I'm a fan of the Signet 40. Perhaps it's because we are about the same age. I like the classic 1950s design and relative simplicity and ease of use. I ended up getting four of them! I purchased my first Signet 40 with an Ektanar lens on eBay on January 16, 2025 for $20 plus $16.20 shipping plus $1.70 tax for a total of $37.90. The original listed buy it now amount was $45. I got an offer for $36. I countered at $20 which was accepted. The camera includes a Kodalite Super-M40 Flasholder and the instruction manual all in the original box. The camera is in excellent cosmetic condition. The shutter works, although I'm not sure how accurate it is. It seemed a little sluggish at first but then loosed up. The shutter release is designed not to fire unless there is film in the camera and it is advanced to the next frame. You can fire the shutter without film in the camera by sliding the release lever on the bottom front and then pressing the shutter release. Alternately, you can take a pencil or other narrow object to trigger the small release under the large release lever. The viewfinder is relatively clear. The rangefinder is somewhat dim but visible. It works but is not accurate. The triangle's right and left sides appear rounded instead of made up of straight lines. I shot a 36 exposure roll of AristaEDU 100 film with my Signet 40. The film advanced and rewound without problem. The film advance is operatated with your right thumb. It requires three strokes to wind to the next frame although it is very smooth. Advancing the film does not automatically cock the shutter. Rather, you have to manually cock the shutter using your left finger. It's not difficult but it's easy to forget if you are use to the film advance automatically cocking the shutter. Since the rangefinder is not accurate, I estimated the distance and used the generous depth of field scale to focus.

My second Signet 40, also with an Ektanar lens, was purchased on February 1, 2025 and delivered on February 5, 2025. It was purchased on eBay from Tom in Vermont who goes by the eBay name justscrapingby. While most Signet 40s are sold as "not tested" or with flaws, Tom services Signet 40 cameras "clean[ing] the rangefinder and servic[ing] the shutter to make sure everything is in working order." The camera is in excellent cosmetic and working condition with a bright accurate rangefinder. It came with the leather ever-ready case in excellent condition. Since this camera was serviced, it was more expensive selling for $75 with $12.58 shipping and $6.38 tax for a total of $93.96. While considerably more expensive than the others, it was worth it getting one with a serviced shutter and a bright accurate rangefinder.

I purchased a third Signet 40 also on eBay on February 1, 2025 and delivered on February 7, 2025. It was priced at $15.99 plus $12.99 shipping and $1.36 tax for a total of $30.34. It has a Ektanon lens. It was sold as not tested. It is in very good cosmetic condition. The the rangefinder seems to be accurate. After cleaning the exterior surfaces, the viewfinder and rangefinder are reasonably bright. The shutter works but is hanging up on speeds under 1/50 second. The shutter blades will close if you continue pushing the shutter cocking lever up. I don't know how accurate the speeds from 1/50 to 1/400 are. This camera also comes with the Kodalite Super-M40 Flasholder with the two reflectors, the leather ever-ready case and the instruction manual. The leather in the leather case is in good condition, but much of the stitching is coming apart. The instruction manual is complete but well worn. I got this camera thinking it might be cheap enough experimenting with cleaning the rangefinder and fixing any shutter problems. It's in good enough shape, however, that I may leave it alone.

Finally, I purchased my fourth Signet 40 on March 18, 2025 from Port Angeles, Washington on eBay for $20 plus $12.55 shipping and $1.70 sales tax for a total of $34.25. The camera has the Ektanon lens. It is in very good cosmetic condition. The viewfinder and rangefinder are bright. The rangefinder appears to be accurate with the vertical alignment slightly off. The aperture is working fine. The shutter fires and varies, although I haven't tested its accuracy. The lens is clear although you can see some dust when shinning a flashlight through it. I don't think it will affect the image. It came with the original flash, manual and box. It also included the ever-ready case in remarkably excellent condition. The case included the separate box for the case. There are also 9 M3B flash blubs from an original case of twelve. Finally, it includes a Walz Direct F-Stop Meter which is permanently set to a single shutter speed of 1/50 second. You set ASA/type of film and the meter shows the f-stop for 1/50 second. You can, of course, use a different shutter speed on the camera and adjust the f-stop accordingly. For example, if the meter reads f16, you could set the shutter speed one stop faster than 1/50 second at 1/100, and set the aperture one stop slower, i.e. f11. Finally, it includes the original receipt! It was bought by Frank Benson, apparently a student at the University of Idaho and Delta Chi Fraternity member, on February 2, 1959 at Wasem's Rexall Store in Clarkston, Washington. Wasem's Pharmacy is still in business and has a long history. The Sigma 40 outfit with flash was $49.95 (about $550 in February 2025 dollars). That's considerably less than the $67.95 in the 1957 Montgomery Ward Camera Catalog. Frank also bought two rolls of film for $4.10 ($2.05 each), flash bulbs for $1.98, the exposure meter for $7.30, cig (cigarettes?) for $0.30 and the case for $9.95 for a total of $73.58. The case was on order. All of this was pretty expensive for a university student in 1959.

The photos below were taken with the serviced Kodak Signet 40 with the Ektanar lens using AristaEDU 100 film and digitalized using a Nikon D600 with 100mm macro lens. They were taken around or near Lake Murray in San Diego near my home.