triangles were aligned, it would give me a much brighter patch, but alas, it's barely visible indoors.

Anybody have any ideas where the misalignment could be that would cause two horizontally superimposing triangles?


Also, I've read through the site mentioned and I do not quite understand how to make sure the film counter works. I have yet to test the camera with film, but in my eye, the film advance never worked when it arrived. It seems like a rather simple system where the advance will ratchet the gear in the counter one tick, but I don't see how I can position the lever while inserting the top back on simultaneously.

The instructions on the site reads: "When reinstalling the top cover, push down on the lever next to the film sprocket so that the film counter pawl is pulled back. Slide the cover on and release the lever. This is necessary to reseat the film counter ratchet."

I can manually pull back what I assume to be the pawl, but as I said, it would be impossible to slip the cover back on without it snapping back in place.

Please forgive my ramblings, I'm a complete novice to camera repair, though the Signet 35 seems like a good place to start.

to get the cover on and counter wheel engaged you need to hold it back with a loop of thread or floss, or nylon fishing line, then put the cover on and as you get the cover almost on let go of one end of the loop of floss and pull it out and the counter whell will be engaged. Have a test roll of 35mm film to test your cameras.

[CliveC]

to get the cover on and counter wheel engaged you need to hold it back with a loop of thread or floss, or nylon fishing line, then put the cover on and as you get the cover almost on let go of one end of the loop of floss and pull it out and the counter whell will be engaged. Have a test roll of 35mm film to test your cameras.

Brilliant! Will try that tomorrow when I'm less bleary-eyed.