I’ll be honest up front - In my opinion, most of Kodak’s 1950s 35mm cameras not named Retina are fairly basic cameras with Bakelite and aluminum bodies. While the Pony 135 and its variants were aimed at the occasional photographer, and at a lower price point, the Retinas were high-end cameras demanding a higher price (see my previous post on Kodak’s Retinas). The middle ground in post-war America was taken by the Kodak Signet series, with more user-friendly features, good optics, and attractive looks. If your main US-based competition in mid-50s America is Argus, then it should have been a no-brainer for a large company like Kodak to challenge the popular Argus C-3 which has the ergonomics of a brick, or the more friendly-looking Argus C-4. The Signet 35 first appeared in 1953, and while an attractive camera, it also looks a like the Kodak Chevron, a medium-format 6x6 rangefinder camera. The Signet 35 advanced the film with a winding knob, much like the Pony models, and the Argus C-4. The Signet 40 was introduced the year I was born - 1956, and is a more streamlined camera - with almost Art Moderne-like styling (think of diners).
The Signet 40 features a 46mm f/3.5 Ektanon lens (3 elements), Kodak Synchro 400 shutter, with B, and 1/5-1/400 sec speeds. The aperture range is f/3.5-f/22. Focus is from 2 feet to infinity. The triangular rangefinder spot is bright, and there is no protruding eyepiece to scratch your glasses. The camera back is hinged, and film insertion and operations go very smoothly. There is a film reminder dial on the top deck, but since there is no meter in this camera, you must use a separate light meter. There is no accessory shoe on the top, but there are side attachment points for a Kodak flashbulb holder. This was the mid-1950s, and it would be a while before manufacturers adopted universal flash attachments, such as the PC (Prontor-Compur) flash connector, and the ISO-standard hot shoe, not to mention Xenon-strobe flash units (X-synch).
My Signet 40 came from FPP listener Tom Frost in Vermont, who sent me the camera after I made disparaging remarks about the Signet series, and figured that I should actually try one. In my experience, I had rarely come across Signets that were working. In fact, I found a comment of mine on Flickr from 2010 stating that I had seen very few working Signets! It could have been for a variety of reasons that the cameras I saw had problems - design/construction flaws, hard use, and age may have been factors. Rick Oleson, a long-time camera tinkerer and photographer, found that it was the rapid-wind lever that is suspect over time, as it may free-wheel if you advance the film too fast. So, my advice is to wind the film slowly with the lever.
The Signet 40 that I received looked like a brand-new camera. Tom had beautifully restored the camera to its like-new appearance and functionality. It was in its leather case, and since the body has strap lugs (yay!), it does not need to reside in the case to go shooting with it. As a mid-century US-made camera, the Signet 40 is classy-looking, and has a very different appearance from the Argus rangefinders where all the linkages are external. You still need to cock the shutter tensioning when ready to take a photo. You can take double-exposures if you release the shutter lock on the front of the bottom plate of the Signet 40 body. The Signet 40 isn’t just a step above the Pony series, it’s a step above the Argus cameras of the same vintage. So, what did this camera sell for in its day? It sold from 1956-59 for $65. In today’s dollars that would be $711. It was definitely more expensive than an Argus C-3 but cheaper than the C-4, which sold for $84 with a clip-on meter. Obviously, the Signet series was aimed at middle-class Americans that could afford it. To compare to the Pony 135 series, it was $30 more expensive than a Pony 135 of the same vintage.
There are several other very good reviews on the Signets:
As for later models of Signets, such as the Signet 30, Signet 50, and Signet 80, they adopted the top-mounted accessory shoe, a single-stoke film advance lever, and in the Signet 50 and 80 models, a light meter, and in the 80, interchangeable lenses. None of the latter models had the clean styling of the Signet 40, instead adopting a more bulky look with stepped up viewfinders, expanded front sections, etc. Aesthetically, the Signet 40 has a more polished and minimalist look than the Signet 35 that preceded it.
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| The Signet 80 looks more like an Argus! |
After Kodak released the Kodapak 126 cartridge and Instamatics in 1963, Kodak’s 35mm cameras were either Retinas and Retinettes, made in Stuttgart Germany, or the US-made Automatic 35 and Motormatic 35 camera series, and were around the $100 mark. By the late 1960s, Kodak's 35mm cameras were gone, and by the late 1980s Kodak once again marketed 35mm cameras. Of course, within a decade of releasing the Signet 40, the onslaught of excellent 35mm cameras from Japan had started, and the US camera manufacturers and many German ones were headed to extinction.
My experience with the Signet 40 has been very good. It’s definitely a more refined camera than the Argus offerings, and not as overbuilt as those Zeiss Ikon models such as the Symbolica or the Balda Baldessa 1a (a review will be forthcoming for that one, too). It still has the less-advanced method of manual shutter cocking, but that can be an asset if you want multiple exposures. In use, the Signet 40 handles well, and I found a lens shade that mates with the filter ring (series V) perfectly. I have shot several rolls of film with it so far, and will continue to bring it along on various trips. It remains one of the most attractive of Kodak's cameras.
Some examples from the camera
Fuji Superia 200
Kodak 2238 at ISO 25
3 comments:
When I taught photo at Madonna University there was a new-in-box Signet 40 sitting in a darkroom supply locker. I thought about giving it a try, but in 16 years never got around to it. Oh well.
I agree - I was surprised at how well I liked shooting with a Signet 40. It is a capable camera. One of my shots with it on Flickr has more likes than most pictures I've taken!
I agree. The Signet 40 is a capable and attractive camera. One of the pictures I've taken with it has received more likes on Flickr than many other pictures I've taken with more sophisticated cameras.
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