Zeiss Ikon Icarette 500/15 (c. 1930)
The Zeiss Ikon Icarette 500/15 is a folding roll film camera made in Dresden around 1930. It continues the Icarette line that ICA had been building since 1920, carried over when ICA was folded into the Zeiss Ikon merger of 1926. It is a big camera. It takes 116 roll film and makes 6.5 x 11 cm negatives, which puts it among the largest roll film cameras of its era.
Surviving documentation on the 500/15 is thin. Nearly everything known comes from a handful of owner accounts and one manual scan. Those sources agree on the following. The standard lens was a 12cm f/4.5 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar (uncoated, four elements). The shutter was a Compur leaf type with speeds from 1 second to 1/250 plus B and T. Focusing is by scale - you estimate the distance and move the lens on its bed. Folded, the camera is notably slim, roughly 35mm thick, and it opens by pressing a slight bulge in the leatherette near the film winder. It also has a brilliant viewfinder, a sportsfinder, a spirit level, and a cable release socket.
One practical problem comes up repeatedly with this model: 116 film is long obsolete. Owners have documented converting these cameras to accept 120 film, which is still manufactured. The project is worthwhile, since the 500/15 is common enough to be picked up cheaply. One owner reported acquiring his for the price of two beers. Writing on his blog, he noted that the body of his example was in poor condition, but the bellows were good and the lens and shutter "work like the day they were made."
Beyond that, the record is sparse. There is no original price, no weight, and no production numbers beyond a general 1927-1936 window for the Icarette series. CameraHub lists the lens as a Zeiss Ikon Tessar 1:4.5 f=12cm, which matches the other sources. The serial number on the lens and body can help narrow the production date, but precise dating of these transitional Zeiss Ikon models is often educated guesswork.
Known Specifications
- Film: 116 roll film; 6.5 x 11 cm negatives (frame format approximately 62 x 108 mm)
- Lens: Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 12cm f/4.5, uncoated, four elements; aperture range f/4.5–f/32
- Shutter: Compur leaf, 1 sec to 1/250, plus B and T
- Focusing: scale focusing via bellows
- Finders: brilliant viewfinder plus sportsfinder
- Extras: spirit level, cable release socket
- Dimensions: approximately 180 mm long x 85 mm wide; 35 mm thick when closed
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