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Rare Zeiss Voigtlander Icarex Pro
42mm Pentax Screw Mount
When Voigtlander went out of business, it was bought out by Zeiss. Zeiss used the Voigtlander label on a few cameras, including this Zeiss made Icarex produced 1969-71 with a "Carl Zeiss Ultron" lens. Zeiss realized their Icarex bayonet mount was not setting the world on fire with popularity. Zeiss tried to correct the problem by producing the Icarex in the "universal" 42mm Pentax screw mount, which was really the Zeiss 42mm screw mount invented for the original East German. Contax SLR of 1949.
This is a very well made camera, getting my vote for the best made 42mm screw mount SLR. Beautifully made with outstanding craftsmanship, no Japanese made 42mm camera that I can think of begins to compare to its fit and precision (sorry Pentax fans, but it's the truth). It used stop down CDS TTL metering, shutter speeds 1/2 to 1/1000th, with 25 to 1600 ASA range. The finder is bright for its time, with a VERY easy to use 45 degree split image rangefinder.
This "Carl Zeiss Ultron" has a Zeiss style bayonet filter or lens shade mount, and an odd concave front element. It has a superb reputation, as do most of the higher priced Voigtlander optics. Notice that little window above the "ex" in Icarex? It's a prism which reflects the f/stop off the aperture ring into the finder, predating the same system in Nikon's AI cameras by only eleven years.
The shutter speed dial rotates around the advance lever. That knurled ring around the shutter release is not a shutter lock. Instead, turning it elegantly sets the adjacent meter ASA.
Revised: November 26, 2003 . Copyright � 1998-2002 Stephen Gandy. All rights reserved. This means you may NOT copy and re-use the text or the pictures in ANY other internet or printed publication of ANY kind. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.