Zeiss Ikonta just back from CLA

pbromaghin · Apr 16, 2012

My 1948 Zeiss Ikonta 521/16 just came back from CLA by Paul Ebel. He did a great job. The zone focus, aperture, and shutter rings all turn as smooth as glass and he even shined up some of the chrome. He included actual and indicated shutter speed calibration. The worst one was .003 off. Not bad for a 64 year old camera.

This is pretty exciting - I had it done intending for it to become my daily "walking-around" camera. Yesterday I loaded her up with tmax 100 and stopped at a hospital construction site to get a couple of shots of the structure and construction crane against a starkly empty Colorado sky. This morning I realized it was focused at 1.5 meters. Oh well.

Nick Merritt · Apr 17, 2012

Oh yeah, been there!

BrianShaw · Apr 17, 2012

I'm excited for you and a bit jealous too!

R.Gould · Apr 17, 2012

They are lovely cameras and take great photos,I have had one for a few years now, a great carry around MF camera.
Richard

Mainecoonmaniac · Apr 17, 2012

I had a Zeiss Super Ikonta IV my girl friend gave me CLA'd. I love that camera. The selenium meter still works and the lens is razor sharp.

BrianShaw · Apr 17, 2012

Did you marry her? I probably would have... sight unseen!

Mainecoonmaniac · Apr 17, 2012

I haven't yet. Frances is a sweet gal that brought over her father's box of old cameras. One of them was the Super Ikonta IV. Didn't know what it was. I didn't even know how to open it. When I did got it unfolded, the focus was very stiff. Sent it off to Essex Camera Repair. I've been using it ever since. It's a real gem like my Frances.

Ian Grant · Apr 18, 2012

Have fun with the Ikonta, these are great little cameras that fit easily into a pocket and are quite capable of excellent results.

I'm hoping to finally get my own Ikonta 531 in action soon, unfortunately the lens is soft and low contarst but I found a new one (lens & shutter) back in early March.

Ian

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 18, 2012

What was the damage to the pocket for these? My Super Ikonta IV has been hurting for CLA, stiff focus, fungus on lenses, dirty rangefinder. But the bellows are great, and speeds good. I have been shooting with it and have been getting great results, though manhandling the focus doesnt make me too fast lol.

pbromaghin · Apr 18, 2012

The CLA on the simple Novar lens and compur shutter was about $100 plus shipping. This is a zone focuser with no synchronizations.

What I really would like to get is a late 50's 534 with the meter, Tessar lens and coupled rangefinder. They generally go for $4-500 though, which I don't want to spend on a toy.

Ian Grant · Apr 18, 2012

The cost of the CLA is actually more than another camear in better condition but that's the way it goes unfortunately. I'm lucky that the 1930's Compur on my 530 (not 531 as I posted earler) is accurate and I' was lucky to find a brand new post WWII coated Novar which is a direct swap.

Ian

pbromaghin · Apr 19, 2012

Yup, it was $100 for the 521 2 years ago and another $100 now for the CLA. Cosmetically it is in great condition. It was usable and gave fairly decent results within the limitations of the unknown shutter speeds, but I wanted to get it back to near-new functional condition and see what it will do. It should now be good for longer than I live.

Klainmeister · Apr 19, 2012

Funny, I tested a Zeiss Super Ikonta (Tessar) with a home built shutter tester...things seemed darn accurate. You can also adjust the rangefinder quite easily, so I made a ground glass to mimic the film plane, set focus to infinity and worked it backwards against the rangefinder images and it was perfect.

So I took it out and shot some slide film--which I consider the ultimate test for shutter accuracy and everything came out splendid. I got the slide scanned professionally and it was so sharp that the lab chuckled when I showed them the camera that took it.

Lesson: these are great friggen cameras and if you are comfortable with little screws and tinkering, things can be managed relatively easily outside of a complete shutter cleaning (when needed). I really regret selling mine.

Have fun! These are not toys, but professional worthy cameras (great for hiking too).

pbromaghin · Apr 19, 2012

Klainmeister, that's a good observation about slide film. It was a disastrous roll of Velvia that showed how badly the shutter needed maintenance. Paul found that the main spring had lost tension, he fixed that, with the result that the shutter is now within 3/1000 at all speeds. A few are dead on. That is just amazing.

You are right, they are great cameras. When I said it was a toy, it was in the sense that anything purchased for a hobby is a toy.

Zeiss Ikonta just back from CLA

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