Kodak Signet 30

Format

135, 24x36 mm

System

Kodak Signet

Shutter

Kodak Synchro 250, cocked by the film advance, 1/4 to 1/250 + B

Metering

none

Spec Notes

Scale focus from 2-1/2 ft, projected view-frame finder, single-stroke lever advance, EV exposure cards rather than a meter. GENERATION FOLDED IN: the KODAK SIGNET 50 (1957-1960), and the evidence is as clean as this rule ever gets - Kodak's two instruction books print the lens, shutter, flash, focus range, finder and film advance in word-for-word identical language, and the 50's only addition is 'EXPOSURE METER - Integral part of camera. Reads reflected light.' ONE dimension. Its EV range differs (4-17 against 5-17), but that is a consequence of the meter, not an independent change. The two were separately named, separately priced and sold CONCURRENTLY - Kodak listed the 30 at $55.00 and the 50 at $82.50 - so this is a sibling variant rather than a successor generation. Searchable under both names. Weight and dimensions NOT SOURCED for either. DATING: NONE. The CAMEROSITY lens prefix is attested only on Ektar, Anastigmat Special and Anastar lenses. No prefixed EKTANAR or ANASTON serial could be found in Kodak literature, museum records, dealer inventory or auction text, and no source states whether those tiers are inside or outside the scheme - so this camera is NOT datable from its lens. The four-letter body date code that cheap Kodaks carry is not sourced for this model either. DATES ARE MARKET DATES, NOT PRODUCTION. Kodak's own AA-13 heads its columns 'ON THE MARKET FROM / TO', and no Kodak-published production date exists for any camera in this slice - every third-party 'production years' figure checked is a restatement of AA-13.

Fitted Lens

Kodak Ektanar 44mm f/2.8, Lumenized

Rangefinder

No

Alternate Names

—

Introduced

1957