For Sale FS: CHARITY SALE -- EVEN MORE REDUCED!! Black Beauty! Kodak Air Force Signet 35

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Trader history for summicron1 (4)

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summicron1

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I have decided this MUST GO and will happily use it to benefit Ogden's food bank. The Bank is in dire need, I don't need this camera:

GOOD THINGS: This is a really sweet example of one of these: Black anodized aluminum with just a couple of minor rub spots from a case (across the red dot and on the sides, very hard to see). Viewfinder is pretty clear, the rangefinder seems accurate, mechanics all intact and working well with one exception (see next).

BAD THING: This camera is 60-plus years old and has never been serviced. It was probably also used only a little. For that reason the shutter is balky -- it works, but is really slow. The 1/50th is actually about 1/4th, for example. 1/100th is erratic.

While these shutters are allegedly very easy to work on, I have not attempted to do so because I am somewhat ham-fisted. This camera does a great job of holding a display case shelf down and, really, what else do you want it to do? If you want to shoot a Signet 35 (and I highly recommend you do) find one of the civilian models for $40 -- the Ektar
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lens on these is outstanding.

How outstanding? Here's a sample, shot with a civilian model on Plus-X:

signet 35_0006.jpg


This camera does not have the military contract plate on the bottom, and may never have. The pegs for the plate are there, but no plate, no marks where it was removed. I wonder if some of these could have been sold by Kodak as excess.

So how's $300 sound? EVEREY DIME DONATED TO OGDEN, UTAH, FOOD BANK. I pay shipping.

That includes shipping in the US. You pay actual shipping cost for overseas/Canada sales because those are very expensive and customs forms are a hassle.

I can take paypal at summicron12000@yahoo.com, or US postal money order. I can also answer questions either here or at that email. If you are in the Ogden, Utah, area give me a shout and I'll buy you lunch in the Two-Bit Street Cafe and hand deliver it in exchange for cash.

Thanks for looking. Thanks for helping the food bank.

Charlie Trentelman
 
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John51

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fwir, nearly all of them have a dodgy shutter. My (civilian) model has erratic speeds except for 1/300. Which seems closer to 1/100 to me.

The single speed and Sunny 16 works fine for C41 film ime. It's my favourite winter camera as it's designed to be used when wearing gloves. Great results when using Kodak Colorplus.
 
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summicron1

summicron1

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fwir, nearly all of them have a dodgy shutter. My (civilian) model has erratic speeds except for 1/300. Which seems closer to 1/100 to me.

The single speed and Sunny 16 works fine for C41 film ime. It's my favourite winter camera as it's designed to be used when wearing gloves. Great results when using Kodak Colorplus.

Yup. My understanding is they were designed to be the camera you hand to some mope in the platoon who would use it for quick after-action shots. It's sturdy and simple, not elegant. However, that is one amazing lens.
 
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summicron1

summicron1

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How much would a CLA fun, approximately?
Not sure, never asked anyone -- i would not imagine much, but with shipping and so forth you might be looking at $100 -- how would $600 sound-- essentially I pay half that totally wild guess of a repair price.?

If you look it up, servicing the shutter on these is supposed to be pretty simple. I mostly just don't do that sort of thing, being pretty ham-fisted.
 

alanrockwood

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I have one of these cameras with the US airforce military contract plate on the bottom (Contract AF 33(600)-19386). I bought mine at a university surplus place (property redistribution.) I don't recall the price for sure, but I think I paid about $10 or $15 for it. This was probably about ten years ago. As near as I can tell it was fully functional when I bought it, and I assume it still is. I loaded a roll of plus-X in it, but I haven't shot the whole roll, so I don't have that direct assurance that it works properly.

I am not going to list the serial number here, except to say that it is somewhere between 1800 and 2000.

I owned one of these (not the military version) years ago and shot a few rolls with it. My recollection is that because the camera is so compact you can get a few extra shots on a roll of film.

At the moment there are five of these listed on ebay (the military version). The lowest price of the five is listed at $600 or best offer. Only one of the five has the military base plate label on the camera. It is labeled as Signal Corps U.S. Army , and the serial number of that one is not visible in the photo. (Mine has a U.S. Air Force label and includes the serial number.) The one in the best visual condition is listed at $980, and it is the one with the military base plate label. The visual condition of that one is similar to mine, except that mine still has the cover for the flash synch post but does not have the case. Looking at the sold items on ebay, none of the military version have sold recently on ebay.
 
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summicron1

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still bumping this. As alan notes, this is the low-end price for one of these, but it's something you only buy if you specifically want it.

That's ok. I got patience of Job.
 

alanrockwood

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Summicron1, seeing as how you located in Ogden, Utah, I wonder if your Signet 35 started out life at Hill Airforce Base.
 

Donald Qualls

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I've got a civilian Signet 35, and I can confirm the quality of the lens, as well as ability to get 38-40 frames on a 36 exposure roll (it's barely wider than a Rollei 35, which can get 40, and a Signet can be loaded with minimal pre-closure advance). Sadly, mine has a completely non-functional RF (pretty sure it worked when I last used it), and I don't have the space or time to open it up.

This one, however, has too much collector value to be in my price range.
 
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summicron1

summicron1

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Summicron1, seeing as how you located in Ogden, Utah, I wonder if your Signet 35 started out life at Hill Airforce Base.
I'm almost positive it did. Military stuff is a stock item at local thrift stores here. I actually found several military signets and other stuff at them over the years. Even a green signet.

thanks

charlie
 
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summicron1

summicron1

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I've got a civilian Signet 35, and I can confirm the quality of the lens, as well as ability to get 38-40 frames on a 36 exposure roll (it's barely wider than a Rollei 35, which can get 40, and a Signet can be loaded with minimal pre-closure advance). Sadly, mine has a completely non-functional RF (pretty sure it worked when I last used it), and I don't have the space or time to open it up.

This one, however, has too much collector value to be in my price range.

yeah, the civilian models have the same optics and perform very nicely.

charlie
 
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summicron1

summicron1

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This thing has had 2,262 views and no buyers ... maybe the 2,263rd?

Ya never know. Sweet unit.

charlie
 
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