Kodak Medalist II

<p>I finally got around to developing the first roll of film through my new (to me) Kodak Medalist II. I must say, that the Ektar lens on this camera is everything that I expected it to be from reading people's opinions online. In particular, fairly wide open, it delivers very sharp results. I have been lurlking on this forum for quite some time, and decided to finally post something and share some pictures.<br>

The first image was taken a few days ago at Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico. The sun was just setting behind the rim of the other side of the canyon...<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3153929552_27f451a53b_b.jpg" alt="" width="684" height="1024" /></p>

<p>This image was taken a few days earlier in Santa Fe, NM. This is the upstairs of an old hacienda close to the St. Francis Cathedral. The place is called La Casa Sena and for some reason I keep coming back to it to take pictures there. The light is usually best in the morinng...<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/3153068023_6258819144_b.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Happy new year to everyone!<br>

- Markus</p>

<p>NIce photos Markus, I sent you a email.</p>

<p>Excellent shots Markus. The Medalist is a great camera with excellent glass. Just not so ergonomically friendly. I had both the I & II. I would load color in the II, and B&W in the I. What film and dev. did you use for these shots?</p>

<p>Thanks!<br>

I used Fuji Acros 100 developed in D76 stock for 7 1/4 minutes at 20C as the massive development chart suggests (scanned on an Epson 4490 with vuescan).</p>

<p>Nice sharp pics and good detail.</p>

Sweet pics! Like that first one, perfect subject for that camera. Welcome to our nutty club.

<p>Hi Markus, Nice shots! Love the first one. Nice range of tones.</p>

<p>Wonderful shots.</p>

<p>Greta shots, the Medalist, like a lot of US made cameras, wasn't all that pretty....but very well made with great optics...you'll have fun!<br>

Tony</p>

Nice Work- Love the second shot. There's something about Verandas. When the light is right! I think this is abeautiful balance of light and shadow. Thanks for Posting!

<p>Great work, Markus. Great tonal graduations in those photographs. There's really no substitute for a big negative, and Acros is a fine film. Welcome!</p>

<p>Great stuff Markus. Where are you getting the 620 film, or are you respooling 120?</p>

<p>Ed, I'm respooling 120 onto 620 spools of which I have about eight. It's easy enough after some practicing.</p>

<p>I have a number of Kodak cameras that came with 620 spools in them. To accumulate those spools by building up a collection is a lot more fun than just buying the spools by themselves. My favorite 620 camera is definitely the Medalist, but the Monitor and Reflex II are very nice as well. The shutter on the Reflex II is a pain to get to if it needs to be cleaned and adjusted, and the bellows on the Monitors often have light leaks, although I managed to find two with intact bellows, one with an uncoated and one with a lumenized Anastigmat Special lens... now I am rambling. How about another picture, this one was taken with my Monitor with uncoated Anastigmat Special lens:</p>

<p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2237/2072884418_c95ec5cda3_b.jpg" alt="" /></p>

 

<p>Your last shot is great. Love the first one too. So far I've shot just one roll of the Acros and can't tell if I like it or hate it. It depends on the subject matter I think, and it really shines w/ landscapes. Bumping the contrast up really seems to help w/ this film.</p>

<p>Keep up the good work. Shooting B&W w/ old classic MF cameras can sometimes result in amazing images.</p>

<p>Wow, Markus! These are really very nice shots, but that last one is spectacular. I've never had the privilege of using the Medalist, but I'd like to one day. It sure seems to work quite well in your hands.</p>

<p>These were 5 element Heliar/Pentac type lenses and Kodak did them better than any other company in the world.</p>

<p>They also did the same type lenses in Kodak enlarging Ektars at 50mm f 4.5 and 75mm f 4.5. All of Kodak's Micro LF apo lenses were also among the world's best in 5 element.</p>

<p>Lynn </p>