Kodak Medalist II!!

[John Wiegerink]

How do you make fine adjustments to hinge pins on Medalist accessory back to better fit camera?
Thx

I don't really understand where you are having a problem with the fit. Are you having a problem attaching it to the camera itself? Is this the ground glass back you are talking about?

 

[bgsquare]

I don't really understand where you are having a problem with the fit. Are you having a problem attaching it to the camera itself? Is this the ground glass back you are talking about?

Bought an accessory back for a Medalist II. Trying to get it to attach properly to camera
Thx

 

[John Wiegerink]

Bought an accessory back for a Medalist II. Trying to get it to attach properly to camera
Thx

I've had several different backs and several different cameras and never had a problem attaching any back. Could you take a picture of the problem area? There are also four adjusting screws on the ground glass backs that have to be adjusted in just a certain way to align the ground glass plane into the same field as the film plane of the camera. Other than that there is no special trick to attaching the ground glass back to the camera itself. Unless you are doing something wrong????

 

[Dan Daniel]

Bought an accessory back for a Medalist II. Trying to get it to attach properly to camera
Thx

Just to check this off the list- the hinges are not symmetrical. The back needs to be in a particular orientation to fit. If you rotate it 180 degrees, it won't fit.

Most every adjustment that I have done was on the body parts, not the back parts. If the regular back fits well, I won't even mention these adjustments to he body since it could throw the regular back off.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Just to check this off the list- the hinges are not symmetrical. The back needs to be in a particular orientation to fit. If you rotate it 180 degrees, it won't fit.

Most every adjustment that I have done was on the body parts, not the back parts. If the regular back fits well, I won't even mention these adjustments to he body since it could throw the regular back off.

Dan,
One can probably get by without making the four screw adjustments, but Kodak did have a specific sequence for adjusting those four screws on the back. According to Kodak every back had to be adjusted to mate with a particular camera. another words you weren't suppose to just swap a back onto a different camera without doing the adjustments. I have Kodaks complete instructions for the accessory back and that's what they state. The regular back has no adjustment screws and is mated to the camera right from Kodak. You and I might not even know the difference in a final print as to whether the back was properly adjusted or not. That said, mine are all adjusted and mated to a certain camera body. I'm still having a hard time figuring out where the OP is having problems.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Dan,
One can probably get by without making the four screw adjustments, but Kodak did have a specific sequence for adjusting those four screws on the back. According to Kodak every back had to be adjusted to mate with a particular camera. another words you weren't suppose to just swap a back onto a different camera without doing the adjustments. I have Kodaks complete instructions for the accessory back and that's what they state. The regular back has no adjustment screws and is mated to the camera right from Kodak. You and I might not even know the difference in a final print as to whether the back was properly adjusted or not. That said, mine are all adjusted and mated to a certain camera body. I'm still having a hard time figuring out where the OP is having problems.

It's been a long time since I installed the ground glass back. Do the adjustment screws affect how the hinge pins on the back would sit in relation to the 'tubes' on the side of the body?

I hear the OP as having the hinge pins not inserting into the body 'tubes' properly, but you are right to ask for more clarification.

Probably the worst hinge design in camera history! Kodak saw it and threw it for a nice one on the Chevron which did the same thing but actually worked for more than three uses.

 

[John Wiegerink]

It's been a long time since I installed the ground glass back. Do the adjustment screws affect how the hinge pins on the back would sit in relation to the 'tubes' on the side of the body?

I hear the OP as having the hinge pins not inserting into the body 'tubes' properly, but you are right to ask for more clarification.

Probably the worst hinge design in camera history! Kodak saw it and threw it for a nice one on the Chevron which did the same thing but actually worked for more than three uses.

Dan,
I have been a Medalist nut and user since the 70's and have never had problems with the backs. I have had the little sping tensioned holders that hold the back pins lose their tension an not hold the pins back inside the hinge tube, but then just used the tips of my fingers to hold the pin in while closing the back.
As far as the four screw adjustment and back installation troubles? I really don't think that the screws being out of adjustment would have anything to do with installing the back properly. Those screws are for aligning the film plane with the ground glass exactly spot on. Dan, have you ever read the complete ground glass back installation process instructions? If not, I could take some pictures of those instructions and post them here later this evening. Also, I wish the OP would show us where he's having the problem as it would certainly help me try and figure out what's going on.

