Help - Flash Sync for Zeiss Ikonta 521/16?

[iamzip]

I recently purchased a Zeiss Ikonta 521/16 off of ebay and am learning how to use it. One thing I am curious about is a little connector on top of the shutter, which both I and the local camera shop guy think is a connector for flash. If anyone knows, please tell me:

1. Is this a connection to sync a flash?
2. Will it sync properly with a modern, electronic flash? There is no X/M switch.
3. What kind of cable does it require? A standard pc cable is too small, the guy at the camera shop seems to think that a piece is missing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. While i did not intend on using a flash when I purchased the camera, it would certainly extend the usefulness of it.

Thank you in advance!

 

[payasam]

If there is only one flash socket and no X/M switch, the likelihood is that the camera will work only with an M flash (delayed sync). I had a Rolleicord like that, made in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

 

[Solinar]

That's Prontor Vario shutter - and - the nipple on top is your -"PC cord " -connection.

It should synch that uses a modern electronic stobe with a PC cord. It will only work at 1/25th of second or slower - which on this particlular Prontor shutter may only be "B". If so, you may be limited to 1/25th of second.

The PC in "PC cord is an abbreviation of Prontor and Compur, which by the 1940's the two largest leaf-shutter manufacturers in Germany. Both firms were by then part of the House of Zeiss.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I recently purchased a Zeiss Ikonta 521/16 off of ebay and am learning how to use it. One thing I am curious about is a little connector on top of the shutter, which both I and the local camera shop guy think is a connector for flash. If anyone knows, please tell me:

1. Is this a connection to sync a flash?
2. Will it sync properly with a modern, electronic flash? There is no X/M switch.
3. What kind of cable does it require? A standard pc cable is too small, the guy at the camera shop seems to think that a piece is missing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. While i did not intend on using a flash when I purchased the camera, it would certainly extend the usefulness of it.

Thank you in advance!

That is the place you connected a flash to the camera. There is no hot shoe. There is also no flash sync, and they probably never felt the need for one (leaf shutter cameras sync at all speeds with modern flashes).

IF you can hook a modern flash up to it, it should work. You'll need a flash that uses a PC cord. If you get the kind with a PC cord permanently attached to the back, it probably won't be long enough, so you'll have to splice some wire into the middle of it.

 

[iamzip]

I have a hot shoe adapter to pc cord as pictured. The cord will hook up to a pc socket on modern cameras, however it does not fit onto the socket on the Zeiss - it is too small. Are there different sizes, or is there something missing from my camera?

 

[Abbazz]

I have a hot shoe adapter to pc cord as pictured. The cord will hook up to a pc socket on modern cameras, however it does not fit onto the socket on the Zeiss - it is too small. Are there different sizes, or is there something missing from my camera?

On your attached pictures, the nipple on your camera looks like a standard PC socket, but it could also be different. Or maybe it's your hot shoe adapter which is not standard, as some makers had specific PC connectors (Nikon...). Maybe you could bring your Ikonta to a camera store and try different flash cables.

If it's the socket on the camera that is not standard, then you will have to look for a suitable vintage cable. Even if the cable is not functioning, you can cut the precious Zeiss connector and solder it to a new a flash cable.

Don't worry about the M/X synch. problem. The first flash synchronization devices were straightforward, without any delay mechanism. That's the type of flash synch. that has been later known as the "electronic" X synch. type, even though electronic flashes were not yet invented at that time. The early magnesium flashes suffered from a long latency between the ignition and the effective firing of the flash. The lack of a appropriate delay mechanism in the shutter was the reason why the first flash users had to use their leaf shutters at 1/10sec. or 1/25sec. with magnesium flashes. At 1/125sec, the shutter blades were already closed when the flash fired!

It's only later that the shutter manufacturers implemented a delay mechanism in order to start the flash ignition before the shutter action, so that the flash effectively fired when the blades were fully open. These more sophisticated shutters had an M/X selector to set the flash type.

If there is no M/X selector on your shutter, then it's an X type synch. only shutter.

Cheers!

Abbazz

 

[greyhoundman]

The PC nipple on the Zeiss is not a modern size. You'll have to hunt for an original cable.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I have a hot shoe adapter to pc cord as pictured. The cord will hook up to a pc socket on modern cameras, however it does not fit onto the socket on the Zeiss - it is too small. Are there different sizes, or is there something missing from my camera?

I may be wrong, but I think something like this is what you need: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Camera-Flash-Terminal-PC-Adapter-LEICA-2_W0QQitemZ180207494029QQihZ008QQcategoryZ4702QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem