Ercona I issues and questions

[ThreeToedSlothLuke]

I've just taken delivery of an Ercona I. Seems to be a solid camera and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Tessar works out.

But...issue 1. I cock the shutter, advance the film (the camera is actually empty) and sometimes it's as though I had selected the delay shutter. it's been getting better since I've been advancing/cocking/firing but it's a little disconcerting.

Issue 2...I'm used to either the Rolleiflex Automat - load and adavance until it hits frame 1 - or the Rolleicord - match the starting line on the film, close the camera and advance until frame 1. Using a roll of 120 I unfortunately ruined in another camera I feel it advance a little and then I have to cock the shutter and fire. When it finally reaches frame 1 I can't cock the shutter until the '1' has gone past the red window. And I'm not convinced it advances anything like 9+cms between shots.

I'm sure I'm missing the obvious here but I can't find either an Ercona manual or the equivalent Zeiss Ikonta. Anyone have experience to tell me where I'm going wrong?

 

[Filzkoeter]

First of all: the Erconas Tessar is absolutly great. Very sharp lens with great resolution, if everything is rigid and well adjusted, you'll get some great results with it. Stop down to about f8 - f16 for maximum performance, its wide open performance is very smooth and round 🙂

Your issues: there's no linkage between advancing & cocking the shutter. It doesn't matter if there's film in the camera or not, there's no system that's in any way linked with advancing the film. It makes no difference at all if you cock first then advance, or first advance then cock.
You can wind whenever you want, there's no automatic stop for the frames. Every frame must be set up via the red windows.


I believe the Ercona/Ikonta double exposure prevention confuses some people (I've read it a couple of times). After firing the shutter _with the release on top of the body_ the release blocks and prevents double exposures. You can however always release the shutter directly with the release-lever of the shutter body. The body-release unlocks after half a winding from the advance-key and a red dot appears to tell you that the release is unlocked again. It only tells you that you've started to advance to the next frame. It is no indication if the next frame is in position (that's what the red windows are for).

Just wind until frame 1 in the red window appears, cock the shutter, shoot (the body-release locks to prevent double exposures), open the red window, wind (release unlocks again) and keep winding until you arrive to frame 2, cock the shutter, shoot, repeat for every frame 😉

 

[johnnyrod]

Cock the shutter once the film is wound on - I don't know if doing it before confuses the double exposure mechanism? I have a 6x6 Mess ikonta with the same mechanism - it doesn't take much of a turn of the advance knob to release it, much less than a full frame of film. I found a few times I've gone to squeeze the shutter and changed my mind, only to find I've tripped the mechanism but not the shutter, so no picture taken and can't press the shutter button. As Filz says, you can release the shutter with your finger at the lever on its body instead of the one on the camera body. Finally with 6x9s it's best to open the bellows before you wind the film on to ensure it stays flat enough.

 

[ThreeToedSlothLuke]

Thank you, thank you...

Thank you, thank you...

It was the stiffness I felt once the red flag (dot) was showing that made me think I was doing something wrong. But now I have it. Thank you both.
Great. I'll put some film in it and see how it works.

Colin