ZEISS IKON
Review and photo example of the COSINA ZEISS IKON film camera.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Lens is BIOGON ZM 25mm +Film is KODAK E100VS
Review
Zeiss Ikon is an interchangeable lens rangefinder film camera released by Cosina under the Zeiss brand.
Silver and black bodies were released, and the dedicated ZM lenses were also available in two colors, silver and black, but the German-made Distagon 15mm and Sonnar 85mm were only released in black.
It has already been 18 years since this product was released, but as of 2024, it is the latest design among rangefinder film cameras that will not be released. M6 reprints and M-A have been released, but there are almost no changes from the old M6, so I don’t think they can be called new products.
The Zeiss Icon is equipped with a finder that has a baseline length of 75mm (effective baseline length 55.5mm) and can be used comfortably on the telephoto side, but the telephoto viewfinder frame is 85mm, which may be a bit of a problem for Leica users. There is probably little interest in this camera, and it is also true that there is almost no difference between the 85mm and 90mm frames.
The viewfinder frame is 28,85/35/50 to match the ZM lens lineup. Thanks to the lack of 75/135, which can be a bit of an eyesore in Leica’s viewfinder, the 35 and 50 frames are clear and pleasing.
I used it with a variety of lenses, and I didn’t experience any problems with any of them.
Although the exterior is completely new, it has a simple hexahedral design reminiscent of the Leica M5, with a winding crank located at the bottom of the camera, in the same style as the LEICA CL / MINOLTA CLE.
This is natural since it is a dedicated lens, but the combination of Zeiss Ikon and ZM lens is designed to fit perfectly together.
The overall design taste of this camera is a distillation of the features of past rangefinder cameras, and I really like it.
The shutter mechanism is the same as the Bessa, and the sound when the shutter is released is the dry sound of a metal blade. Those who like the dull, nostalgic sound of the Leica M’s cloth shutter may find it noisy.
I bought it at almost the regular price shortly after its release, so the price of a used camera is almost double the current price, and the price of the film itself has skyrocketed, so the price is enough to make me hesitate to buy it again.
Specification
| Camera | Rollei 35 RF | Zeiss Ikon | HEXAR RF |
| Finder Mechanisim | Real-image reverse Galilean perspective finder | ← | ← |
| Viewfinder Magnification | x0.7 | x0.74 | x0.6 |
| Finder Frame | 40 / 50 / 80 | 28,85 / 35 / 50 | 28,90 / 35,135 / 50,75 |
| Baseline length(mm) | 37 | 75 | 69.2 |
| Effective baseline length(mm) | 25.9 | 55.5 | 41.5 |
| Shutter Mechanisim | Vertical travel laminar metal focal plane shutter | Electronically controlled vertically moving metal focal plane shutter | ← |
| Shutter speed(sec) | 1/2000〜1 | 1/2000〜1 | 1/4000〜16(Auto) 1/4000〜1(Manual) |
| Photometry method | Center weighted TTL average metering upon light depression of shutter release | ← | Shutter curtain, TTL direct metering |
| Battery | LR44/SR44 x2 | CR-1/3N x1 SR44 x2 LR44 x2 | CR2-3V x2 |
| Size(mm) W x H x D | 135.5 × 81 × 25.5〜33.5 | 138 × 77.5 × 32 | 139.5 × 80 × 35 |
| Weight(g) | 440 | 460 | 560 |
| Release date | 2002 (2006 sales end) | 2005.10 | Normal (1999.1） Limited（2001） |
Options
- 15mm Finder
- 21mm Finder
- 25mm Finder
- Hand Grip
- ZM Lens
| Focal length | Lens name | Release date |
| 15mm | DISTAGON | 2005 |
| 21mm | C-BIOGON | 2007.6 |
| 21mm | BIOGON | 2005.10 |
| 25mm | BIOGON | 2005.7 |
| 28mm | BIOGON | 2005.4 |
| 35mm | C-BIOGON | 2008.5 |
| 35mm | BIOGON | 2005.3 |
| 50mm | PLANAR | 2005.1 |
| 50mm | C-SONNAR | 2006.8 |
| 85mm | SONNAR | 2006.? |
| 85mm | TELE-TESSAR | 2009.4 |
Reference links
- All About Zeiss Ikon, Asahi Shinbun (2005/7/1), a Japanese language camera commentary book
Update
- 2024.2.8:Update the article
- 2023.10.29:First draft
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