Purchased to replace my broken Super Ikonta A 531, back in 1996, this camera has provided me with lots and lots of good photographs. I got into the habit of shooting mainly 6×4.5 format, even if back in the early 90s there was no reason to avoid 6×6 or 6×9, but I liked the idea of having more images per film. These were the times when said film was available everywhere, and the cost of developing these formats in colour was not so dear as it is today. Mind, the bw ones were done my me at home, and in those days I had even a wet darkroom. Lots and lots of fun I had, good times.
I don’t know if Ikonta 521 is the smallest of the Ikonta series produced by Zeiss, but it is small and perfectly pocketable. It is a no-nonsense camera, with lots of good features, such as the 1/500 top shutter speed, double exposure prevention, and what’s most important, a superb Opton Tessar lens. True, it’s not that fast at its 3.5m but this was never an issue for me. The excellent glass makes up for almost anything.
This camera is a pre-war one, as far as I can tell. Shutter speeds from B to 1/500, no flash sync, with an Opton Tessar 3.5/75mm, apertures from 3.5 to 22. The combinations you can have on this camera makes for one of the best options to shoot 120 film. The 75mm is (roughly) the equivalent of 45mm in 35mm format.
Not very complicated one, although there are a few things to keep in mind: use the backplate film number window closed, opening it only to wind the film, and remember this is a camera with no shutter automat cocking. You have to arm the shutter yourself, by using the small lever on the lens board. Is a distance focus camera, so make sure you estimate your distances correctly.
Probably most unusual feature is the shutter release button: it is on the “wrong” side, meaning it’s on the left of the viewfinder. It took me a while to get used to it, because by default, all other cameras have the release button is on the right side of the top plate. But one gets used to this, no worries. By the way, winding the film is done by a half-moon key; when done, there is a click in the mechanism and a red dot appears on the top plate, right near the key. This ensures one will always know if the film has been wound up or not.
As far as I am concerned, this little gem of a camera is a right challenger of my Rolleiflex 2.8F. Yes, that is correct, a real challenger. The glass is up there, par to the Planar 2.8 on the Rolleiflex, when it comes to rendering and contrast. At least, I cannot distinguish between the photographs taken with these two.
One last thing, which I find interesting: this camera bears the serial N 62627, followed by an asterisk. I looked this oddity up, and this what I found: “Sometimes a 5 point star or asterisk can be found in some Zeiss-Ikon folders which were produced by Zeiss Ikon in Stuttgart (Contessa Werk) in the first years (1945 to 1949) after the second world war AND were partly made of parts from pre May 1945 production which were still lying in storage.” (source).
Taken on Kentmere 100.