I decided I needed a bit more photographic interest in my shop window apart from pictures so I decided old cameras might be a good idea so of I went to ebay and came up with the three antiques below ( prices are what I paid plus postage ). The supprising thing was how cheap they were.
I went for the movie camera as it reminded me of my Dad and his Super 8 cine camera in the 60s & 70s with which he mainly recorded us waving at him or kicking a ball to give the film some action. What amazes me now is that at the time we lived in South Africa and he never recorded any of the fantastic landscape and wildlife apart from a very embarrassing scene in the Valley of a 1000 Hills ( Natal Region ) with myself aged 12 stood waving ( again ) at the camera while surrounded by bare chested native women jumping up and down.
As for the bellows camera well I have allways liked the look of them and I am sure a lot of us can remember the brownie.
The second picture shows some of the gear I have collected / used over the years which are not worth a bean now thanks to the digital age ..... what a shame :'(
I still have my dad's old brownie (don't tell my brother). I want to put it in one of those glass display boxes. :)
My first was a little brown box camera about three inch cube - a Kodak I think ;D - My Pa had a bellow jobby in those days too ;)
I meant to dig out my 'collection' of camera's, and see if I could somehow work it into some sort of still life.
This post has revived the idea, and I'll start a rummage once I finished all the other things I meant to do.
It ain't much, but my Dad's 'bellows jobby' (I think it's a Zeiss Ikon, from the fifties), is the thing I started with as a child.
Thanks for reminding me!
First camera (http://cameracraniums.com/forum/index.php?topic=1665.msg19103#msg19103)
(http://test.rantthisspace.com/files/argus/front.jpg)
My first camera;
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3235574069_99445ac86d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hinfrance/3235574069/)
WillyP Can't say I saw any Argoflex cameras when looking on e.bay. Howard your Kodak Instamatic looks like new.
Thanks Dave, I do try to take care of things - not always successfully as I can be very clumsy ::)
I don't have either of my first two SLRs, a Zenit B and then a Yashica TL Electro, but I do still have my Mamiya NC1000S which was number three.
I think as a passtime this week I'll empty the cupboards of all the camera related stuff I have hoarded over the years a photograph it.
I was going to take a photograph of my old camera's, but got stuck at this one. In my opinion the most interesting one, as the others are just run of the mill things from the seventies and early eighties.
Has anyone any idea how old this camera could be? My husband thought it might be pre war, and that could well be the case. It was bought in Holland, in the early fifties and may well have been second hand. I don't know how quickly camera manufacturing restarted in Germany after the war. It's a Zeiss Ikon.
(http://cameracraniums.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11140/normal_camera_2_res.jpg) (http://cameracraniums.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=10207)
Oh, and it comes with a beautiful brown leather bag (?). Not sure what you call those leather covers camera's used to have.
And far as I can see, it is still in working order, only the selftimer is a bit sluggish.
Wow some old stuff there
Reinardina the old leather cases that used to fit over cameras were called ever ready cases as you just used to flip the top over and it would hang down under the camera leaving access to the buttons and levers (remember those LEVERS yep mechanical things)
Dunno if your Zeiss Ikon would have had an actual ever ready case though being a bellows type camera.
If you really want to know more about that camera try here http://www.nanites.co.uk/pccgb/ the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain, if you contact them with the shots you've taken I am sure they would be able to help, see if there are any markings/serial no's etc that you could give them as that would probably definately help identify it and maybe even narrow down the year of manufacture.
Quote from: krennon on August 28, 2011, 12:17:59 PM
Wow some old stuff there
Reinardina the old leather cases that used to fit over cameras were called ever ready cases as you just used to flip the top over and it would hang down under the camera leaving access to the buttons and levers (remember those LEVERS yep mechanical things)
Dunno if your Zeiss Ikon would have had an actual ever ready case though being a bellows type camera.
If you really want to know more about that camera try here http://www.nanites.co.uk/pccgb/ the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain, if you contact them with the shots you've taken I am sure they would be able to help, see if there are any markings/serial no's etc that you could give them as that would probably definately help identify it and maybe even narrow down the year of manufacture.
The leather bag (beautifully lined in red velvet) is not an ever ready! You have to pull out the whole camera to be able to use it.
On the other site, I had a bit of a go at identifying the thing, with the help of others of course. Think we pinned it down to somewhere in the late forties. Got sidetracked however and never went any further.
Thanks to your post,I had another look and just discovered the type number (Nettar515/2) and a quick look on the internet revealed one from 1937, which, however is not the same camera.
I'll have to go back to it now, sadly haven't got much time at the moment.
Reinardina - check out Camerapedia for info on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar - http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Zeiss_Ikon_Nettar
I've been on that site loads this past week as I've been buying some vintage cameras myself.
I had a look there, but did not quite find what I was looking for. It's a bit of a puzzle.
