Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta

[JoeV]

Hi all;

My aging uncle just gave me his "Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 533/16" camera. Though I haven't ran film through it yet, initially fumbling with the controls looks like mechanically it is sound; all the shutter speeds 'work', though the slower speeds on the Compur Rapid shutter appear to be *really slow* (like 1/5 sec looks more like a full second.) So it may need a CLA, but appears very clean. The lens is labelled "Carl Zeiss Jena Nr. 2576202 Tessar 1:2,8 f=8cm", so I'm hopeful of excellent image quality with this Zeiss Tessar lens.

My question pertains to the metering system. The meter appears to 'work', in the sense that it renders a response to light, and the extinguishing system (one turns the exposure knob to make the meter needle move) appears to function; however, I'm not familiar with the notation on the meter window. There's a diamond shaped symbol at the top of the meter scale, which I'm assuming one would align with the needle to achieve a 'normal' exposure; then the scale reads: 2,5,10,20,40, followed by a "." dot symbol. I'm not familiar with this notation or number sequence; perhaps it relates to the DIN system? Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

I might also mention that, upon opening the camera, the bellows appears in good shape, though I haven't tested it yet for pinhole leaks. The image frame inside the camera appears to be square format, yet the stamped notation on the inside of the camera door reads "Zeiss Ikon Film B2-6x9 *2 1/4 x 3 1/4 in*"

This is interesting, as the stamped information on the door appears to conflict with the appearant square film format. Also, the frame counter system goes to 12 exposures only, consistent with the 6x6 format. Any ideas on the discrepancy of the door information? I don't think it was replaced by a door from another model, as the leatherette covering, and metal finish, appears to exactly match the rest of the camera. Perhaps Zeiss used one door for all their different formats of Ikon cameras?

Well, once I figure out the metering I'll run a roll of 120 through it (yes, it appears to be 120, and there's already an empty 120 film spool on the supply side, despite the "533/12" model nomenclature, and the observation that my uncle thought film was no longer available for this camera.)

~Joe

 

[pschauss]

My 532/16 also has the 6x9 stamped on the inside of the door somewhere although it is clearly a 6x9 frame size. I think that this refers to the film size rather than the frame size.

 

[literiter]

Hi,
My Super Ikontas are the 532/16s so I can't tell you anything about the meter on the camera, I'm afraid. But the 532/16 is similar to the 533/16 in other ways.

I have 4 of these, all 6x6 format. Each is stamped "B2 - 6X9" then "2 1/4 x 3 1/4in" on the inside beside the pressure plate. As far as I know all this series are stamped this way. (My cameras will only give me 11 exposures on a 120 roll incidentally, some kind of mechanical expediency with this version. ) I have heard no reasonable explanation for this seeming incorrect labeling but it has been discussed.

My Super Ikonta 531/2 cameras are stamped the same way and they are indeed 6x9 format and give me 8 exposures on a roll.

These cameras take the readily available 120 film. These are really fantastic cameras. Get the camera CLAd, i's worth it.

 

[ZeissFan]

Zeiss Ikon sold 120 film marked as BII 6x9. You can ignore that.

I see that your camera has an uncoated Carl Zeiss Jena lens. I believe it's uncoated because it's marked in centimeters, rather than millimeters. You'll see many of these cameras with a postwar coated f/2.8 80mm Tessar. The uncoated lens, however, is no slouch.

The bellows in a Zeiss Ikon camera are almost always still light tight. In general, Zeiss Ikon used premium materials for its cameras. At the time, they cost more, but they were built better.

The meter system is similar to the Contax IIIa. I'll have to find my owner's manual for the Contax IIIa, which means that I'll never find it.

It sounds like your camera needs nothing more than routine service. They're capable of excellent results.

 

[photovdz]

with such a lens serial number it's a wartime production camera......
I would advice not to rely on the exposure meter (they can be accurate when new, but the selenium is almost 70 year old...

this camera take 11 pictures per film to allow some margin for the automatic film advance... You need to read the manual to load the film and initialise the counter (it's quite not straight forward) as it has double exposure prevention and won't work if you have initialised the counter adequatly...
The film counter has the same bizarre functionnality as the meter less version... it's possible to find the manual on line... www.orphancamera.com

Stephan

 

[ZeissFan]

I believe the 533/16 gives 12 on 120, rather than 11 (531/16 and 532/16), but maybe the prewar model is slightly different from the postwar camera.

I know that with the postwar 533/16, the film advance mechanism is very different from the 531/16 and 532/16 (both share the same basic mechanism).

I've always felt that the 533/16 is a bit of a beast because of the added weight and structure of the meter on top of what already is a heavy camera. No doubt when you're out, it won't be mistaken for a digital.

In any case, you should have quite a bit of fun with the Super Ikonta.