Another Zeiss Ikon Nettar (517/16) Film Camera
A while ago, I picked up a beautiful Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 medium format folding camera for next to nothing from the Kamerastore website. It was cheap because it had, ‘flaws that will affect typical use.’ In this case, the ‘viewfinder has haze and fungus inside’. Otherwise, it was described as being in working condition. After a few weeks, I took it out with a roll of Lomochrome Turquoise, and the results were spectacular, but the hazy viewfinder was an issue and I really wanted to clean it out.
I looked around online and the hazy viewfinder seems to be a common problem with these vintage cameras, but quite an easy fix. However, I was still a little nervous about taking apart such a lovely camera and wanted something to pracise on first. And that’s where this Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 comes in. Of course, it was in the ‘Not Passed’ category on the Kamerastore website, with ‘flaws that will affect typical use’. In this case, the 1/25s shutter speed overexposes by approximately 1 stop, and ‘there is some wear on the beams, but no light leaks were observed’. In addition, the ‘film advance knob only unwinds if its rotated backwards,’ and, of course, ‘there is blur in viewfinder’.
When the camera arrived, in a really nice leather case, it was in lovely condition apart from the aforementioned ‘blur’ in the viewfinder, which was in fact haze, as in my original version. Before I started cleaning the viewfinder, I thought it might be a good idea to check that the camera functioned properly. Although the 1/25s speed was reported as exposing incorrectly, the remaining speeds were within tolerance. As a reminder, the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 is a manual focus medium format folding camera that takes twelve 6x6cm images on a roll of 120 film. Introduced by Zeiss Ikon in 1951, it was manufactured until 1957. It comes with Novar Anastigmat 75mm f4.5 lens. There are three shutter speeds, of 1/25s, 1/75s and 1/200s.
I loaded it with a roll of Harman Red film in 120 format and took the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 to the Praia da Barra and around the neighbourhood in Oiä. To measure the exposure, I used the smartphone app Camera Meter, and made well sure to keep the shutter speed selection away from 1/25s. Fortunately, the days we went out were lovely and sunny, so that wasn’t much of an issue. The exposed film was dropped off at Forever Blue in Aveiro, and the negatives scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software.
The negatives came out fine, and I was really happy with how the camera performed. However, this was my first experiment with Harman Red in 120 format and I’m not certain that the exposures were quite correct (or maybe it’s not just the 1/25s speed that’s out of tolerance). Also, compared to the images from my original 517/16 with Lomochrome Turquoise, these results were very ‘so so’. Mind you, I’m wondering whether that’s more because of my subject selection and response of the redscaled film than the camera itself. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album (https://www.flickr.com/gp/147583812@N06/zs8864PE9m) on my Flickr if you want to see the rest of the images. I do love these little medium format folders, and now it’s time to try clean the viewfinder. ‘Stay tuned’, as they say (and wish me luck).
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#Folder #HarmanRed #Mediumformat #Nettar #Redscale #ZeissIkon #barra #portugal #vagueira
Episode 118 - Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/2
Filling in the Gaps: The Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16, A Medium Format Folding Camera
Sometimes I pick up a camera that I’ve been really keen to get a hold of and then, when it arrives I’m already sidetracked with something else and the camera ends up ‘filed away’ for later use. The Bencini Koroll 2 medium format half-frame camera was one such example, and the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16 is another. I have a fair number of cameras now, film and digital, from 110 to large format, but one type of camera that I’ve never really used much is a folder. Not one of those giant 1920s folders made by Kodak and others, I have some of them, but a medium format folding camera from the 1950s.
But I was still looking for a medium format folder, and while I was browsing the Kamerastore website I came across the perfect candidate, the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16. As usual, it was classified under the ‘Not Passed’ category, which meant that it had, ‘flaws that will affect typical use.’ In this case, the ‘viewfinder has haze and fungus inside’. Otherwise, it was described as being in working condition.
The Nettar 518/16 is a 6x6cm medium format folding camera manufactured by Zeiss Ikon from 1949. The actual year of manufacture for Zeiss Ikon cameras is quite easy to determine from the serial number. My camera is stamped R93455, which dates it as being around 1961—62, much more recent than I had imagined, and a little confusing since from what I have read about this camera production was curtailed in the late 1950s.
From what I gather there were two versions of the Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16, a cheaper version with the Novar Anastigmat 75mm f6.3 lens, and a more expensive version with an f4.5 lens. Just for a change, mine is the f4.5 version. The central leaf shutter has speeds of 1/25s to 1/200s and certainly seems to be functioning properly. The shutter is cocked with a little lever on the lens, and activated with a button on the top of the camera. Once the shutter has been fired, the cocking lever pops into view in the viewfinder, indicating to the user that it needs cocking again. The aperture can be set between f4.5 and f22.
There have been a few locations around Vagueira that I’ve been really keen to visit, but we always end up speeding past these on our way home after a good lunch. This week, however, everyone is in agreement: we’re going to stop at these places so I can take some images. Excellent. For the film stock, I used Lomochrome Turquoise. With a usable range of ISO 100—400 I metered the exposures, with the Camera Meter app, at ISO 100. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, if you want to see all of the images, but the Lomochrome Turquoise colour-shifted images came out wonderfully. I was a little concerned with the focussing, but the Nettar was pin-sharp and the exposures spot-on. When firing the shutter it neds to be cocked first, and when the shutter was fired, the sound is just a slight ‘click’.
In conclusion, I was really happy with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar, it’s certainly a quality camera, even 60-odd years after its release, and I’m just disappointed that it’s taken me so long to get around to using it. All in all, this test roll was a resounding success, and next time I’m definitely going to try some Harman Phoenix. The biggest issue with this camera is the dirty/fungus-y viewfinder, and it is pretty hazy. So the next thing I’m going to do is clean it out. This seems to be a common problem with these old folders, but the remedy seems to be is a quick fix. Now I’ve run a roll through it, I’ll see if I’m up to trying to clean this out.
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#ExpiredFilm #Folder #Lomochrome #Mediumformat #Nettar #Portugal #Turquoise #Vagueira #ZeissIkon
One of the newcomers in my collection.
Zeiss Icon Nettar 515/2
6x9 is a nice format.
Still have to take some proper picture of it and take it for a ride.
In pretty good shape and for a good price.
#zeissikon #nettar #6x9 #mf #photography #vintage #camera #vintagecamera
Lüftungsrohre und Colonius am Mediapark in Köln, Mittelformat mit einer Zeiss Ikon Nettar II 517/16.
#Colonius #Fernsehturm #Funkturm #Lüftung #Lüftungsrohre #Köln #Mediapark
Schwäne auf dem Teich am Mediapark in Köln, Mittelformat mit einer Zeiss Ikon Nettar II 517/16.
Ralf Hüls
/ˈsnæp.ʃɒt/
The Skorzak
Volker
Mika
Curia Angels
Jan B.