Had some feedback on the other site, but still confused.
http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6751
Haven't got much time at the moment, so I'll have to leave it.
Good luck wiht your old camera's!
Reading McKeowns guide, Reinardina, it does look as though yours is an Ikonta 521/2. The date of manufacture is a bit vague, starting from 1938, going up to "post war years".
Camerapedia has a similar (identical?) camera listed, but its manufacture date is from 1947 (link (http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Zeiss_Ikon_Ikonta)).
Quote from: Deegee on September 10, 2011, 04:49:03 AM
Reading McKeowns guide, Reinardina, it does look as though yours is an Ikonta 521/2. The date of manufacture is a bit vague, starting from 1938, going up to "post war years".
Camerapedia has a similar (identical?) camera listed, but its manufacture date is from 1947 (link (http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Zeiss_Ikon_Ikonta)).
This is from Camerapedia:
Ikonta C 521/2 with Tessar and Compur shutter
Year of release: 1947
Type: viewfinder folding camera
Film/framesize: 120 / 6×9cm
Lens: Tessar 1:4.5/105mm or alternative Novar
Shutter: Compur shutter 1 - 1/250
Finder: two-frame finder
Mine definitely has a Prontor-S shutter though!
Just had it out again and discovered yet another number on the metal case.
At the top it says Nettar 515/2, at the bottom: T 37 12
Could that be a date? Somewhere on the internet I saw a photo of a 515/2 from 1937, but it was
not the same camera! Definitely a look alike, but not the same.
The more I find out, the less I know!
Looking at the various lists online, a 515/2 dates to around 1937, but that only lists the shutter as a Compur. Yours has a Pronto shutter, so there's two conclusions...
1. Your camera has had a lens/shutter refit sometime in its life. Bellows cameras can have the lens/shutter removed/replaced by simply unscrewing the mount. The drawback is though, the bellows then detaches (and collapses), and can could be fiddly to reattach.
2. The various lists found aren't complete. This one's more feasible, as I've seen a number of lists with peoples comments below saying things like "What about a 512 with a 'brand x' lens, like the one I have?"
Quote from: Deegee on September 10, 2011, 01:10:39 PM
Looking at the various lists online, a 515/2 dates to around 1937, but that only lists the shutter as a Compur. Yours has a Pronto shutter, so there's two conclusions...
1. Your camera has had a lens/shutter refit sometime in its life. Bellows cameras can have the lens/shutter removed/replaced by simply unscrewing the mount. The drawback is though, the bellows then detaches (and collapses), and can could be fiddly to reattach.
2. The various lists found aren't complete. This one's more feasible, as I've seen a number of lists with peoples comments below saying things like "What about a 512 with a 'brand x' lens, like the one I have?"
Somehow I think the second option is the right one.
If it was a 1937 camera, it must have been bought second hand, as my parents lost everything to the Japanese, and had to start afresh after the war. I'm sure they must have bought it in 1952/53, as that is when they returned to Holland.
It's getting more and more mystifying!
For a '37 camera it looks too new, unless the whole thing was refurbished at some time.
By the way, it has a Prontor-S shutter, which I think, may yet again, be slightly different from the 'plain' Prontor shutter.
There must have been endless variations in those days!
Quote from: Reinardina on September 10, 2011, 02:55:12 PM
Somehow I think the second option is the right one.
If it was a 1937 camera, it must have been bought second hand, as my parents lost everything to the Japanese, and had to start afresh after the war. I'm sure they must have bought it in 1952/53, as that is when they returned to Holland.
It's getting more an more mystifying!
For a '37 camera it looks too new, unless the whole thing was refurbished at some time.
I think you've nailed it there. I'm guessing that it started out with the standard lens/shutter. But either an identical setup was unavailable, or an upgrade was requested, at the time of service/refurb.
Quote from: Deegee on September 10, 2011, 04:00:27 PM
Quote from: Reinardina on September 10, 2011, 02:55:12 PM
Somehow I think the second option is the right one.
If it was a 1937 camera, it must have been bought second hand, as my parents lost everything to the Japanese, and had to start afresh after the war. I'm sure they must have bought it in 1952/53, as that is when they returned to Holland.
It's getting more an more mystifying!
For a '37 camera it looks too new, unless the whole thing was refurbished at some time.
I think you've nailed it there. I'm guessing that it started out with the standard lens/shutter. But either an identical setup was unavailable, or an upgrade was requested, at the time of service/refurb.
One thing still puzzles me; the whole thing looks brand new, not a scratch or dent anywhere. If it had been treated with that much care (or lived unused in a drawer) would it have needed a refurbishment? An upgrade maybe ... but would someone who hardly used
the camera have had it refurbished/updated?
I even scoured German 'virtual' camera museums today, without any luck. If/when I feel in the mood, I'll try to compose an email in German and see if they can shed any light. Need time for that though, as my written German has, like the camera, not been used for ages, and, unlike the camera, is not in such good nick!