Ikoflex II 851/16
During my trip back home my aunt Joelle gave me a fantastic gift, my late uncle Peter’s TLR; a Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex 851/16 that dates back to 1936 – 1939. This medium format camera is an amazing piece of photographic hardware. This hearty antiquity is equipped with a Tessar 1-3.5 75mm lens, runs on 120mm film, equipped with a top view finder and sports a lever focus indicative of a pre ‘37 fabrication. This was my first experience with a TLR (twins lens reflex). I scanned over the body and all its knobs and buttons I couldn’t help but be surprised at how complex this 70 year old camera seemed. I started to imagine the lives it had had, and all the different hands it must have passed through to make it to mine. As a movie caliber flashback montage scrolled through my mind I was left with a memory of Peter teaching me to develop film in the darkroom in his home in Montreal. As I look back I realise that my time with him was my initiation into serious photography. Now I have the honour of restoring his old camera.
Joelle says:
Thank you for your beautiful blog on the old Ikoflex. I am so glad it has found a good home in a faraway land. Peter would have been thrilled and perhaps a little intimidated to know that his old camera crossed an entire country, many borders and a huge ocean and ended up elegantly poised in your blog for the whole world to see.
December 19th, 2009 at 10:46 am