Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 531/2
It is rare these days to find a gem for the price of a rock on eBay. About a month ago, I put in a low bid for a Super Ikonta more for a laugh than anything else. The starting bid was $10 for this beautiful piece of German engineering. I threw out a small bid of $20 just to see what happened. About a week went by and I forgot about it, but by a sheer miracle, I won this beautiful camera that was manufactured in West Germany between 1949 and 1950, according to the serial number.
When the camera arrived, a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 531/2, it was in amazing condition. The 105mm f/3.5 Tessar lens was clean. The Compur-Rapid shutter operated smoothly and the times were perfect. And amazingly, the focusing lens travelled buttery smooth with the right amount of friction as to be just a tiny bit stiff. I have dreamt for years about having a Super Ikonta. Even though I prefer 6x6 or 6x4.5 frame sizes, I do like the 6x9 format, even though it does eat up a ton of film! One roll of 120 film in this camera will get you 8 shots! With today’s prices on film, that is not a lot. These cameras originally came with a 6x4.5cm mask. If any of you know where I can get one of these for a decent price, please let me know.
Due to this camera arriving so clean, I did some minimal cleaning and took it out for a test shoot. I took it out on the Peach Orchard Loop Trail that I’ve discussed before. It performed flawlessly. It was not the best time of day or season, but the detail captured in the large 6x9cm photograph blew my mind. I had a small issue with an old batch of 510Pyro during development, but the photographs still turned out well.
I look forward to using it again in the future. However, the use case for a wide format medium format camera is limited. I do landscapes, but as expensive as film is, I will have to be picky about when I use it. I still can’t believe I actually have one of these cameras. This model sells regularly on eBay for $249.
Below, you’ll discover photographs of the camera and the photographs it took. When I use it in the future, I will update this blog post.
