It started with a leather bag I found among my grandpa´s belongings. He lived with my parents in their house and his rooms still almost look the same even if it´s more than ten years ago since he passed. When I visit my parents I love to see through the things he owned. So I found this one. And I want to show you what´s inside :)
☙
No description or imprint, just a heavy leather bag. Fortunately it wasn´t locked, because there was no key.
☙
At least now I started drooling. Look at this fine violet velvet. But of course, that´s not the main attraction. I found this black box, covered with black leather, having a "ZEISS IKON" stamp. Now I knew it must be a camera. There was also a black metal box, which was empty.
☙
By pressing that little silver button I could open a flap, but there was only a misty plate and no chance to see through. By moving the silver button on the top left this part could be removed completely.
☙
There´s the lens revealed! As you can see there´s a folded construction and inside of the lens you can see clearly the iris diaphragm.
☙
This part is framed with red velvet what you can see better in this picture.
On the upper side I could read another stamp telling me it´s the "Maximar 207/1". Now you can start to search on the internet. Or wait for me to finish this little walkthrough :)
☙
Ok, since there was no other button to press I switched the camera and continued my research. I guess that thread in the lower area is supposed to attach a tripod. It took me a while (ok, months, since I didn´t recognize it in my first attempt) to find the unimpressive black button in the middle of its top. Can you see it? Pressing that button did the magic.....
☙
Just... wow. My steampunk heart started beating faster.
☙
It wasn´t difficult to expand the construction to this point where it snaped into place. What a beauty.
☙
Now I´m going to show you some details and explain at least the things I understand with my knowledge about photography.
☙
On the upper part of the camera is a mirror. I guess it´s for the photographer to look through to see the image detail he wants to shoot. The red button is a level, as you can see the little air bubble that is supposed to be in the middle if the camera is aligned.
☙
Below the level you can see a little wheel. It´s for setting the shutter speed. I´m not sure what the numbers mean. It starts with "1", but when I tried to trigger the camera, the aperture didn´t stay open for one second. So if you guys know what it means, let me know. "200" supposedly means the aperture stays open for 1/200 seconds.
☙
The bigger wheel shows the f-number, the aperture value. If it´s a small number, the aperture is open widely when triggered. A big number means a little aperture. With an open aperture you can achieve a large depth of field and collect more light. I tried to trigger the camera with different values and I could see clearly the changing aperture!
☙
If you move the whole camera back and forward on its track, this number changes. Here you can set the focal length. It snaps in place at the infinity sign, so that´s the default. The little silver tab is for releasing the snap, and you can contract the camera back into it´s box and put it in its leather bag. I searched a while for this function :)
☙
Details about the lens.
☙
This is the only wheel I´m not sure about its function. So if you have any suggestions, let me know.
☙
Last but not least - that´s how I triggered the cam. Snapping down the right wheel, then pushing the left opens the lens with the selected shutter speed and with the selected aperture . Unfortunately it´s reflecting too much, but maybe you can see, there´s something moving inside.
I totally enjoyed inspecting this beautiful device. I found out it was built between 1926 and 1934 (Source). I´m going to keep it since I think it´s going to be a beautiful requisite for my own photography.
Pictures by
Thank you for reading! | Danke für´s Lesen!