Near Mint! 1950 Zeiss-Ikon Ikonta C 6x9, CLA'd, Freshly Serviced!

Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted. Ready for immediate use

This week we have a freshly serviced Ikonta C. It’s a lovely camera that easily slips into a jacket pocket or a back pack and yet folds out to take 8 beautiful 6x9 exposures on normal 120 roll film. Bright exposures alive with all the vivid details and lovely colors that only medium format or larger can provide. When it comes to photography, bigger is better and with this camera you can create a negative that is about 6 times larger than the average 35mm snap shot. So whether you’re interested in large prints, fine grain, rich tonal gradations or lovely colors, this camera will do all of that and may just become your favorite photographic companion.

This is a quality Zeiss-Ikon camera in exceptionally fine condition. In fact it’s one of the finest example I’ve seen! (And I’ve been collecting and using vintage cameras for over 40 years.) The serial number, O99607, indicates that it was produced in Germany in circa 1950. This camera is based on the legendary Super Ikonta design and it shares the many of the same parts. This includes the body, door, leather bellows, pressure plate and many other details. (If you look closely on the photos you can even see the two black screws on either side of the viewfinder that could be used to hold the Super Ikonta’s rangefinder unit.)

The excellent performance of this camera is due to its old world, quality build and the fact that it is after all a Zeiss-Ikon product. Additionally this Ikonta has been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted. The shutter works smoothly and all speeds (B & 1 sec - 1/250th) are appropriate. The slow speeds buzz along smoothly and the faster ones are clean and snappy. The flash sync. connector has been adjusted and tested. An electronic flash will fire correctly at any desired shutter speed. (This is of course very convenient for fill flash.) And in case you wondered, the real leather bellows are soft, supple and completely light tight.

The lens is a big impressive f3.5/105mm Coated Novar. The Novar is based on the Cooke triplet, a classic design with three elements in three groups. It’s well known for the attractive rendition and bokeh it produces. This lens has an excellent reputation in Europe for its lovely bokeh and its smooth backgrounds. The lens is in exceptionally fine condition and looks like new. There are no scratches, no cleaning marks. The glass is clean and clear. There are no separated elements, crystallization, haze or other problems and it’s capable of producing lovely photos with modern color and B&W films.

All in all an absolutely wonderful classic camera. Load it with your favorite film and keep it handy for that perfect shot you’ve been looking for. You know the one... the one with the perfect Ansel Adams light breaking through the dark storm clouds that leaves you wishing you had a classic camera with you to capture the view.

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