Zeiss Ikon* Ikonta 521/2

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Overview

The Zeiss Ikon* Ikonta 521/2 is a classic, medium-format folding camera. It was produced by the German company Zeiss Ikon from 1938 to 1952. The Ikonta series, along with its more advanced sibling the Super Ikonta, was famous for offering a blend of portability and high-quality optics.
Key Characteristics: The 521/2 shares many of the same characteristics with the rest of the Ikonta line:

Folding Design: As a "folding" camera, its lens and bellows collapse into the camera body, making it surprisingly compact for a medium-format camera. This made it a popular choice for photographers who wanted to shoot large-format negatives without carrying a large, heavy camera.
Medium Format: The "521/2" designation indicates that it uses 120 roll film and produces a large 6x9 cm negative. A single roll of 120 film yields eight exposures in this format. This large negative size is a key reason for its popularity, as it provides exceptional detail and a beautiful, classic look.
Lens and Shutter Combinations: The Ikonta 521/2 was sold with a variety of lens and shutter combinations, with the quality of the lens often defining the price point of the camera.Lens and Shutter Combinations: The two most common lenses were the Zeiss Tessar 105mm f/3.5 and the Zeiss Novar-Anastigmat 105mm f/3.5 or f/4.5. The Tessar is a four-element lens and is generally considered to be of higher quality, while the Novar is a three-element lens that still produces excellent results. The camera could be fitted with various leaf shutters from well-known manufacturers like Compur, Compur-Rapid, or Prontor-S. These shutters offer a range of speeds from 1 second up to around 1/400th of a second and include a "B" (Bulb) setting for long exposures.
Manual and Mechanical: The Ikonta 521/2 is a fully mechanical camera. It has no electronics, no battery, and no built-in light meter. The photographer must manually set the focus, aperture, and shutter speed.
Zone Focusing: The camera is a "viewfinder" camera, not a rangefinder. This means it does not have an integrated system to help you with focusing. You must either estimate the distance to your subject or use a separate external rangefinder and then set that distance on the lens barrel. For this reason, it is often used for zone focusing, where the photographer uses the lens's depth-of-field scale to set a range of distances that will be in focus.
Double-Exposure Prevention: The 521/2, as an updated model in the Ikonta series, included a double-exposure prevention lock, a convenient feature that prevented the user from accidentally exposing the same frame twice.
Viewfinder: It has a simple, optical viewfinder for framing the shot.

In summary, the Zeiss Ikon Ikonta* 521/2 is a testament to the high-quality German craftsmanship of its era. It is a capable and elegant camera that, despite its age, can still produce beautiful, high-resolution images. It's a popular camera for enthusiasts and collectors who appreciate its beautiful design and the deliberate, manual process of using it.

26.08.25

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