Recent content by Bud Hamblen

Kodak Pocket Instamatic 60. Kodak Ektramax (first mass-produced aspherical lens element).

A good 35 mm negative is traditionally said to resolve 30 lines/mm. You need 30 x 2 (a line takes 2 pixels to resolve) x 1.414 (assuming the lines are at 45 degrees to the pixel pattern) = 85 pixels per mm = 2159 pixels per inch. You want set your scanner's software to an even fraction of the...

A 120 roll just about fills up the 120 reel on my Lab-Box. I don't think a 220 roll would fit. The Lab-Box depends on the 120 backing paper to pull the film into the 120 module. You'd have to load the Lab-Box with 220 film in the dark, which kind of defeats the purpose of the Lab-Box.

The streaks show pretty clearly in the inter-frame space visible on the left side of the picture on "color 2.JPG". If you scan a known good film strip and still get the streaks blame the scanner. If the streaks aren't there blame the lab. If the lab was in financial trouble the machine might...

The split image focusing aid will black out if your eye isn't centered in the viewfinder eyepiece. Try shifting your eye position a little. Bud

You can tell by eye if you've got vignetting, Look through the lens from the back corners of the camera. If the aperture is cut off you'll get vignetting.

The Medalist doesn't rely on silvered surfaces in the rangefinder and it should clean up nicely. You might want to send it to a good repair shop because the rest of the mechanics will need to be seen to.

Re-spooling is about like loading film onto a developing reel. The plastic 620 spools from the Film Photography Project work fine in an Argus Super Seventy-Five. Some other 620 cameras have to have the old metal spools.

The ASA / ISO film speed dial tells the light meter inside your camera how fast the film is. Lower settings mean you get more exposure. You usually would set the film speed on the meter to match the film speed on the box the film came in. Sometimes the meter is off on old cameras. If your...

Somebody on eBay wants $70 for an ASA to PC sync adapter. I am certain you can find an adapter or a Paramount cord for less. It's better than digging into the shutter.

If the lens is behind the aperture stop the front surface is concave (Wollaston landscape lens). I've got an Ansco Buster Brown like that.

Kodak developing times for Plus-X have changed over the years. In 1959, Kodak recommended for Plus-X a time of 8 minutes at 68F with D-76 (1:1) and intermittent agitation, but in 2002 the recommendation was for 7 minutes. Why and when the change occurred, I know not. Tri-X times also have...

The thorium oxide is not in a coating, it is in the glass itself, being maybe as much as 30% by weight. I put a cheap little geiger counter next to a couple of old Kodak lenses and got readings noticeably above normal background. It surprised me that Kodak used special glass in their consumer...

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Radioactive_lenses says some Rokkor f/1.2 58 mm lenses have thoriated glass. You need a friend with a geiger counter to check your lens. My guess is that your guess is correct.

Add a tripod socket.