Ikonta 520 novar

This is a medium format camera (i.e. takes 120 film) from Zeiss Ikon.  It is a half-frame camera - 6 x 4.5 cm negative - which is half of a standard 120 frame of 6 x 9 cm.

Ikonta 520, front view

lens: Novar
focal length:  75mm
apertures: f6.3 to f32
focus range: 4'6" to infinity (that is the scale, actually about 4 feet)
lens fitting: fixed
shutter: Derval
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, B, T
flash: n/a
film size: 120

The body is made from cast aluminium.  This body casting is shared between the Ikonta 520, Bob 510 and Nettar 515. It is quite hard to understand why Zeiss Ikon shared the body between three different camera lines instead of calling them all Ikonta (the oldest name) seeing as Bob, Ikonta and Nettar all come with a range of lenses and shutters and can be considered to be one range in effect if not in name.

So, this Ikonta.  The lens is a Novar which is a triplet and performs surprisingly well once stopped down to f8 or smaller.  Ikontas were also available with Tessars at a higher price and wider aperture Novars.  The Novar on this camera is quite a slow lens with a maximum aperture of f6.3.  The focussing is front cell only, rather than the whole lens moving (giving not quite so good image quality) and the focussing scale is in feet indicating that the camera is an official import into the UK.

The shutter is an everset Derval (everset means it does not need cocking before firing as a Klio or Compur would).  This is a fairly crude (and so cheap) shutter with two blades only and only offers three speeds: 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100.  With a slow lens like this camera has, faster shutter speeds would have been superfluous, particularly with the slow, by modern standards, films available in the 1930s.

Detail of rim-set shutter adjuster on Derval shutter

The shutter is a dial set shutter which means that the speed adjustment is by a dial set above the shutter housing.  More modern shutters have a rim set adjuster which is a ring around the shutter housing.  This shutter does not have a V (=Vorlaufwerk) setting for delayed action and as is usual with cameras made before the late 1940s, there is no flash connection or synchronisation.

As I mentioned, the maximum aperture is rather small at f6.3 but the minimum aperture is surprisingly small - f32 - so the range of exposures possible is still respectably large.

A standard photograph with this camera (as with the Bob 510 and Nettar 515) is in portrait format and in this orientation the shutter release is underneath the camera and is uncomfortable to use.  To take landscape pictures, the camera must be used on its side and the shutter release is on the side and easy to use.

Exa 500 exakta

This is my fourth Ihagee camera and my third Exa.  The original Exa was a cut-down low-cost version of the Exakta and then the Exa line developed in its own right.

The Exa 500 is the end of the line for Exa cameras  and was developed after Ihagee was subsumed into VEB Pentacon, the state camera manufacturer.  The lineage from the Exakta is apparent in the shape.  This camera still has the rhomboidal shape introduced with the original 127 format Exakta in 1933.  It also still has the shutter release on the left, although the film advance is now on the right.  Another change is the fixed pentaprism viewfinder, so I cannot use the delightful waist level finder with this camera.

The immediate predecessor of this camera was the Exa II.  The body of the Exa IIa and this Exa 500 are identical although there are some internal differences.

The Exa 500 has a vertical cloth focal plane shutter which travels from bottom to top.  This shutter provides speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 seconds plus B.  This means it is twice as fast as the Exa II.  There are two flash settings: 1/60 for electronic flash and 1/15 for flash bulbs. This camera follows the Exa standard and flash synch is achieved by aligning a dot on the speed dial with either a zigzag icon or a bulb icon.  On the front of the body is a single PC connector.

This camera also has a shutter lock beside the viewfinder - cover the red dot to shoot, uncover to store the camera.  The only other real change between the Exa II and the Exa 500 is that the Exa 500 has an instant return mirror so the viewfinder does not go blank when you fire a shot.

Like other Exakta/Exa cameras, the film take-up spool is removable and can be replaced with an empty film cassette.  Doing this obviates the need to rewind the film but it does cost you one frame of film.  There is no internal knife to cut the film like the Exaktas have so this must be done after opening the back.  The only real advantage of this is the possibility of developing half a roll of film but I cannot imaging that many people have ever bothered.

The film advance is on the right as is normal in non-Ihagee cameras.  It has quite a short stroke of just over 90 degrees (compared to the Exakta Varex II where the advance travels about 300 degrees).

The back of these cameras come away from the camera body in one piece with the base.  This is supposed to make it easier to load film but I find this method harder.

Exa cameras were supplied with a variety of lenses depending on how much the customer wanted to pay.  This camera has a Meyer-Optik Domiplan.  this is a triplet design so not as good as the Tessar option, but the Domiplan performs well enough when stopped down.  The lens is a semi-automatic lens - the diaphragm closes when the shutter release is pressed but stays open for composition and focussing.

The Domiplan achieves this automation by a hinged lug that protrudes over the shutter release - the photographer presses this lug which in turn presses the shutter release.

This mechanism in the Domiplan lens has a weak link that is prone to seizing but this particular lens performs ok.  My other Domiplan lens needed the mechanism cleaning with naptha before it would work satisfactorily.

This camera would also work with my Exa fit Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar (we need to specify Carl Zeiss Jena in contradiction to Carl Zeiss Opton, the new (at the time) Carl Zeiss operation in West Germany.  East German Carl Zeiss Jena lenses are generally better than Carl Zeiss Opton lenses).

In use, this camera is much as you would expect.  The shutter speed selector is rather loose and I was not sure I was actually selecting any speed, but I tried exposures at various shutter speeds and they have all come out well exposed so the shutter speed selector must be doing its job.

