A couple of weeks ago I took my Kodak Medalist II off of the shelf, we needed to go on a walk together. Before I loaded her with some film, I extended the lens and looked through the viewfinder. Her rangefinder was not moving as I focused the lens. My steampunk girl was broken.
Thankfully, you can find anything with the Google and there happens to be a guy on eBay that has reprinted the original service manual for the camera. I immediately ordered a copy and put my girl back on the shelf.
A long week went by before I received the manual.
I’m not sure what I expected, but to say that the manual is difficult to follow is a massive understatement. I’m relatively intelligent and fairly competent with my hands and tools, so I thought I’d have no problem fixing my girl. It took me a few reads and re-reads before I began. The life saver on this repair job turned out to be the many clear, labeled illustrations that went along with the virtually indecipherable text. Everything went my way, though. No broken parts or missing screws. All she needed was a good and thorough cleaning to clear out the original grease and accumulated gunk of a camera that is over 60 years old.
My beauty is now clean and focusing properly and we are ready for many more years of making photos.
Here are a couple images from my first test roll after the repair. That Ektar lens is truly world class, for any age.
Here she is. My Precious.
