"Carl Zeiss Jena Plate Camera"

[John Parry]

Have a look at this one team...

eBay UK Item No. 7617479242

CZJ (as far as I know) didn't make any cameras, let alone folders. It appears to be a range-finder, although the pictures are poor. What intrigued me though was the size of the lens and shutter mechanism. Also a 2.8 seems too bright - I would have thought 3.5 would be the the norm for the post-war period, although of course that might not be the case for a camera using plates.

I don't know much about folding plate cameras of this period, but this seems anachronistic - could a later lens and shutter have been cobbled onto an earlier body, especially as there is no manufacturers identification (other than the lens, which could have been fitted onto any eastern-bloc camera)? Any thoughts?

Regards - John

[PeterW]

Hi John,

You're correct about Carl Zeiss in Jena not making cameras - except for a very short time in the early 1900s when they bought Palmos almost next door to them but that was merged into ICA in 1909. CZJ also made the Werra, but that was years later. Zeiss Ikon was the camera making part of the Zeiss empire from 1926 onwards, but I don't think this is a Zeiss Ikon. I don't recall ever coming across one with that long base rangefinder on the side. Tessars were of course supplied to dozens of camera makers. The serial number on this Tessar dates it 1937, and by that time most ZI cameras had the flattened octagon body shape, especially the folders, which were all made in the ex-Contessa-Nettel factory in Stuttgart, but this has rounded ends. But it's intriguing that a questioner mentioned a number in the form 123/12 on the back but couldn't read it, and the seller said he couldn't find it. That's a Zeiss Ikon style model number, but there didn't appear to be a picture of the back, at least not after the bidding ended.

Peter W

[rogprov]

It's a Certo Super Sport.

Roger

[John Parry]

Ahhh...

I was labouring under the misapprehension that pre-war Carl Zeiss lenses were labelled as such and that the Jena part was added after the partition of Germany (and the company). That makes the camera much earlier than I was thinking - so I'm even more surprised to see a 1:2.8 lens.

You live and learn..... !

Thanks Peter and Roger - John