Back in 35mm with a Zeiss Ikon

[etienne_w]

This could have been posted under the Vanity, pure vanity category.

I bought a Zeiss Ikon on a whim this weekend.

 

I spent the last 10+ years shooting exclusively medium format and also acquired an X100s 2 years ago.

The X100s is the perfect "social" camera to me. When being with a group of friends, colleagues etc

having any kind of activity, just not photography, I always felt uncomfortable breaking group dynamics

by the lengthy process of taking MF pictures - measuring exposure, setting the frame, focusing, etc.

The X100s in comparison is small, inconspicuous, fast, and did not trigger "Crap, we AGAIN have to wait for

this guy!" kind of reactions.

 

The X100s biggest flaw, however, (at least to me), is that it does not take film. I therefore had been thinking about

rangefinders for quite a while. I own an old Nikon F90x/N90s but it is also big... and heavy...

When I saw this demo Zeiss Ikon (sometimes referred to as ZI or ZM) + 50/2 ZM lens in a store this weekend

I had to try it. Heck, I even asked the guys to get me a Leica out of another shelf for comparison.

I do not want to start a Leica vs Zeiss discussion, it is as futile as Nikon vs Canon, but I liked the Zeiss better,

primarily for the viewfinder which in my opinion works better with vision glasses.

 

Who knows how long the Zeiss Ikon has been sitting on the shelf in that store. Probably many years. It is somewhat dusty and could benefit

from outside cleaning, which I will do soon. Apart from that it is supposed to be new. The only thing which worries me a bit is that the focus ring of the lens

does not turn smoothly. I might send it to Oberkochen at some point in the future (I have 1 year warranty).

Or trade it for a 35mm lens (not yet decided which one). Future will tell. For now I am enjoying the 50/2 which is said to

be spectacular.

 

I am in the middle of the first roll (Acros) and have beem very pleased with the experience so far.

My next roll will be a Velvia 50. The greatest about all this is that I am now in a position to shoot the countless

small format rolls which have remained untouched in my freezer for over 10 years. Lots of fun ahead!

 

Happy shooting!

 

Etienne

[JDMvW]

<p>There is a huge number of different "Zeiss Ikon" cameras, even in 35mm film, and just from Zeiss Oberkochen.<br /> ZM is not too common around here, anyhow.</p>

<p><br /> BUT, where is the camera P O R N? This is a photography forum, we need pictures. :)</p>

[etienne_w]

Ha ha :-) Let me check if I can upload a few pics with my ipad (which is all I have with me at the moment). I'll do more with

a real camera after I have cleaned the Ikon.<div></div>

[etienne_w]

Amazin, it works - hence here is another one<div></div>

[etienne_w]

Top view - here you see it needs cleaning!

Apologies for the low quality pictures - I just shot them quickly with the ipad.<div></div>

[etienne_w]

This is the "Zeiss Ikon without a name", the one produced by Cosina from 2004 to 2012 or so.

[JDMvW]

<p>It's a very nice looking camera, no matter who actually made it.<br>

It's a Leica M mount, right? </p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>I've been looking on eBay for this camera, I find it a very tempting option, at least compared to the Leica M6 or M7 (which I'd regard 'competitors' for features). But well, the bankaccount isn't agreeing with another shopping spree. Enjoy it, I'm slight envious... :-)</p>

[etienne_w]

JDM: Yes it is. I see one negative point in that: it opens a door to yet more money venting out of my bank account! :-)

[etienne_w]

Wouter, I had been looking on ebay the last couple of days too, if only to convince me that I did not overpay for the

camera. They seem to be pretty rare indeed, and owners seem to hold on them. The only one I ever saw before "for real"

was hanging on the neck of a tourist in Munich last summer.

 

Check out classifieds on rangefinders forum and APUG, one might pop up from time to time. I will let you know if I ever

decide to sell mine.