 

[bgsquare]

I've had several different backs and several different cameras and never had a problem attaching any back. Could you take a picture of the problem area? There are also four adjusting screws on the ground glass backs that have to be adjusted in just a certain way to align the ground glass plane into the same field as the film plane of the camera. Other than that there is no special trick to attaching the ground glass back to the camera itself. Unless you are doing something wrong????

Thx for replying. I did do all the adjusting as per instructions-four small screws, four larger screws, test with paper, etc. this accessory back won’t quite align where pins will engage. I’m returning it. Do you happen to know where to look for one other than eBay
Thx

 

[John Wiegerink]

Thx for replying. I did do all the adjusting as per instructions-four small screws, four larger screws, test with paper, etc. this accessory back won’t quite align where pins will engage. I’m returning it. Do you happen to know where to look for one other than eBay
Thx

That certainly sounds like the fat lady sat on it and sprung it out of shape. Alright, maybe I shouldn't have used that "fat lady" line. How about the fat guy sat on it and sprung it? Alright, enough of that, but it does sound like the thing has been sprung out of shape. As far as finding another accessory back goes, I'd say your best luck is eBay by far. But, like you already know, you roll the eBay dice and take a chance. Most of the time you'll win, but a time or two you might lose.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Just to clarify, you do have a regular back and it fits? I am just unclear if the body tubes are ok and it is just the ground glass back.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Just to clarify, you do have a regular back and it fits? I am just unclear if the body tubes are ok and it is just the ground glass back.

Dan,
I'm guessing he has a regular back and must have gotten a lemon accessory off eBay. Not sure, but we'll wait for his reply.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Yeah. Too bad that he won't put up any pictures. It might be obvious what the problem is. I'm done just pissing in the dark.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Yeah. Too bad that he won't put up any pictures. It might be obvious what the problem is. I'm done just pissing in the dark.

I'll dribble for a minute or two more and then I'm shaking it too.

 

[bgsquare]

Just to check this off the list- the hinges are not symmetrical. The back needs to be in a particular orientation to fit. If you rotate it 180 degrees, it won't fit.

Most every adjustment that I have done was on the body parts, not the back parts. If the regular back fits well, I won't even mention these adjustments to he body since it could throw the regular back off.

As best I can tell the adjusting screws would not relate to the hinges. I finally got the accessory back to “attach”. Not perfect but pins are in a good ways. I went through the “four screw and paper adjustment” twice. I then focused on one of Dan’s paper targets at 10ft with ground glass and magnifier. When I looked through the split screen range finder, the split image was just a tad off. Do you consider this unusual? I have a ground glass coming this week so I can accurately check the camera focus from the film plane. That could be the issue. Thanks to both of you for your comments! I’m a neophyte to all of this, but having a ball!
Dan FYI this OP is Doug Jackson.
I’m scheduled with you for Oct for a CLA on this camera.

 

[bgsquare]

Here are the pics “requested”
Would appreciate answers to my latest post.
Thank you!

 

[Dan Daniel]

Oh hey Doug. I was about to run through some emails later this evening and reply to you. I'll still do that so let's just stick to this issue.

I am not certain if you have a regular back that fits smoothly. If I had what I see on your photos, and I was confident that the back is sitting tight into the camera, I would bend each tube on the camera body until the hinge pins on the back settled into place. Crude, maybe, but this camera is a Chevy pickup, not a Rolex watch. If you take a small block of wood the width of the tube, place it against the side, and give a tap with a hammer, it will move the tube slightly. I'll leave it to you to figure out the direction needed.

I would do one tube at a time, check, and see if the second pin on that side now works better. And check the other side at each point in case it too decides to now fit.

And before someone jumps on me (yeah, looking at you, John I've worked on maybe 100 Medalists and run into most any problem possible. This is one, and this is how I fix it. And banging the tubes works! If that bother you, two other options. Protective jaws on pliers to bend the tube. Or put a metal rod like a screwdriver in the tube and bend it. Common thread here- bend. Two reasons to focus on the tube on the body- 1, it is held in place by screws, attached to the cast body, and can be replaced if something goes bad (basic criteria for taking a hammer to a camera!). 2, unlike the tubes, the part on the back is riveted and attached to an aluminum sheet metal assembly that could be distorted in hammering (another fix for backs not fitting: spread the sides out a bit by pulling on the back; now this is a tricky one to describe and if you haven't bent metal by hand before probably best not done).

As to focus: No, the ground glass in the accessory back is not in the same position as the film plane with the regular back. But here I'll bug Doug in email and stop.

 

[bgsquare]

Greatly appreciate your response and your time devoted to this issue!