You would be hard-pressed to discover a better-looking digital camera than this forgotten magnificence from Kodak. Okay, so the Kodak Medalist II isn’t precisely a forgotten gem. Movie digital camera fanatics are effectively conscious of this medium-format rangefinder’s high-quality options and appears. However a few current Instagram posts from @bluemooncamera showcase this Forties time capsule in all its Artwork Deco-inspired glory.
Unsurprisingly, it is piqued the Web’s curiosity. If you happen to’re pondering of selecting one up on the used market, you would possibly need to get in there rapidly, lest costs hike…
The newest video exhibits the Kodak Medalist II in motion. Its attractive Ektar 100mm f/3.5 optic being retracted, its totally detachable again being put aside as a brand new roll of 620 movie is positioned inside and that chunky rewind knob getting used to roll the movie on. However the eagle-eyed will discover that the movie in query is Kodak Portra 160, a 120 roll of movie. So what offers?
The Medalist sequence – Kodak’s golden boys
The Kodak Medalist II was launched in 1947 because the successor to the – practically as enticing – Kodak Medalist, launched in 1941. It was constructed to be used by Allied forces through the Second World Battle, whereas the Medalist II’s peacetime launch was aimed on the civilian market. Upgrades from the unique Medalist included a Kodak Flash Supermatic shutter and lumenized lens coating.
Certainly, each cameras had been extraordinarily effectively obtained of their day. They each featured a retractable Ektar 100mm f/3.5 optic and shot attractive stills through 620 movie. However regardless of Kodak’s greatest efforts, 620 movie by no means actually took off. That is why @bluemooncamera is loading Kodak 160 into its Medalist II.
You see, 620 and 120 movie share the identical dimensions – it is the completely different spool sizes that trigger compatibility points. Given the larger availability of 120 movie (historically), it is not unusual to search out 620 cameras – together with the Kodak Medalist II – which were transformed to accommodate 120 movie. Price remembering, for those who’re looking on the used market. Nevertheless, you can even discover 120 movie that’s been loaded onto a 620 spool, which is what @bluemooncamera has completed within the video and has out there for buy on its web site.
The fashionable movie digital camera growth has additionally seen larger availability of latest 620 movie rolls, that means there’s loads of life in these resplendent medium-format-relics but. However even for those who come throughout a Medalist II that is not working, I can consider fewer cameras that will make a extra becoming showpiece. Simply take a look at that beautiful top-down view in @bluemooncamera’s Instagram publish under.
In my thoughts, its distinctively chunky aesthetic, attractive lens housing, and artwork deco dials make the Kodak Medalist II the best-looking digital camera ever made. And a real testomony to its famed designer Walter Dorwin Teague.
Inquisitive about your individual slice of digital camera historical past? Take a look at the greatest movie cameras and greatest movie.
