Zeiss Nettar 523/16 Help please!

Hi I am an avid amateur photographer but have never used older

equipment. I wanted something to play around with so I recently won

an auction off ebay for a Zeiss Ikon Nettar 523/16 camera. Here's

the link for a picture. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?

ViewItem&item=3837140138&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6

I have done a little researching on this camera and have found very

little. Does it go by another name? I am assuming it takes 120

film but does anyone have any other info on it? I am looking for a

manual but all I can find is for a Zeiss ikon Nettar II. I know it

isn't for this particualr camera but maybe the features are

similar? If someone has this camera will you look at the manual at

this website and tell me if it would be worth me printing out? Any

and all info would be appreciated! Thanks in advance! Also I got

for 31.00 is that an ok price?

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/instructionmanuals.html

There is not much to know about handling a Nettar camera. It takes 120 film, hopefully it comes with an empty spool. It does not have a frame counter mechanism, so you have to check the frame number through the red window. If this camera has a double-exposure latch (there should be a tiny hole close to the advance button/key) you can't press the shutter release before you have wound the film again. You have to cock the shutter separately - there is a small lever on the lens barrel. The small red lever sets the self timer. If there is a sync switch set it to X and don't care about the M setting. The Prontor shutters (marked AGC) mainly used on the Nettars tend to get stuck after many years of non-usage, especially at speeds slower than 1/25. Any repair shop should be able to clean it.

You might check out my web site I have some info on Zeiss and other vintage cameras http://davidrichert.com/using_vintage_folders.htm

Take a look around

Emily, the Nettar is a fine choice for your first classic camera. $31 is a decent price for the Nettar -- you didn't pay too much. Plus you got the leather case (that plastic shoulder bag -- yikes!).

 

I don't like the amount of paint loss (sometimes an indicator of overall condition), but it could be cosmetic and nothing to worry about. I would suggest checking a couple of things before you load it with film:

 

1) Check for light leaks: Open the back and put your eye real close to the film opening while holding the camera near a bright light.

 

2) Check the lens: With the back open, set the aperture to wide open, set the shutter to B. Release and hold the shutter. Check for any fungus, mold or grease. It should be reasonably clear. You might see some black specks or air bubbles. No big deal. If it's cloudy, you'll want to have it cleaned. Look at the front of the lens for fine scratches.

 

3) Check the lens bed: Just make sure the lens doesn't rock back and forth when the lens bed is open. And make sure the lens bed feels like it's locked in position. In general, when you open a folding camera, don't let the camera snap open. Use the palm of your hand or your fingers as a cushion.

 

4) Check the shutter: Dry fire the camera (no film) at different speeds. If the slower speeds stutter or the self-timer doesn't work, think about having it serviced or just don't use those speeds or the self-timer.

 

If you don't have a spare film spool, you might be able to get one from a lab for free.

 

It's zone focus, so you'll have to guess the distance from the camera to your subject. It gets easier as time goes on, though I still make the wrong guess occasionally. If you're really horrible at guessing distance, you can always buy a small rangefinder that slips into the accessory shoe of the camera.

 

Otherwise, load it up with some film and go out and have some fun.

I don't like zone focus on a 120 camera, but I have to admit that I once owned a Nettar and got sharp pictures from it. I sold it for $40 in 1983. That's 1983 dollars. So your $31 is a bargain.

I ask myself (often) why people put a price on a camera, ok they are all different and some not so good others are better,modern cameras are as far as I am concerned nothing more than brain killers and I consider it the difference between flying an old pre war aircraft and a 747 that you press the autopilot button on and lay back whilst it does the job for you, Digital is the same and a step backward to me,What happens when the electronics break, many of the new protoghrapher as I call them will sit and throw a panic button and realise how little they really know or can do because they only ever learnt to point and press a buton nothing else. I also ask myself why people put a price on their camera, a picture paints a thousand words they say, and what price do you put on that picture, is it worth a dollar or a hundred, maybe even a thousand or so, if you take a good or stunning picture only once on a camera, then the camera is worth more than you paid for it, one memory(picture) is better than a lifetime of sadness at not having the memory at all, if you think of all the hundreds of pictures you take on a sngle camera and place a price of 1 dollar to each picture, how many dollars have you saved/made on it. Even if the perfectionist says yes but the lens is rubbish and my mamiya645 can get a better crisper shot, so what, where was your mamiya when I got this frame last night or at the fair today, my eyes see differently to yours, does that make my eyes worth less than yours or less of a memory.

You got a bargain at any price, that one memory will prove it one day as you look at it and think back on "the old days and the happy times"

Have Fun and remember Joes Canon EOS is gonna have a electronic failure one day, yours will not