There is a red flag in the viewfinder to tell you that you need to advance the film before taking the next shot.  in previous Exa cameras this was not necessary as the mirror would only return to the viewing position when you had wound on.  In this model, the mirror is an instant return mirror and it would seem that the makers thought users might get confused with such sophistication.

Exakta Varex IIb heavy

This is one of Ihagee's 'serious' cameras.  It is very similar to the two Exas I already own but has more facilities and is built to a higher standard.  It is the usual Exakta/Exa rhomboidal shape.  On my two Exa cameras, the back and base come away as one to allow film loading.  The Varex IIb is more traditional with a hinged back.  This back, however, is also removable if you want.

Exakta Varex IIb as I bought it

lens: none
focal length:  n/a
apertures: n/a
focus range: n/a
lens fitting: Exakta double bayonet
shutter: horizontal cloth focal plane
speeds: 12 seconds to 1/1000 seconds
flash: three PC connectors, no accessory shoe
film size:  35mm

The camera is heavy, weighing 581g without lens or viewfinder.  It is left-handed.  The film advance is on the left as is the shutter release and one of the two (yes, two) shutter speed selectors.

This camera came without a lens and has both (yes, both) the Exakta bayonet mounts so this camera will take any Exakta fit lens.  Strictly, this is a Varex IIa type bayonet as it has slots at the inner bayonet flanges (not sure why).

The reason for having two bayonet mounts on one camera is that the original mount restricted the width of attached lenses.  When Ihagee developed telephoto lenses, there was too much vignetting of the image to be usable.  the new bayonet mount has a wider diameter and so allows wider lenses to be fitted.  (note: I am using the word 'wider' in a mechanical sense, not in its other, optical, sense.)

The shutter release is beside the lens mount to allow the use of automatic lenses.  In the Exakta system, the lens has a secondary shutter release which fits over the camera's shutter release.  When you press the lens' secondary release, the lens diaphragm closes and the primary release is pressed, actuating the shutter.

The shutter is a horizontal cloth focal plane shutter.  On this particular specimen, the shutter is faulty.  The mechanism sounds dry (there is a faint but clear squeal when the shutter actuates), the second curtain is significantly wrinkled and, at the slower speeds, the second curtain doesn't quite close.  At 1/1000, it works fine.

This is the only camera I have seen that has two speed selectors.  On the left is a small conventional selector that covers speeds from 1/30 to 1/1000 plus B and T.  This works in a fairly conventional manner - lift, turn to the required speed and release.

slow speed selector

fast speed selector

On the right of the camera is another speed selector which covers speeds from 1/8 to 12 seconds.  These figures are in black.  This selector also provides a delay of up to six seconds (using the figures in red).  When using the delay, you also get mirror lock up so reduced vibration can be achieved when using the macro attachment - a facility that no other of my SLRs has until my Canon EOS of 1995.  In the centre of the slow speed selector there is a film speed reminder dial.  As this camera is totally manual, this dial does nothing except remind you what film you have loaded into the camera.

Another quirky thing about Exakta cameras is the film advance lever.  This moves through over 300 degrees which is more than you can do in one motion.  I am actually finding this ok but I start the motion with my left thumb for the first half of the travel and then my left index finger takes over.  Around the film advance lever there is a frame counter.  This counts up from zero - so tells you how many frames you have shot.  It is also quirky as the frame count changes when you press the shutter release rather than when you advance the film.

Exakta cameras have exchangeable viewfinders.  When I bought this camera, there was no viewfinder with it, just a rectangular hole in the top plate.  I have two viewfinders for my Exa cameras and these fit this camera so I have a choice of an eye-level finder and a waist level finder.

Moving to the front of the camera, there is little to note.  As I have mentioned, there is a double bayonet mount and a shutter release.  There are also three (yes, three) PC connectors for a flash gun.  Ihagee seem to have tried to be as idiosyncratic as possible with there cameras.  Rather than go down the route used by Prontor and Compur (hence PC) and have a switch to select between bulb and electronic flash, Ihagee have provided separate connectors , one for electronic flash and two for flash bulbs.

In fact, the three PC connectors can be used in various ways to allow different shutter speeds.  Using the X connector and a shutter speed of 1/60 allows use of electronic flash.  Using the FP (Focal Plane) connector allows shutter speeds up to 1/1000 seconds which is an incredibly fast shutter speed for flash.  The manual gives guide numbers for different bulbs and shutter speeds - the fast speeds being achieved because the flashbulbs suitable for the FP connector have a flash duration of around 1/40 second and so are burning throughout the expossure.  The F (Fast) connector allows small fast flashbulbs to be used with a shutter speed of 1/30.  The X (Electronic) connector can also be used with a shutter speed of 1/8 with any flashbulb.  I am not sure how much advantage is given to the photographer with the above choices, but I almost never use flash and have never used flashbulbs, so I am likely to be missing the point.

Underneath the camera are four knobs.  The smallest of these unscrews to allow the use of an internal knife to cut the film when an empty cassette is used in place of the take-up spool.  Next to this is the rewind knob with a small folding crank.  At the other end of the camera is a knob which is pull away from the camera to release the catch on the back.  Between these two knobs is the tripod boss which is the standard 1/4 Whitworth tread.

The outside of the back has two small chrome rectangles and one large chrome rectangle.  These are the fitting for internal components, the small rectangles help to keep the film flat and the large rectangle is part of the fitting of the pressure plate.