SUPER IKONTA 530/2

anthonym3

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I purchased this recently and found 620 film spools in it. Was 620 used in the camera? All of the information that I found says 120.
 

Romanko

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Super Ikonta 530/2 used type 120 film. With some type 120 folding cameras you can use both 120 and 620 film. I tried 620 in Agfa Compur using type 120 receiving spool and it worked.
 

Dan Daniel

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Romanko said:
Super Ikonta 530/2 used type 120 film. With some type 120 folding cameras you can use both 120 and 620 film. I tried 620 in Agfa Compur using type 120 receiving spool and it worked.
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I've seen some Voigtlander folders with trick spool holders that will take 620 spools. The 120 tab- larger in size- is spring-loaded and the 620 flange will push the 120 tab out of the way, leaving just a 620 tab. All in all Kodak was a bit of the Apple of its day, trying to slam new standards down everyone's throat.
 

MattKing

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Dan Daniel said:
All in all Kodak was a bit of the Apple of its day, trying to slam new standards down everyone's throat.
Click to expand...

Actually, they were just trying to sell more film, at the expense of their competitors.
It was a time when there were more film formats around, and 120 hadn't become the medium format size. If you bought a Kodak camera, it was fairly likely to be 620, which meant you were most likely to use Kodak film.
A 620 camera could be slightly smaller as well, although that certainly wasn't always taken advantage of.
 

Mr Flibble

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I know Rollei made some Old Standards Rolleiflexes in 620, but I've not heard of Zeiss doing that.
Though you can feed most 120 with 620 on the feed side, maybe with an additional spacer.
Take-up side would need a 120 spool though, unless the take-up tab in the camera has been modified.
 

BrianShaw

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MattKing said:
Actually, they were just trying to sell more film, at the expense of their competitors.
Click to expand...

… at the expense of their customers!

But wasn’t that the philosophy from their corporate beginnings? I’m surprised that they didn’t give away cameras (with proprietary film formats) to generate film sales like razor blade companies gave away razors.

While proprietary standards are often despised, and for good reason, they make lucrative business sense just as much then as they do now.
 

Dustin McAmera

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I think your camera probably accepts both sizes. See this picture of a Super Ikonta pressure plate by Hans Kerensky at Flickr:


B2 was Agfa's name for 120 - I guess originally this comes from Brownie No. 2. The discussion under Hans' photo at Flickr suggests the added 'M' is for Metal spool.
 

Dustin McAmera

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I also found photos of pressure plates that only recommend B2, so I guess this was either an option, or they were made this way just for a time.
 
OP
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anthonym3

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