Kodak Medalist
Is birth order among siblings important? Did you pave the way for your younger siblings or were you living in the shadow of someone older? In the camera world, the choices of the first or second version of a model aren't much clearer than the Kodak Medalist and the Kodak Medalist II.
The original Kodak Medalist was introduced to the world in 1941, just in time for World War II. Not wanting to use German or Japanese cameras, the U.S. Military gave a home to the American-made Kodak Medalist. The armed services enjoyed the crisp images from the Ektar 100mm f/3.5 lens and the camera's Supermatic shutter, placed between the lens elements, worked a treat for official photos and for making images of each other back at the base. The black anodized focusing helical was backed up by a fine focus knob, which helped add to the sharpness of the images.
Even with a film loading system that seems to have been designed by a committee whose members didn't speak to each other, the metal construction and precise tolerances proved sufficient for military use. An experienced user could swap out film and be shooting again before a new recruit could get his mess kit together.
Having proved itself rugged and trustworthy, the Kodak Medalist returned from the war just in time for its younger sibling, the Kodak Medalist II, to be rolled out in 1946. The younger Medalist is distinguished from its older sibling by a sliver helical, an updated logo, additional coatings on the lenses, and included new flash couplings where the find focus wheel used to be. Kids these days.
Both Medalists, however, kept their reliance on Kodak's 620 film spools. To use these cameras today requires modifying modern 120 film reels, respooling 120 film onto the smaller 620 reels, or having the camera modified to accept 120 film spools. The extra work will pay off, however. Even with the age of these lenses, modern film looks fantastic and the 6x9 negatives still look sharp enough to pass inspection from the strictest drill instructor.
So even if you've tried the younger Medalist II, pick up its older counterpart and see where the legacy of the Medalist began.
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