pat_mullne

For the record, I did do the job. This was on a Super Ikonta C, a regular Ikonta C and A are the same. Super Ikonta B looks to be much different.

The rear of the bellow is secured by friction under the film gate, the film gate has to be removed for removal of the bellow. To to this, the long horizontal "tabs" that run the length of the top and bottom of the gate have to be pried up. One side, top or bottom, has to be opened fairly far; the other can be opened partially. Start by bending out the sharp ends and then slowly, and carefully, do the rest. This takes much time and patience and I can see where it would be easy to ruin the camera. Once they are up, pull the film gate up from the side that was opened the farthest and remove it. Lift the bellow off its seat and remove from the front.

I need to remove the bellows on a Super Ikonta. Freeing the front is

no problem, i.e., remove the shutter. The rear, however, is another

issue. Does anybody know how to free the rear of the bellows from the

camera body, allowing the bellows to be completely removed? I will

need to reinstall, so violence is not a viable option...

Thanks

As a follow-up, the wind mechanism on one of them went out; wouldn't stop at 1, 2, 3, etc., just kept on going. At this point, I had to try to get the top plate off and, for the record, here's how it works:

Remove the screw on the wind knob, you don't have to take it all the way out. Pull off the wind knob, the spring washer under it and the washer under that.

Remove the two screws on the counter dial, remove the counter dial and the spring washer under it. You will now see a screw, remove it.

Remove the screw on the flash-shoe. There is a small spacer under it, be ready for it to fall out.

Try to peel back the leather on the far left side of the top plate, only on the left side of the rangefinder hump. Unfortunately, it disolved when I did this. Remove the screw under it.

Top will now lift off.

Blow out all the dust and flaked-off black oaint.

Inside glass of viewfinder can now be cleaned, it is a tight squeeze between the glass and the rangefider prism. I used Windex and a lens cloth, carefully pushing the cloth around with the tip of a jewler's screwdriver. This took a good while, it was filthy. Due to the risk of destroying a small part of the body leather to gain access, I would not take one apart just to do this (unless otherwise unusable).

Have some flat black paint handy to touch-up the black paint on the rangefinder parts, it will flake off.

Advance problem was caused by a stop lever that had gummed-up due to dirt. I removed several of the gears, sprayed everything with tuner cleaner, lubricated the gears and the levers (you MUST do this or it will not work) and put it all back together.

Be very careful putting the top-left screw back in, it's a long screw and hard to get right. I finally put some plio-bond on the end of the screwdriver, which allowed me to move the screw around, and it went rignt in.

I you remove the gears, as I did, you may have to experiment a bit to get them in right. Use the wind knob to turn the advance with the top off. Keep trying different positions for the large brass gear until you get 11 exposures before the counter mechanism disengages. This isn't really too difficult. Once you have that, set up the mechanism for the first exposure before you close-up. When you reinstall the counter dial, align it for the first exposure.

If you don't remove gears, set it for the first exposure before you open it and set the counter dial at "1" when you reassemble.

Now, anybody know where to find some Ikonta body leather?

I've recently acquired two Super Ikonta B's at auction, both very

clean, one almost mint. Both have the coated Opton-Tessar and X-Sync,

which would make them post-war. Problem is that the inside of the

front rangefinder glass is very dusty on both cameras. Is there any

way to remove the front glass to clean it? Failing that, how do you

access the inside of the rangefinder?

Thanks...

Would really appreciate it if somebody could tell me the correct Zeiss

filter size/designation/part no. (or whatever it is) for the Super

Ikonta B with the Tessar 2.8/80 and the Super Ikonta IV with the

Tessar 3.5/75. I know the Contaflex uses "A28" size filters, proxars

and hoods. What is the appropriate designation for the two Super

Ikontas? I see these items for sale on the net sometimes, and would

like to acquire some, but don't know what fits what!

Thanks....

Some follow-up:

After two local camera shops told me it was lens separation, I shipped the thing off to have the lens cleaned and recemented. Turned out not to be lens separation, just some old lubricant-muck deposited on the front face of the rear element group. Had the shutter and lens serviced for $160 as long as it was there.

I just bought a Baldax, for peanuts, with the same Compur-Rapid and Tessar lens configuration as the Ikonta. Similar to the Ikonta, the lens looked perfect until I put a bright light through it. Under that examination, it looked just like the Ikonta did; sort of a white haze.

From the back of the camera, with the bellows closed, I carefully removed the rear element group with the ends of a pair of scissors (I have since acquired a proper lens spanner for $30 and I would recommend that route if you want to try this)and discovered a build-up of "muck" on the front face. I went over it with a lens brush to remove any dust. Then, using circular motions with a q-tip wet with Kodak lens cleaning fluid, I gently washed off the "muck" and dried it with a dry q-tip. Finally, I polished it with a lens chamois and put it back in place. The entire operation took about ten minutes and the lens turned out perfect, clear as the day it was made.

In my travels this week, I came across a 534/16 with M/X sync, Synchro

Compur, and a coated Tessar 3.5/75 lens. Everything works perfect,

including the meter. Other than some small paint chips in the black

enamel on the edges and the shutter mount, this thing looks like it

just came out of the box; body is near mint. Lens is spotless and

rangefinder like new. Looks like the tripod socket and flash shoe were

never used. I did not get a case. The guy wanted $375, which I paid

without any consideration. A couple of questions:

-Was this a reasonable price?

-How old is this camera?

-How do you load film? Window is too small to see the number on the

film and I can't figure out how to reset the counter.

-Any idea where I might find a case or instructions for it?

Thanks very much...

After reading some of the comments on this thread, I put a bright

light though the uncoated 80/2.8 Tessar lens of my Super Ikonta B

(Super Ikomat) and discovered some haze and a couple tiny black specs.

Owner of a local camera shop told me that it is lens separation. Said

that it's not too bad and that the camera should shoot reasonably well

for another decade or so. He does not do repairs, but told me how to

avoid lens flare, use a hood, etc. A couple of questions:

For future reference, how do you identify lens separation; what do you

look for? All I see is some light haze under the bright light.

Is it worth getting this fixed? Can it be done by most big-city

repair shops at reasonable cost? I paid $200 for the camera and do

like it, shutter, bellows, rangefinder, viewfinder and body are very

clean. Photos, except those shot into the light (and now I know

why...) are pretty good considering that this is my first adventure

with a manual camera in many years.

I've recently acquired a very clean Super Ikonta B; it was stored 40+

years and everything works like new except the "B" shutter setting on

the Compur Rapid shutter. Shutter will not cock when the dial is set

to that position, i.e., the cocking lever will not move. Similarly,

when cocked, the speed selector dial will not move to the "B"

position. Is this a mechanical problem with the shutter, or is there

a special procedure for using "B" on these cameras?

Thanks...