 

Etienne

[Greg M]

<p>Beautiful camera, but as noted, it can't be all that old since it's a recent design...</p>

<p>http://petapixel.com/2012/12/09/end-of-the-road-zeiss-ikon-rangefinders-to-be-shuttered/</p>

<p>I thought, on and off for a while, about buying one a few years ago but never pulled the trigger. The lens line is all pretty much still available to purchase new. I guess they have either kept production of those up since they are M mount lenses, or places like B&H just still a lot of new-old stock on-hand.</p>

<p>There's a user group with discussions related to this system at rangefinderforum.com...</p>

<p>http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=55</p>

 

[mukul_dube]

<p>This camera tempted me, chiefly on account of its auto exposure and what is said to be a finder better even than that of an M Leica. But I could not afford it as a second camera and could not bring myself to sell my M6. It is correct that they come up on RFF now and then.</p>

[etienne_w]

<p>Yes it is a beautiful camera. There is info around the net which compares it to Leicas and Voigtlanders. Long story short the Zeiss Ikon represents the middle point in terms of price between those two. The body has been discontinued (as Greg mentioned above) but the Zeiss ZM series of lenses are still in production. Zeiss even introduced a new 35 1.4 less than one year ago.</p>

<p>My experience with Leica is limited to holding one in a store and looking through it, but I have to say the Zeiss viewfinder is better (to me!) than the Leica. The only quirk I could see on the Zeiss Ikon so far is that the exposure time display in the viewfinder is in full stops. This limits exposure precision in manual mode to 1 stop, which can be problematic with slide film. There is a workaround, though. In AE mode the meter drives the shutter with 1/12 stop precision. The camera features a nice AE lock system: press the AEL button and the exposure is locked for the next 20 seconds. Half pressing the shutter will expand the AEL time, pressing the AEL button again (assuming it is still active) will cancel it. You can even apply exposure compensation when AE is locked. Really neat. With other cameras I always used manual mode rather than AE lock, but I can see myself adapting to that easily.</p>

<p>A lot has been written in various reviews about the exposure time display being barely visible, if at all, in bright light. This is true. I realized that this does not disturb me much. When I really want to see it I hide the viewfinder with my left hand.</p>

<p>Bottom line, if you are tempted by a Zeiss Ikon, go for it. You will not regret it and there is a huge choice of glass (covering a wide price range) for it on the market.</p>

<p>Etienne</p>

[benny_spinoza]

<p>Hmm...similar history. I used to shoot medium format. Then I bought a Fujifilm x100, which I love. But have been hankering for 35mm rangefinder. The only problem is my bank account is not cooperating. Enjoy! What film do you intend to shoot? Will you scan your own?</p>

[etienne_w]

<p>I get a kick out of projecting slides (in particular 6x6) and my favorite film is Velvia 50, of which I have dozens in my fridge. A friend of mine gave me at least 20 or 30 rolls in 35mm format many years ago when he moved to digital and they have been in my freezer ever since. I am really curious how the 50/2 ZM (Planar) renders on Velvia. I also own a Rolleiflex Planar and looking at the spec sheet of both lenses, I am amazed at how similar their designs look like. The Rollei is incredible with Velvia.</p>

<p>Up to very recently I have never been much into B&W but I am learning it now. I do not have the equipment to process myself and I like the security of having a lab doing it for me. I only shoot 10/20 rolls a year hence at around 5 Euros for an E6 roll (either 120 or 36 exposure 24x36) it remains affordable. To answer your other question I am not too much into scanning, at this point I have the lab doing the processing create a CD of my B&W negatives. It "somewhat" works. I do slides with a DSLR and have been successful so far (if I remember correctly I wrote a post about that some time ago).</p>

<p>Yes, I know the bank account problem... This time I did not ask the bugger its opinion and just pulled the credit card, lol. I have a yearly bonus from the company coming next month, it should help.</p>

<p>Happy shooting!</p>

<p>Etienne</p>

[stric]

<p>Etienne,<br>

Both X100S and Zeiss Ikon are great cameras. I also have X100S and I agree with your description of calling it a "social" camera. However, I do like the fact that it's digital. Even though I like rangefinders, I've never been quite impressed with Leica M digital offerings. They still feel like something is amiss. Fujifilm managed to fill that void with their X series (at least for now). Clever design and marketing, not to mention retro looks and high responsiveness to customer needs resulted in some really, really nice cameras. The X series is not rangefinder but they are great little cameras nonetheless.<br>

Once digital Ms shrink in size to their film predecessors I'll probably get one. I often use both X100S and my film Leica w/ 50 mm Summicron. I've never had a chance to get my hands on Zeiss Ikon but I always wanted one. I wish they were still made. It'd be nice if they were to introduce a Zeiss Ikon digital rangefinder to provide some competition to Leica.</p>

[etienne_w]

Emir,

I'm with you. I love my X100s! and I have used it quite a bit. But I recently realized that am a film photographer at heart. I

entered the digital world 2 years ago (with the X100s) and after using it exclusively for one year (not a single film roll, this

is to tell you how I enjoy the Fuji, which has been with me virtually everywhere ever since!) I just had to come back to film.

