Focus rule of thumb for a Zeiss Ikonta 520/2?

Dears,

Bought a fairly nice, light-tight and clean Ikonta 520/2 for a few bucks and
inserted a 120 asa 400 b/w film.

How to know when your focus is right?

It's the 520/2 like on this page:

http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/zeiss/ikonta/ikonta.htm

TIA

 

Probably the same way you set the exposure. Manually. From that photo,
it looks like the focus markings are on the lens. Set the distance to
your subject, cross your fingers, and shoot.

 

FOr ease, check out DOFmaster.com. They have a downloadable app that
lets you select the format, then add lens data (e.g. 75mm f/8) and you
can print a chart that will include the setting for the hyperfocal
distance, which will convert your box into a box-camera, always in
focus.

See: http://dofmaster.com/charts.html

HTH

Alex

 

For that model it is guesswork.
The ring close to the lenses can be adjusted to match the subject distance.
Close the aperture to increase the DOF.

Search for info in this page http://www.amdmacpherson.com/classiccameras/index.html

It tells you to use the red dots for maximum DOF.


DanP

 

Wow!

Thanks mate, appreciate it very much!

 

Thanks mate,

did a global diagonal scroll and found nothing. Seems I really have to read
;-) (Real man..)

 

go to http://www.amdmacpherson.com/classiccameras/index.html
then scroll down on right and pick Zeiss Ikon
then scroll down to 520/2
then under it pick technical description.


DanP

 

Ahh, thanks! Found it.

However My Ikonta doesn;t show any red dots. Strangely enough the Aperture
has a kind of bulletpoint and the focus-ring has 2 bulltet-points. When you
put them in order like this:


0 0
0

You get an aperture between f6.3 and f8.0 at approx. 5 feet (If I remember
well, I am upstairs, the camera is in the cellar), sound like one sort of
green mode.

The new thing I found was how infuriating it is when your model (my daughter
of 5y) sticks out her tongue, just when I ticked the camera.

Now I could not shrudder and click some more, I had to wind carefully to
discover that she destroyed 25% of the film I had left...

 

[Joining in late - sorry!]

Nice piece of kit )

Make sure you know whether the distance scale is in feet or meters. The
nearest focus is probably either 1 meter or 3 feet.

I would expect to find a 'depth of field' scale next to the focus scale.
It will be a set of aperture numbers arranged symmetrically on both sides
of the focus mark, and is used as a guide as to what distances will be
'sharp' in a normal-sized print viewed at a normal distance in good light.
The smallest aperture (f/16 or f/22, probably) gives the greatest 'depth of
field'.

A handy 'snapshot' setting is to imitate what simple focus-free cameras
do: set the aperture to f/8 (probably the 'optimum' in terms of
aberrations) and the focus to the 'hyperfocal distance' for that aperture
(ie, infinity next to the 'distant' marking for that aperture on the
depth of field scale). Everything will be 'sharp' from infinity down to
the distance on the focus scale that lines up with the 'near' marking for
that aperture on the depth of field scale. There is often a mark of some
sort on the focus scale that lines up with the focus index, and a matching
mark on the aperture setting control, to make it easier to find the
snapshot setting; the controls may even be designed so that you can 'line
up the green dots'.

There used to be seperate range-finders for use with cameras that didn't
have one built in. Another collectible to look out for )