Post by doubs43 on Jan 30, 2008 21:53:05 GMT -5
A few weeks back I won an Ikoflex Ia TLR camera on ebay. When it arrived, it wasn't quite as nice as I'd hoped. The focus was so stiff that it was practically useless. The shutter was balky below 1/50, the self-timer inop and the viewfinder dirty. On the plus side is the unblimished 3-element (triplet) Novar-Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 coated lens.
The Ikoflex appears to have been designed with the Rolleicord as it's intended competition. The finder is relatively bright, the magnifier for critical focus is good and the camera has double-exposure prevention built into the shutter release mechanism. There doesn't seem to be any way to defeat the last feature, even if a double-exposure is desired.
It was necessary to remove the left and right side plates to repair the focusing problem which was mostly old, solidified grease that acted as glue more than lubricant. That taken care of, the focus is relatively easy and smooth but with more backlash than I'd like.
The shutter was taken from the body and the lens cells removed. Then the shutter was submerged in naptha and allowed to soak with frequent aggitation. Once completely dry, the shutter operates as new except for the self-timer that may be missing a part. I don't consider that a problem and once back together the camera was taken out for a test roll.
Using FortePan-100 film, I exposed 12 frames around the local area and developed the film in D-76. A full-frame manipulated shot is below, followed by a combination of three cropped sections; center section on top with right and left center crops below. The cropped pieces are 100% unmodified.
The image is not bad but not outstanding either. Sharpness is very good at center but falls off on the edges. That's clearly seen in the cropped sections. Exposure on this frame was f/8 at 1/300 as I recall.
My conclusion is that the Ikoflex Ia is a good quality camera but not up to same-era Rolleicord standards in some ways. The focus action of the Rollei is smoother and without backlash. Looking at the workings of the Ikoflex focus mechanism, it appears to have been made with cost in mind or possibly the Carl Zeiss engineers were hampered by patent considerations. I suspect, but don't know for certain, that the Ikoflex sold for less than the Rolleicord when new. Still, anyone using the Ikoflex should be pleased with the results IMO.
Walker
The Ikoflex appears to have been designed with the Rolleicord as it's intended competition. The finder is relatively bright, the magnifier for critical focus is good and the camera has double-exposure prevention built into the shutter release mechanism. There doesn't seem to be any way to defeat the last feature, even if a double-exposure is desired.
It was necessary to remove the left and right side plates to repair the focusing problem which was mostly old, solidified grease that acted as glue more than lubricant. That taken care of, the focus is relatively easy and smooth but with more backlash than I'd like.
The shutter was taken from the body and the lens cells removed. Then the shutter was submerged in naptha and allowed to soak with frequent aggitation. Once completely dry, the shutter operates as new except for the self-timer that may be missing a part. I don't consider that a problem and once back together the camera was taken out for a test roll.
Using FortePan-100 film, I exposed 12 frames around the local area and developed the film in D-76. A full-frame manipulated shot is below, followed by a combination of three cropped sections; center section on top with right and left center crops below. The cropped pieces are 100% unmodified.
The image is not bad but not outstanding either. Sharpness is very good at center but falls off on the edges. That's clearly seen in the cropped sections. Exposure on this frame was f/8 at 1/300 as I recall.
My conclusion is that the Ikoflex Ia is a good quality camera but not up to same-era Rolleicord standards in some ways. The focus action of the Rollei is smoother and without backlash. Looking at the workings of the Ikoflex focus mechanism, it appears to have been made with cost in mind or possibly the Carl Zeiss engineers were hampered by patent considerations. I suspect, but don't know for certain, that the Ikoflex sold for less than the Rolleicord when new. Still, anyone using the Ikoflex should be pleased with the results IMO.
Walker
