Analog photography revisited in the digital age
Not everyone wants or benefits from an advanced camera. And for a lot of people, a camera is an expensive and luxurious product, especially in the middle of the last century. The well-known manufacturers Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander had found something for that: a camera for beginners, without bells and whistles. A square box with a lens.
Continue reading “The Out of the Box cameras”
Zeiss Ikon has a special place in (German) camera history. The company was formed in 1926 by the ‘Great’ merger of the Contessa-Nettel, Goerz, Ernemann and ICA companies. In general, the products were superior to those of the competition, both in design and in quality. Market leader with the Super Ikontas as medium format rangefinder cameras. The most famous and popular is undoubtedly the 6×6 series “532/16” produced between 1937 and 1955. I am the proud owner of an excellent copy dating from 1938. An impression of its use 83 years after the first picture was taken with it.
Continue reading “Dreaming away with the Super Ikonta 6×6”
Mysterious, magical and the example of modernization from the 1930s: the Voigtländer Virtus, the signature industrial design of a series of model names such as Prominent, Inos and Perkeo. All deep black with striking gearstyle knobs. A camera way ahead of its time and at the same time fitting the worrying changes in Germany. Virtus carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths.
Continue reading “The valor of Voigtländer Virtus”
Sometimes vintage cameras can perform something that has not (yet) been enabled digitally. That is the case for this brilliant Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta C 531/2 from 1936. A vintage folder, but with superior image quality thanks to the super large 6×9 medium format. One of the very best pre-war cameras and still unrivaled today. And it’s pocket size!
Continue reading “Perfection from the thirties: Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta”