Red Dot Mystery

X

xcapekey

Guest
ok...just got a nice ikonta iii in the mail today...it's the lower end version i suppose with the novar anastigmat lens but it's still pretty sweet....1 second sounds right on! and the glass is in great shape...

so here's the question..there are two red dots on the camera controls...one on the aperture (between f8 and f11) and one on the distance scale (between 15/48 feet)...what do they mean?

someone told me that it meant that if i set the aperture past the red dot the image would suffer aberrations, light loss, etc.,

somewhere else on the web, i found that it was the hyperfocal marks...so if i put the camera to the two dots i would get a reasonably sharp image from 4.5 feet to infinity...

does anyone know for sure?
 
Well, my Werra had the same sort of thing (red numbers instead of dots) which apparently signify 'optimum' settings. The idea being if you set the camera to the red settings you will be able to take /most/ photos without needing to adjust anything. Maybe your camera is the same.
 
My 35mm Contessa and Contina folders have the same thing. As Frank and Duncan have posted, I was told that these were "box camera" settings. The idea was that if you loaded up with common medium-speed films of the day and set the controls to the red dots, you'd be able to take pictures in ordinary outdoor light without making any camera settings.

You could say this was an early conceptual take on the "green zone" settings some modern DSLRs have to return all the controls to their novice-user default settings.
 
From "The Ikonta and Super-Ikonta Guide", Aug. 1947:

"Zone Focusing:

...a red dot will be found on the aperture scale between f11 aand f16 and on the distance scale at about 35ft. If both distance indicator and stop indicator are set to the red dots--everything from about 15 ft to infinity will be sharp...".


Regards from
D.O'K.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom