Does anybody know anything about this camera...?

<img src=http://landscapephoto.us/ZeissMediumFormat.jpg><br><br>

 

This is some type of Carl Zeiss, with a 75 mm lens fixed to it. ( I guess

fixed is a funny term for a lens that folds out like an accordian...? )<br><br>

 

A friend of mine inherited this from a great uncle he was never very close to,

and not being into photography, he gave it to me. Now, I never managed to do

anything decent with any type of film; it took digital and instant feedback

for me to learn how to connect what's in front of me with the settings in the

camera and turn these into what I'm trying to achieve.<br><br>

 

Still, this is a lot prettier than my Canon 5D, even if I prever autofocus.

And I like having a piece of history around, even if the lens seems to fogged

and scratched to use.<br><br>

 

But my curiousity is perked, so I wonder if anybody knows anything about this

type of camera? ( Its 75 mm lens seems "normal" in the sense of what a 50 mm

would get you on 35 mm film; I think that implies 645 format? )<br><br>

 

Thanks!

Forrest, It looks like a Super Ikonta, folding camera. If has a rangefinder and what looks to be a pretty good lens (xenar I think). It will use 120 roll film, and could be 6x6,or 6x4.5.

I'd say its a mid 50s Zeiss Ikonta 531. 16 exposures on 120 film. I think I almost picked up one of these with a Novar lens...which I think is a triplet. I would think the Xenar is a better lens (as long as its not too scratched up!) Very nice.

The Xenar is not a Zeiss lens, but rather Schneider. It could be based on a Zeiss design.

It's a 6x45 format, 120 film Super Ikonta. The 'Super' designation indicates that it has a rangefinder. It is a later version with the shutter release on top of the camera; earlier models had the release extended at the lens, and even earlier ones left it up to the owner to fumble around to find the trip lever at the rim of the shutter.

 

It is the smallest 6x45 medium format rangefinder ever made. The lenses were not particularly good due to front element focus, but regardless, if you find it adequate (and yours looks quite dirty), it's a treasure forever.

As others have said, it is a Super Ikonta A. I believe the Xenar lens reveals that it is an early postwar camera, circa 1949 - Schneider was back in production before Carl Zeiss in W. Germany. The Xenar lens might give it some collector value, as the Tessar is more common. You might be interested to know that Zeiss advertising from the 30's refered to these as "auto-focus" cameras because they had a coupled rangefinder!

Be very careful with this camera. It's probably best if you fold it closed, put it in a drawer, and forget you have it.

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Oh, it looks innocent enough sitting there old and dusty, but beware. Once you load it with film you enter a photography world that is the complete antithesis of modern autofocus, auto-ISO, auto-advance, auto-rewind, program-mode cameras. The first prints you make from a camera like this will look nothing like their multi-megapixel, Noise Ninja'd, ink-on-paper counterparts. If you're lucky, you'll quickly realize how far beyond the stone age modern photography equipment has progressed and the folding camera will be relegated to paperweight duty.

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The real danger is that you'll see certain charm or quality in the prints made from a negative several times the size of a digital sensor. Then, you'll realize these old cameras can found at the occasional garage sale or cheaply on eBay. You'll own half a dozen of them or so before you know it. It's a terrible affliction and difficult to cure.

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By the way, taking a few pictures with a camera like that will cure you of obsessing over a few tiny specs of dust in the lens. Check out <a href=http://www.certo6.com/gallery/planar.html>this link (click here)</a> to a lens with a bug inside and the picture it took.