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.

Yamato Pal Jr yamanon

Yamato Pal Jr

lens: Yamanon
focal length: 45 mm
apertures:  f2.8 to f16
focus range:3 feet to infinity
lens fitting:  fixed
shutter:  proprietary leaf
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300
flash: cold shoe, PC connector, one sync speed
film size: 35 mm

This camera was made by Yamato Koki Kogyo in the 1960s.  It is  a smallish 35mm viewfinder camera from Japan made in the early 1960s.  Yamato Koki Kogyo made a range of cameras, frequently for private labels.  This particular model, Pal Jr, was sold in the USA by Sears as a Tower 55B.

It is a well made camera made from die cast metal with the only plastic being in the lens/shutter assembly and then take-up spool.  The size and shape of this camera are much reminiscent of the Voigtlander Vito B but with angled ends rather than rounded.

The lens is a 35 mm Yamanon lens (either made by or specifically for Yamato).  The aperture range is somewhat restricted - f3.5 to f16 - but this is a very usable range.  The diaphragm has nine blades which gives a fairly circular aperture; more circular than most modern lenses offer.  If you are interested in bokeh, this should bode well.  This lens allows focussing from a bit less than three feet to infinity.  The lens has a bluish caste so is coated at least on the external surface.  The shutter is a leaf shutter in the lens and speeds are as a Prontor - 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300 plus B.  The shutter bears no name - again either made by Yamato or specifically for them.  There is a single Happy Snapper setting - just less than f11 and twelve feet - both are marked in red on the lens barrel.

This camera is synchronised for flash - there is a PC socket on the underside of the shutter housing.  There is no indication as to whether this is M, F or X sync but given the age of the camera I am inclined to suggest it is F (for Fast flash bulbs).

Pal Jr, rear view

The top plate is fairly uncluttered.  There is a slight bulge for the viewfinder which is large enough (I can use it while wearing my spectacles).  The viewfinder has bright-lines plus secondary lines to avoid parallax errors for close subjects.  On the top of the viewfinder is an accessory shoe (a cold shoe in flash terms).  To the left is the rewind knob with a small fold-out crank.

To the right are the shutter release button (threaded for a standard cable release), the film advance lever and the rewind button.  In front of the rewind button is a window for the frame counter.  At the start of a film this is set to zero by a knurled ring around the rewind button.  The film advance lever moves through 180? for each frame.

To load a film, you turn a ring on the base plate from L to O and then the base and back come away as one piece.  Loading the film is as you would expect on a fully manual camera - insert the cassette in the chamber on the left, pull the film leader over the image gate and attach to the take-up spool.  There is a slight difference to normal here as the take-up spool turns clockwise (the film is would emulsion side outwards) so the leader is attached on the left of the spool rather than the right.

The base of the camera also features a standard (1/4 inch Whitworth) tripod boss.  This is right at one end of the camera and so is likely to be poor for both stability and level.

In use, this camera is pleasant to use.  The shutter release falls under my right index finger and the film advance under my thumb.  The viewfinder is a bit too small but still usable.  One fault with the viewfinder that I have found is the metal surround of the viewfinder comes into contact with my spectacle lens and will result in the lens getting scratched - softer plastic/rubber is much nicer.  The settings on the shutter barrel are easy to access from above and are nice and clear.  Would be better if there were depth of field markings beside then focussing scale, but this is a cheapish camera and you cannot have everything.

I now have some test pictures from this camera.  In general I am well pleased.  There is a lot of vignetting on a couple of frames but not in general.  I clearly have had an issue focussing this camera, but many are in good focus so i cannot blame the camera!