Anyone here shooting Medalists? NSFW

[Sanders McNew]

Steve, thanks. I didn't take the Medalist
with me to the delivery room so I had to
make do with a Rolleiflex:

 

[Silva Lining]

Congratulations on the new arrival!!

Lovely pictures too 😉

 

[dcsang]

That is seriously incredible - I don't think the camera has much to do with it as much as it does the photographer but this makes me consider the cam as I've vacillated lately about going back into medium format and use the Epson 2450 again. Can this cam take 120? or is that what "620" is?

Congratulations on your newborn child. May he/she be healthy, and grow to be wise, honest, and loving.... everything a parent could want from a child 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Bingley]

Congratulations to you and Melanie, Sanders! That's a lovely, lovely portrait. Looks like you've got a new model, too. 🙂

 

[Sanders McNew]

I ended up sending my Medalist to Ken Ruth
for a cleaning and conversion to 120. I just
got it back -- the rangefinder is 1000 percent
easier to use now, and it's great to be able to
load 120 rolls into the camera. I took this photo
of Melanie and Charlie last weekend with it:



I love this camera. 🙂

 

[P C Headland]

Great series of shots you've shown, and proof of how capable old cameras can be. Of course the beings on either side of the lens help too.

I'm sure that the camera will get a great deal of use now with the wee one.

Best wishes to all of you.

 

[Sanders McNew]

Johan, a complete conversion runs over $300. I had
Ken convert only the feed-side -- you still use a 620
spool for take-up but you load a 120 roll, so you don't
have to respool before shooting -- that runs about $95.
It's worth asking Ken if he has any for sale. Manfred
Schmidt in Chicago also converts and sells Medalists
and he would be a good source for a purchase as well.

Steve, yes, this is a negative scan from Tri-X processed
in HC-110, scanned on an Epson 4990 flatbed.

Thanks, all, for the compliments and good wishes.

Sanders

 

[Al Kaplan]

If you want to stay faithful to the spirit of the Medalist you should look for a Kodak Precision enlarger, which was made about the same time. I bought mine used about 40 years ago and over the years I've picked up a bunch of original accessories and about every negative carrier made for it. The one for 6.5 X 9cm sheet film is a perfect match for the 2.25 X 3.5 inch Brooks Plaubel Veriwide 100 negatives. There's also a cool thing that swings under the lens, where the red filter goes, with three color seperation filters. I plan on replacing these with Multigrade filters.

 

[Burlap Jacket]

I didn't realize that Ken's Medalist conversion was so affordable. I should seriously consider that for mine. Here's a recent shot I took with my Medalist II. HP5 @ 800 in Rodinal.

 

[furcafe]

As of a few years ago, I think Mr. Schmidt only offered feed-side conversions, not the full, though that may have changed.

Johan, a complete conversion runs over $300. I had
Ken convert only the feed-side -- you still use a 620
spool for take-up but you load a 120 roll, so you don't
have to respool before shooting -- that runs about $95.
It's worth asking Ken if he has any for sale. Manfred
Schmidt in Chicago also converts and sells Medalists
and he would be a good source for a purchase as well.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Sorry Johan,

I handed over one of my Medalist I cameras to the guy who wanted to buy it last weekend. The other one I'm keeping for now.

I don't use my Medalists very often, maybe 1 roll a year.

Here's some Adox 25 film respooled to 620 that I shot in September (yes I need to clean my scanner)

I'm contemplating having Ken Ruth convert the one I have left, at least the feeding side. Respooling is indeed a bit of a p.i.t.a.
Also thinking about getting a Medalist II for this and leave the I in it's original state.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I had given up on this roll, the scans from the negatives were just horrible when using the original HP software for my G4050. It wasn't until I re-scanned them with Vuescan that I was wonderfully surprised.

This was a grossly underexposed image from the same roll:

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Congratulations Johan,

I'm interested to hear what your experiences with Ken Ruth's service will be.

 

[raid]

I am getting interested in such a Medalist camera. Frank's suggestion to use another [cheap] camera for respooling is excellent.

Needless to say, Sanders, your work is inspiring.

 

[Burlap Jacket]

Question: anybody care to tell me what the original lens hood actually is? I found shots online, but haven't got a clue as to filter size, whether a series VI filter size or not, etc.

Congrats on the Medalist. I'm a proud owner 🙂

I found a Tiffen Series VI hood off of ebay a few years ago and it's worked fine on my Medalist II. Only paid a couple of bucks for it too.

 

[amateriat]

Sanders: I'm almost certain NPC would take a crack at working on that Medalist. (Edit: I see you've gotten work done on it already.)

Wonderful photos. Congratulations to you both!


- Barrett

 

[furcafe]

The correct hood is Series VI thread, same as lenses for the Ektra (w/appropriate adapter, not needed for the Medalist). The filters are a smaller size that I can't recall that slip into a slot (no threads) between the lens & hood.

Question: anybody care to tell me what the original lens hood actually is? I found shots online, but haven't got a clue as to filter size, whether a series VI filter size or not, etc.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

On a side note: on Photo.net a fellow Dutchie is currently experimenting with running 220 film through a Medalist II. You only have to respool once per roll that way.

He loads the film and winds to the edge of where the film starts and then advances by three turns of the advance knob. We're waiting on his results 😉


Congratulations on finally acquiring your Medalist, Johan. Looking forward to seeing some results as well.

 

[Paul T.]

Wonderful photos, Sanders - there's a real luminous quality to them.

 

[Sanders McNew]

Thanks, Paul. I need to take the Medalist
for a spin this week -- I'll post here if I
make something worth viewing.