Zeiss-Ikon cameras

Photos by Ross Alford

Click towards the left edge of the thumbnails to see a normal B&W photo, or click towards the right edge to see a stereo B&W photo. To view the stereo images, look through a red filter with your left eye and a green or blue filter with your right eye.

Ikonta 520

Zeiss Ikon Ikonta A, catalog number 520. Early 1930s, with Tessar 75/4.5 lens. 4.5 X 6 on 120. Extremely compact but hard to use with modern film as it has 2 red windows and one tends to allow light to strike the edges of the film.

 

Ikonta B 520/16 thumbZeiss Ikon Ikonta B, catalog number 520/16. takes 6 X 6 exposures on 120 rollfilm. Prewar model with Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar in Compur. This one has a small brass plate on the backj that says "made for China" in Chinese characters.

 

Ikonta 521-16 thumb Zeiss Ikon Ikonta B, catalog number 521/16. 6 X 6 on 120 film, with 75/3.5 uncoated Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar in Compur shutter. Double exposure prevention is a big advance over model 520. Probably made in 1937, the first year of production for this model.

 

mess-ikonta B thumb Zeiss Ikon Ikonta B 524/16 (Mess-Ikonta). Uncoupled rangefinder, coated Zeiss-Opton Tessar 75/3.5 in Synchro-Compur shutter. Made in the early to mid 1950s by Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart.

 

nettax thumb Zeiss Ikon Nettax 6 X 6 folder. Made in the mid to late 1950s by Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart. Coated 75/3.5 Novar lens in Pronto shutter. Built-in uncoupled selenium light meter. There seems to be some confusion about the Zeiss catalog number for these; apparently it was officially 513/16, but mine, and at least one other I know of, say 534/16 on the back, which is the catalog number of the Super Ikonta IV.

Super Ikonta III thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta III, 531/16. Late 1950s, from Zeiss Ikon, Stuttgart. 6 X 6 on 120, with coupled rangefinder and 75/3.5 coated Zeiss-Opton tessar in Synchro-Compur shutter. Still a very nice picture taker.

 

supik IV thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta IV, 534/16. Late 1950s to very early 1960s. Coupled rangefinder, built-in uncoupled selenium light meter, 75/3.5 Zeiss Tessar lens in Synchro-Compur shutter. A beautiful, light, portable picture taker.

 

SIA 530 thumbnail Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, catalog number 530. Early to mid 1930s. Coupled rotating-prism rangefinder, uncoated Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 75/3.5 in Compur shutter. fold-up optical, non-Albada, finder. Location of one red window makes using it with pan film difficult.

 

prewar super Ik A thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, catalog number 531. Prewar, with uncoated 75/3.5 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar. Coupoled rangefinder, Albada finder. Note the Zeiss-Ikon nameplate, some have this, some have the more usual impression in the leather. Note also the polished aluminum edges; this was done after the camera left the factory, probably because the black enamel became chipped (very common problem). In this case, and a few others I have seen, the removal of enamel and polishing were done so nicely that it looks almost like it was meant to be that way.

supika postwar Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta A, 531. Early-1950s postwar camera with 75/3.5 coated Zeiss Opton Tessar in X-synced Compur Rapid shutter. Coupled rangefinder, Albada finder. This one works but is not in very pretty cosmetic condition.

 

Super Ikonta C thumb Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta C, 531/2. Early-1950s camera with coated Zeiss-Opton Tessar 105/3.5 in X-synced Compur Rapid. Coupled rotating-prism rangefinder. this is one of my favorite picture takers, folds up small, takes sharp 6 X 9 negatives.

 

Ikoflex Ia

Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex Ia. Early 1950s. This camera is equipped with the coated Zeiss Opton Tessar 75/3.5 taking lens and is capable of taking very nice pictures, despite being near the bottom of the Ikoflex line. This particular camera is in near-mint condition and was professionally CLAed recently, so it works very nicely.

 

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Ikonta 520-16 3d Ikonta 520-16 BW Ikonta 521-16 3d Ikonta 521-16 BW mess-ikonta b 3d mess-ikonta B BW nettax 3d nettax BW supikIII 3d Super Ikonta III BW Super Ikonta IV 3d Super Ikonta IV BW super Ikonta 531 prewar Super Ikonta A prewar Super Ikonta A postwar 3d Super Ikonta A postwar BW super Ikonta C 3d super Ikonta C BW Super Ikonta A 530 3d Super Ikonta A 530 BW Ikoflex Ia 3d Ikoflex Ia BW Ikonta 520 3d Ikonta 520 BW