 

Digital Leicas are waaaay outside my price range, although the combined value of my Rolleiflex, Hasselblad, X100s and

now Zeiss Ikon probably amount to the same money. The thing is, the cost of those has been split over more than 10

years, mostly second hand (save for the X100s and now the Zeiss) and their value hardly depreciate anymore. Not the

case with a digital camera, be it a Leica. But I digress. If a digital rangefinder were introduced for, say, the price of a D810, I

am not sure I would buy it. Would you? It would surely be nice, though! Wait and see, there is so much new stuff coming on the

market those days. Not to forget smartphones. My colleague has the latest iphone and I am amazed at the picture quality

those devices achive. To the point that it does not take much exaggerating to think that cameras such as the X100s as "social cameras" (as both of us are using) are just "pure vanity" show-off devices ;-)

 

Happy shooting!

 

Etienne

[Two23]

<p>I've been taking a very, very close look at this same camera the past month. I've been using a Leica IIIc for the past three years and love it, but it's hard to use at night. I'm looking for a second camera I can use at night. Right now I've looking at Zeiss ZM, Leica M6, Olympus OM4ti, and Nikon FM2/T. My problem is they are all great! I was also looking the Contax G2 because it is now cheap with great Zeiss lenses, but ruled it out because of the very noisy autofocus. It's probably going to come down between the Zeiss ZM or Nikon FM2/T with f2 lenses for me, in titanium & black trim.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

[tim_bradshaw1]

<p>I own one of these which I bought new: as other people have said it's a recent design. Mine needed the rangefinder aligned, which Zeiss (in Germany I think, though the camera is not German of course) did for free, although I was annoyed that it needed it. It has been fine since then (7 years or so: I used if for my hundred rolls of Kodachrome project but less since then).</p>

<p>Compared with a Leica it is clearly not as nicely made, but the viewfinder is so much better than an M6's that there was no competition for me. It's like looking through water into a slightly better version of the world. May be more recent Leicas have better finders, or maybe the M6 I used was particularly crufty, but I am not tempted to find out as, while they could perhaps be as good as the ZI's finder, it is not possible to be better.</p>

<p>The Zeiss lenses are a funny thing. They are clearly optically at the level where it is a matter of taste: you might prefer Zeiss or Leica but that's because they differ, not because one is better. But they rattle: of the three I have (50mm Sonnar, 35mm Biogon and now 50mm Planar) the Sonnar is seriously wobbly, and the other two are better but I suspect are becoming wobbly. It seems to make no difference at all to the images they make but it's just annoying and not necessary.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Tim, what you say about the VF is important. I have an M4-p and previously an M4-2 and M6 and have as we say, "lived with" the VF, it's advantages and disadvantages. But when you don't know something better you don't really miss the difference. If the VF is that good it is worth the lesser build quality and possibly lesser longevity or repairability (the M4-P sings along after 30 years or so of age) of the Leica. A shame that the market did not favour Cosina carrying on with it. Like the really fine Konica 35 RF system (competitor to the Leica M7), it deserved to last longer.</p>

[Fotohuis RoVo]

<p>Well I decided 10 years ago to buy a Leica M7. Second hand and 0,58 for the 28mm Elmarit in full overview. I like W.A. lenses so in the mean time a C.V. SWH-15mm-M, Elmarit 21mm and a C.V. zoom VF 15-35mm easy in use.<br>

Apart from the standard Summicron 50mm a Summarit 75mm and further is not wise to do with a 0,58mm version.</p>

<p>Comparing to my Cosina Voigtländer Bessa III 667 which has the best finder I have ever worked with the M7 is still very good and the quality of manufacturing is extremely well done. However I like my FSU RF cameras too. A fraction of those prices and with some Jupiter lenses THE best price - quality you can ever buy!</p>