The selenium cells are the problem. I don't think anyone
makes them any more. The trouble with them seems to be moisture.
The edges of the cell are sealed but the seal only lasts so long.
Some were better than others, for instance Weston meters seem to
last longer than General Electric.
The cells usually do not fail entirely but become
"compressed" in output as the light increases. That is the output
does not go up with the light level. Most meters have two scales
with an overlap. The high end of the low scale an low end of the
high scale should read the same. Generally, when a cell is
failing the low end of the high scale will read low. No way to
fix this other than replacing the cell.
Considering some of these meters are sixty or more years old
they actually seem to have a pretty long life.
I don't know exactly what is involved in making a selenium
cell, maybe a cottage industry for someone.
On 3/6/2020 12:22 AM, Decher Jan wrote:
Hello Pawel,
You are lucky the selenium meter on your 533/16 works. Mine works excellent in
all respects except for the meter. Looking for a trusted repair person in
Germany who could fix it. I could even supply a working Zeiss Ikophot to use
for a “new” cell.
It seems there is a real niche in Germany for this expertise as more and more
people start using older cameras again and 120 film is being revived.
Jan
On Mar 6, 2020, at 12:27 AM, Paweł Mazur <pawel.ma@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello everyone,---
I've been reading this great forum for years, but it’s my first post here. I'm
impressed with your knowledge!
There were a number of Zeiss Super Ikonta 6x6 cameras. The letter “B” in the
name stood for “6x6 cm format”. What was sold in the US as Super Ikomat B (and
as Super Ikonta 530/16 here in Europe) was an exception: they redesigned it to
reduce the number of frames from 12 to 11, because the previous model had a
problem with overlapping frames. Super Ikomat B was produced from 1935 to 1938.
It used uncoated Tessar 3.5 (or 2.8)/8.0 lenses in a Compur-Rapid shutter. I
don't think it would make sense to buy it and force it to take 12 pictures.
Later models were greatly improved and they took 12 pictures again. I would
recommend one of the postwar models from this series: Super Ikonta BX 533/16
(aka Super Ikonta II, 1939-1955, Tessars in the postwar version were coated),
Super Ikonta III 531/16 (1953 to 1957) or Super Ikonta IV 534/16 (1955 to 1959,
unit focusing).
I have a postwar Super Ikonta BX 533/16 with a coated Tessar 2.8/80 and a
WORKING selenium meter (that is nearly as accurate as the matrix light metering
mode in my Nikon D/SLRs). Ikonta BX has a coupled rangefinder, as in all Super
Ikontas. When you load a film, you advance it till the arrows on the paper
back align with dots on the film chamber – like in my Rolleicord V), I love it
as much as I love my Rolleicord V, Certo Six and Iskra (they are both 6x6
rangefinders with unit focusing, while my Super Ikonta BX is front-focusing).
BTW, Iskra also has this feeler that senses the beginning of the film. I don’t
see any significant differences between the 4 cameras in terms of IQ or the
ease of use. And I have more than a dozen of other 6x6 folders and TLRs to
compare, most of them with Tessar-type lenses.
-Pawel
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