Zeiss Ikon Colora

Zeiss Ikon Colora

Right from the earliest days in 1926, Zeiss Ikon has made cheap, simple cameras for the bottom end of the market.  It should be no surprise that they continued to do so into the 1960s - it is just not what we expect of them.  Mine is the 1963 model and is in poor condition.

The shutter is a Gauthier Prontor 125 - three speeds offered, 1/30, 1/60 and 1/125.  The aperture runs from f2.8 (quite fast for a cheap camera) to f22.  The lens is a Novicar - not a top of the range lens, but one capable of good results.  As with all lenses, it will give its best results if stopped down to f5.6 or f8.  The focussing scale is in both feet and metres - which means that Zeiss Ikon could sell the camera in all countries without modification.

This camera feels very light and plasticky and completely lacks the feel of quality and engineering that I usually associate with Zeiss Ikon.  Cheapness shows in the square iris - this camera will not give nice bokeh