Sally Ann stuff

[nikonbob]

I don't do ebay but use the local Sally Ann as a substitute. I went to their auction today and scooped an Ikonta 523/2, Contessa 35 (533/24) and a Vitomatic IIb plus accessories. I was more than pleased with the cameras but some of the included accessories made me wonder what I had missed. There were 2 original Leica flash units, a Leica 5cm finder, Rollei 50/1.8 Planar and a Voigtlander prism finder in a blue velvet box. I believe that finder is for use with the Ultragon 24/5.8 on the Prominent RF. What I wouldn't give to find out where the bodies and lenses are for those accessories. I was told by the person running the auction that all the items were brought in by one person and they bundled it all together as they did not know what accessories matched what camera. Whoever owned this stuff in the first place had very good taste and I hope whoever has what the accessories hint at is really appreciative of their value. All this in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Anyway you never know what will come your way.

Bob

[PeterW]

What a find, Bob! And no shipping costs.

Hope you didn't have too much competition at the auction. We don't have a Sally Ann auction here. We have a collective auction of 'Household Goods and Effects' about every six to eight weeks run by a local auctoneers where there used to be a few cameras from time to time. I keep an eye on their auction catalogues but it's a long time since I've seen anything worth going along to bid. There hasn't been anything in local boot sales or flea makets either. Supply seems to have dried up, or people are now using ebay.

PeterW

[nikonbob]

PeterW

I had no competition at all except from the bids placed in the book which drove the start price for this lot up to $65. The same people bid up in the book a couple of old ratty Kodaks to a start price of $35. The supply of film cameras has basically dried up here also but you do get the odd find now and then but you have to be vigilant.

Bob

[doubs43]

Bob, that's the kind of find that we all dream of. I agree that whoever owned the items was probably a man or woman who knew their photography gear.

The Ikonta...... is it a Super-Ikonta with rangefinder and coated optics? I tried finding the 532/2 in Tubb's book but the newest model I see is the 531, a Super-Ikonta. Tell us more about yours, please.

Walker

[PeterW]

Walker, I think you misread Bob's posting. He has an Ikonta 523/2 (not 532), a non-rangefinder model.

The 523/2 (6x9) was made from about 1950 to 1956. I think it was called the Ikonta C in the US. It had more chromium plating than most other Ikontas of the period, and while not 'Wow-Rare' it's certainly far less common than other Ikontas and Ziess Ikon collectors are usually willing to pay roughly twice the price of 'ordinary' Ikontas for models with the 3.5 Tessar or 3.5 Novar, slightly less with the 4.5 Novar, so whatever lens is on there you've got a very collectable model, Bob.

Maybe the original owner appreciated what he (or she) had got, but the bidders certainly didn't. Prices have dropped in the past few years, but last year a nice condition 523/2 with a 3.5 Tessar fetched £65 plus £10 insured post and packing (roughly $150 US in all) on ebay UK - and it went to a German bidder.

AFAIK, all the 520 series numbers were Ikontas. The 530 series started as Super Ikontas but it was also used (536, 537 and 538) for the very desirable Super Nettels and the Nettax.

There was a 532, a Super Ikonta, but it was a 532/16 (6x6). It came out in the late 1930s, too late for Tubbs, and was continued after the war for some years. I think it went out in the mid 1950s. It was the model with the viewfinder and rangefinder combined in one somewhat chunky eyepiece.

Sorry for the Zeiss Ikon lesson - I just like them .

PeterW

[doubs43]

Peter, I always view your lessons in German camera history as an education that I appreciate! I like the Carl Zeiss cameras too and I have an early 6x9 Ikonta that I believe is a "C". I'll have a look at it this evening and identify the specific numerical model. It has the 3.5 uncoated Tessar lens. I've owned it for several years and it works beautifully.

I did, in fact, mis-read Bob's post. Again, I'll have to check but I believe I may have a 532/16 (or two) statched away somewhere. They have the 8cm f/2.8 uncoated lenses. I'll also have another look at Tubb's book to see what Bob's 523/2 looks like.

The Ikoflex (a model Ia mis-identified by the seller as a model I) I bought on ebay has arrived and it's both good and bad news. The good news is that it appears to have had little use and the inside is remarkably clean. The lenses are also unmarked and in excellent condition. The shutter was hanging up at 1/10 ~ 1 second but a couple of drops of naptha has cured that problem.

The bad news is that the focus is VERY stiff and I've had to take the side panels off to clean out the old, hardened grease. That is nearly complete and while not quite as light as my other Ikoflexes, focus is now smooth and useable. Lastly, I need to remove the focusing screen and clean it. Once finished, I should have a very nice Ikoflex.

Walker

[nikonbob]

PeterW

Thanks for the explanation, it was better than what i would have been able to supply. Yes, the 523/2 looks like the 521/2 Ikonta but has a top deck that is all chrome and incorporates a built in finder but no RF. The 521/2 has the folding albada finder. The 523/2 that i just got has the Tessar 105/3.5 Opton red T lens in a Synchro-Compur MX shutter. The poor old 521/2 that I already had has the coated Novar 105/3.5 lens in a Prontor S shutter. I think I will keep the 521/2 and give the 523/2 to a friend who has done me some favours in the past. It will be interesting to see if there is much real world difference between the coated Novar and coated Tessar lenses in the images they produce. I suspect there is not much to it.

Bob

[Just Plain Curt]

The Ikonta 523/2 looks exactly like this:



Thanks Bob, one of the nicer folders in my collection.

[doubs43]

Very nice, Bob & Curt. That Opton lens should take a fine image.

Walker