T
tokengirl
Guest
November of 1984, to be exact.
Saturday morning, cruising the garage sales in Coral Gables, when I saw it. This dirty, creepy little boxy thing that looked like it might be a camera. I picked it up and took a closer look. It said "Zeiss Ikon" on it. I pressed a button, a door swung open, and a lens sprung forward.
"How much do you want for it?", I asked.
"A dollar", she replied.
It looked cool, so I bought it. Took it home, and put it away. More than 25 years later, it was pretty much forgotten. Then for some reason, it came into my mind a couple of days ago. I don't know why, after all these years. I went into the garage and took out the step ladder to get a better view of the boxes on the upper shelves. I looked in two small boxes, nothing. I paused for a minute, and just scanned the upper shelves. That one, I thought to myself. That's where it is.
That IS where it was. A Zeiss Ikon Bob 510, the first of the Nettars. 645 format. It was introduced in 1934, not sure how long it was in production, but I'm guessing not more than a couple of years or so, as there were several subsequent models instroduced by the end of the decade.
So I cleaned it up a little with some lighter fluid. The little slider on the back to open the film counter windows is stuck shut. Stuck, stuck stuck. Won't budge. The little bellows seem to be in good shape, I don't see any light leaks. The shutter seems to work at 1/125 sec., 1/100 sec., and B. The other speeds stick half open. And there is a little shmutz between the elements.
So I wasted an expired roll of film to see how many turns it takes to advance to the next frame (the amount of turns reduces as the take-up spool gets filled).
I've got a fresh roll of Delta 100 Pro loaded. I just ordered a stainless reel for 120 film. Let's see what happens.
Saturday morning, cruising the garage sales in Coral Gables, when I saw it. This dirty, creepy little boxy thing that looked like it might be a camera. I picked it up and took a closer look. It said "Zeiss Ikon" on it. I pressed a button, a door swung open, and a lens sprung forward.
"How much do you want for it?", I asked.
"A dollar", she replied.
It looked cool, so I bought it. Took it home, and put it away. More than 25 years later, it was pretty much forgotten. Then for some reason, it came into my mind a couple of days ago. I don't know why, after all these years. I went into the garage and took out the step ladder to get a better view of the boxes on the upper shelves. I looked in two small boxes, nothing. I paused for a minute, and just scanned the upper shelves. That one, I thought to myself. That's where it is.
That IS where it was. A Zeiss Ikon Bob 510, the first of the Nettars. 645 format. It was introduced in 1934, not sure how long it was in production, but I'm guessing not more than a couple of years or so, as there were several subsequent models instroduced by the end of the decade.
So I cleaned it up a little with some lighter fluid. The little slider on the back to open the film counter windows is stuck shut. Stuck, stuck stuck. Won't budge. The little bellows seem to be in good shape, I don't see any light leaks. The shutter seems to work at 1/125 sec., 1/100 sec., and B. The other speeds stick half open. And there is a little shmutz between the elements.
So I wasted an expired roll of film to see how many turns it takes to advance to the next frame (the amount of turns reduces as the take-up spool gets filled).
I've got a fresh roll of Delta 100 Pro loaded. I just ordered a stainless reel for 120 film. Let's see what happens.
