'New to me' Ikonta 532/16

[Kenj8246]

First shot with this otherwise beautiful folder. Only test I've done is to compare the rangefinder to a portable Voigtlander rangefinder and they don't agree on the distance. What say you other Ikonta owners?



Kenny

[farlymac]

A tweak here or there might help.

PF

[jnoir]

Not a bad camera, although I don't like it for color work. As usual with this kind of cameras, a CLA is recommended. Mine's a late, multicoated model.

One of my favs with this camera:

[JPD]

I've had a couple of folders that needed focus adjustment.

I remove the focus ring and focus the front element on infinity on a groundglass at the film plane. Then I tape a strip of paper with marked lines 0,5 - 1mm apart, with one of the middle lines exactly in front of/under the focus mark on the shutter, and take a series of test shots on film. The first with the focus ring at the first line, the second at nr. 2, then nr. 3 and so on. Develop the film and evaluate the negatives. If negative nr. 7 is sharpest, then I turn the front element to the seventh line, remove the paper, put the focus ring back on and fasten the screws.

I enclose a picture of a front element with the strip of paper taped on it. The mark on the lens mount is exactly where the groundglass says infinity is. It's corresponding to the line nr. 4, but the perspective is fooling us on the picture. The camera here is a 6x6 Welta Weltax, so I would have used 16 lines instead of 8, but I just took the paper I had for illustration.

The reason why I'm not satisfied with just adjusting the focus on the groundglass is that the film bulges somewhat, so taking a test roll will make the adjustment more exact. I'm very happy with my Zeiss Ercona after adjusting the focus. It's an excellent picture taker.

[Todd.Hanz]

I've got one of these, very solid little camera and it shoots down to 2.8. My focus is still a bit off as well I think.



Todd

[Kenj8246]

Thank you all for your responses. J Patric, I doubt I'll attempt a repair myself, my old eyes don't see as well as the once did and the insides of these things are quite small.

Kenny

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by Kenj8246

First shot with this otherwise beautiful folder. Only test I've done is to compare the rangefinder to a portable Voigtlander rangefinder and they don't agree on the distance. What say you other Ikonta owners?



Kenny

I see nothing in focus in that shot. I would think the lens needs a good cleaning, especially check the elements nearest the shutter blades. If nothing in the image is sharp you can not tell if the RF is accurate or not.

Until you get that problem fixed there is not much you can do about the rangefinder. Once the lens is really clean then focus on something specific with the RF, I suggest you write it down so you know exactly where you intended to focus when you look at the negatives. That will quickly tell you if the RF focus is off.

I have never worked on one of those cameras, so I can not give you specific advice on how to adjust the RF, but generic advice is to setup something across the film plane to act as a ground glass, focus with that on something at a specific distance and adjust the RF to that. Usually the adjustment distances are infinity and something like 6 feet. then you check something in the middle, like say, 15-20 feet to see if the RF is tracking properly.

[Kenj8246]

That may well be, Tom, but the lens looks clean and clear front to back by shining a small light from the open back. No haze for fungus that these eyes can see.

Kenny