[rollei_list] Re: "different types of black boxes"
- From: David Seifert <dseifert@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 08:05:41 -0700
Hi Jerry,
Ah yes, the Ikoflex III! A most interesting camera in its own right.
It is really interesting that Z-I didn't just make a knock-off of the
Rollei but rethought the proposition. What they ended up with was
fascinating. I prefer the Ikoflex IIIs "lever" advance over the crank
of the Rollei. Better positioning of the shutter release as well. Much
faster and more ergonomic. A couple quick flicks of the thumb and you
are ready. To me the most fascinating thing is the parallax correcting
Albada finder. Of course, with no eyelevel focusing mechanism it is of
marginal utility but the design is tres clever. Another gorgeous piece
of Z-I engineering and a fine image maker too.
David
Jerry Lehrer wrote:
>David,
>
>Oooh! The Contaflex TLR. A magnificent piece of engineering. A 35mm
>TLR with interchangeable taking lenses and a fixed focal length viewing
>lens. The Albada finder alone was worth the price of admission.
>Zeiss used that type of sports finder on the Ikoflex III, which was the
>only real competition that the Rolleiflex ever had.
>
>Jerry
>
>David Seifert wrote:
>
>
>
>>I would also point out that prior to the war they used that shutter
>>assembly in a number of different camera models. It is true that they
>>were all higher end products but they are diverse. I recently acquired
>>a black pre-war Super Nettel. The one with the folding bed and the RF
>>derived from the Ikonta. Being that it is a non-interchangeable lens
>>folding RF camera I had kind of expected it to have a compur shutter.
>>To my surprise I was greeted with a Contax metal shutter and
>>furthermore, the film advance and rewind hardware is identical to the
>>Contax I, right down to the exposure counter. For those keeping score,
>>in this version the top shutter speed is 1/1000 sec. A very interesting
>>camera with the most gorgeous black paint finish I have ever seen. The
>>Contax type shutter/film transport also found it's way into the 1936
>>Contaflex TLR. Probably the most exquisite piece of engineering to come
>>from Z-I until the Contarex. Exquisitely expensive too!
>>
>>Z-I definitely got their mileage out of that shutter/transport design.
>>
>>David
>>
>>Marc James Small wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>At 05:00 PM 4/3/05 -0700, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I think you are assuming something that is not backed up=20
>>>>by the evidence. I think the main reason Zeiss-Ikon used the=20
>>>>Contax type shutter is that they had the design.=20
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>Richard=20
>>>
>>>Emmanuel Goldberg designed the ur-Contax RF shutter. (He was Jewish and
>>>Zeiss Ikon shunted him off to France after the Nazis took control and, when
>>>the Germans conquered France, arranged to have him shipped off to Palestine
>>>with a nice stipend. The Zeiss Foundation did not treat Goldberg or Ernst
>>>Wandersleb as kindly as they probably should have done, but, at the least,
>>>the Foundation rose above the sort of treatment being accorded most Jews in
>>>that era in Germany and in Europe. Faint praise, in the end, is better
>>>than none.) I do not believe that there is a whole lot of shared design
>>>theory between the Mirotar's shutter and that on the Contax.
>>>
>>>K=FCppenbender, the ultimate Zeiss wheeler-dealer and, arguably, the only
>>>senior official of Zeiss to ever understand market dynamics, simply
>>>inherited the Goldberg shutter and kept it in place with modifications from
>>>1932 until 1960. You are absolutely correct to ponit out that, in 1932,
>>>1/500" was a decent top speed -- most Compur shutters of the era only
>>>topped out at 1/250". =20
>>>
>>>Marc
>>>
>>>msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx=20
>>>Cha robh b=E0s fir gun ghr=E0s fir!
>>>
>>>
>>>
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