Converting a Medalist II for wide angle....

[cschwer]

Hello, I recently spoke to Ken Ruth about converting Kodak Medalist II camera for use with a wide angle lens. It was my idea to use a Kodak 80 wide field ektar lens mounted into the Medalist Shutter... Ken seemed to think that the camera could be modified to do this but did not know if the wide field ektar lens would just screw into the Medalist shutter or not..

Does anyone know whether the 80 Wide Field Ektar lens will mount correctly into the Kodak Medalist Flash Supermatic Shutter... I would love to do this and the slower speed of the WFE lens is no problem for me.... Just wondering

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[mbisc]

Wow, great idea (might tempt me to get a second Medalist II). Already have a 80WFE from my Crown Graphic 23..

Don't know the answer, but will watch here for the answer!

 

[oftheherd]

I have no idea. Hopefully someone who has on can do some measurements to tell you if it is possible. Alternatively, you might want to consider something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodak-Medal...aultDomain_0&hash=item5d36965c55#ht_930wt_896

I have no association to the seller, just noted it when out of curiosity I googled that camera.

 

[Brian Legge]

Hmm. Seems like the biggest challenges would be making the rangefinder align correctly and either attaching elements to the existing shutter or replacing the shutter and making the cocking still work. Ditching the shutter coupling and manually cocking it would probably be simpler.

Definitely an interesting project. 🙂

 

[EdSawyer]

infinity?

infinity?

how would you get the shorter lens to focus to infinity? I doubt the helicoid would go back that far without modification... And as mentioned, rangefinder alignment would need work.

 

[mbisc]

how would you get the shorter lens to focus to infinity? I doubt the helicoid would go back that far without modification...

That shouldn't be a problem -- in "park" position, the current lens is much closer to the body than infinity, and the difference between 90mm and 100mm is less than an inch.

Rangerfinder calibration would obviously be needed, but shouldn't be a problem for folks like Mr. Ruth...

 

[mbisc]

Hmm. Seems like the biggest challenges would be making the rangefinder align correctly and either attaching elements to the existing shutter or replacing the shutter and making the cocking still work. Ditching the shutter coupling and manually cocking it would probably be simpler.

Definitely an interesting project. 🙂

Firing the lens at the shutter would be a hassle, so the current shutter (and its intricate coupling for winding and film transport) would need to stay.

 

[Thomas78]

A cable release would be an easy solution to fire an alternative shutter.

I think coupling the rangefinder to a different focal lenght would be a real challenge as you have to reshape the rangefinder cam.