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Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 524/2, any experiences?
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:42 pm    Post subject: Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 524/2, any experiences? Reply with quote
I'm going to check out this camera tomorrow. Anything to look for other than the standard stuff (lens clean, bellows light-tight, working shutter, etc.)? It has the 105mm f/3.5 Zeiss-Opton Tessar. The rangefinder is uncoupled.

The asking price is 75 euros. And, I must admit, the photos on this forum made me search for a 120 format folder (too bad the Agfa folder did not work out).







PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nothing else I think RF is adjustable if not accurate. Open it and look inside too.Film counter cover works or not. Lens parallel with film plane or not.

If finally you will not take it please take for me if everything works I can solve maintenance here.


PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If in good order it's a reasonable price I think... and it has the good lens. Mine only has a Novar which isn't in the same class. Buy for that lens alone!


PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
And here it is... It's actually in a VERY fine shape. Everything seems to work and even the (uncoupled) rangefinder seems spot on (it's also perfectly centered vertically). The shutter works, but 1 second looks more like 1,5 second. Nothing serious, I know a good clean will solve this.

Strange: both the lens and the rangefinder are calibrated in Feet. So this was not originally sold in Europe but overseas (USA)?

Now for the 6x9 folder porn (first shot with K-7 and SMC Tak 135/2.5, the others with the Super-Tak 85/1.9, exposure through Live View mode):









PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
You made a good deal ! Congrats!


PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila, I'll send you a PM Wink


PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
What a beauty, congratulations


PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That's in very nice condition, congrats.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Bellows seem to look good in your pictures. That Opton lens is a real
performer from what I've seen. Excellent find! If Ikon find one of those
I will get it! Ikonta think of a reason why I wouldn't... Laughing


PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wow, that's a very nice one. Congratulations!

I have been looking for a good folder myself but nothing seems to come my way, at least affordable ones.

Perhaps Attila (and others here) is to be blamed. Rolling Eyes First he made the 75mm CZJ Biotar impossible for mortals like me. Now he is doing the same to MF folders. .... I am beginning to hate him and this forum. Laughing


PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Spotmatic wrote:

Strange: both the lens and the rangefinder are calibrated in Feet. So this was not originally sold in Europe but overseas (USA)?


UK product? In my experience sifting through UK flea markets, they seem to have had a post-war dominance of metric labelled higher end cameras, as the proximity of Europe led to a constant influx of metric models - individual imports/smuggling from the continent undercut the highly taxed UK prices almost by a magnitude. But legally they were supposed to be imperial for a decade or two after production of the Ikontas ceased, and cameras sold through the UK Zeiss representative should have been in ft...

Sevo


PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
bawang wrote:
Wow, that's a very nice one. Congratulations!

I have been looking for a good folder myself but nothing seems to come my way, at least affordable ones.

Perhaps Attila (and others here) is to be blamed. Rolling Eyes First he made the 75mm CZJ Biotar impossible for mortals like me. Now he is doing the same to MF folders. .... I am beginning to hate him and this forum. Laughing


Laughing You will get it Wink


PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
bawang wrote:
Wow, that's a very nice one. Congratulations!

I have been looking for a good folder myself but nothing seems to come my way, at least affordable ones.

Perhaps Attila (and others here) is to be blamed. Rolling Eyes First he made the 75mm CZJ Biotar impossible for mortals like me. Now he is doing the same to MF folders. .... I am beginning to hate him and this forum. Laughing


There's luck involved in finding a good folder but you don't need to spend much at all. There are loads of obscure pre-war makers and you can pick up one of them really cheap. My best adjusted folder is a $10 Beira Beirax.

What matters is that the lens is f4.5 or faster to limit vignetting - and the shutter has a top speed of at least 1/150s otherwise it will be difficult to hand-hold and you will be restricted to really slow films in daylight. The front standard must be really solid when it is locked open and the bellows light tight. Those things - and a properly adjusted lens - are all that matter. You don't need a Bessa II or an Ikonta

A rangefinder is nice, but shooting at around f14 to f16 in daylight will give you a MASSIVE depth of field on a 120 rollfilm camera, especially if you focus using hyperfocal distance rather than trying to nail the exact distance to your subject. If everything from 10ft to infinity is in focus, there's usually not much to worry about.

On a 6x9 or 6x6 format camera, simple triplet lenses can produce fantastic results, you don't need a Tessar - as long as they are wide enough to minimise vignetting.

You can sometimes find cheap, obscure makes by searching for Prontor or Compur (which are the shutters you want). Then you have to hope it is light-tight, clean, well-adjusted and solid with a properly working shutter. A surprising number of those on the Bay fit that description, though the lenses often need a simple clean to get old nicotine deposits out. If you risk $10 to $20 on an obscure make from someone who doesn't have a clue how it works you seem to have close to a 50-50 chance of getting something usable.

I noticed a couple of Beirax folders on the Bay last week, going for $25 or less.

You can see examples from my folders on my flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcowan, note particularly the vignetting on the f6.7 Nettar compared with the more even lighting from the Beirax.
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