Zeiss Ikon Nettar

"Nettar" was a name used by Zeiss Ikon for a series of folding cameras made between 1934 and 1959 which used 120 roll film.  This example is a model 518/16 (which is stamped faintly into the cover on the back).  It was made between 1949 and 1959, although within that period there were a large number of lens and shutter variations available.  This example came with a  Novar Anastigmat 4.5/75 lens in a Velio shutter and was made between 1953 and 1958.  I picked this example up from a charity shop for £10 and am currently (as of 10/7/14) running a roll of Kodak Portra 400 through it.  The shutter certainly sounds slick and I couldn't detect any light leaks in the bellows.

This camera does not come with a rangefinder or a lightmeter and so one either has to guess the distance, pace it out, or use a separate rangefiinder.  I use my handheld light meter. The maximum shutter speed is 1/200 of a second.  The shutter has to be cocked manually before taking the shot. The easiest thing to forget having worked out the exposure details is to check the distance on the lens.  The focusing mechanism on the lens is so smooth that it often gets changed just in my camera bag.  This camera makes a nice companion to the Agfa Isolette II which I picked up from a different charity shop for £12.50!