I am as old as the camera. Both of us still work!

A few years ago, one of my sons developed an interest in analog black-and-white photography. I also rekindled my interest. As a journalist, I have been photographing since the early 1970s. Until the turn of the millennium, this meant shooting with black-and-white film and spending hours developing the film and making paper enlargements in the newspaper's darkroom.
As a longtime newspaper journalist and editor, I used Nikon cameras. My first camera, a brand-new Nikkormat, I bought in 1972. I still have it, we've tested it, and the camera still works perfectly.
However, I wanted to go further back in time, and I became interested in Zeiss Ikon cameras. The first one I bought, somewhat by chance, was a Zeiss Ikon Nettar. The seller was very serious, and the camera was top-notch! You can see for yourself in this video.
The Nettar cameras were already produced before World War II, starting in 1934. The model I bought for about 70 euros was produced between 1951 and 1957. My camera does not have a mechanism to prevent double exposure, and it has the "soft" lines at the top of the camera body. This means that this particular camera was made early in the 1950s.
The Nettar is a medium-format camera that uses 120 roll film. The negatives are 6x6 centimeters.
Like many other Zeiss Ikon cameras, the Nettar is a bellows camera. Since then, I have bought two more bellows cameras from Zeiss Ikon, and incredibly, they are completely light-tight, even though they are 70-80 years old. The shutter and aperture work flawlessly, only the self-timer was a bit slow at first.
The Nettar doesn’t have a rangefinder for focusing. You have to measure or estimate the distance to the main subject manually. I’ve bought a laser distance meter so I can measure accurately before setting the camera.
The camera also doesn’t have a built-in light meter. There’s nothing electrical or electronic in it at all, apart from the flash socket. I bought a used Ikophot light meter with a selenium cell. It works perfectly, even though it’s over 60 years old.
With thousands of hours in the newspaper darkrooms, I had plenty of practice developing films. We bought a kit with a tank (Paterson) and chemicals. Developing black-and-white film is not rocket science. You can manage it, even if you’ve never done it before. Just make sure no light gets onto the film!
There are many Nettar cameras and other Zeiss Ikon photographic devices on the second-hand market. The prices are moderate but can vary widely. So does the quality! I bought a Nettar for 300 euros. It turned out to be a bad purchase, but I don’t blame the seller.
I bought another Nettar for 400 euros. It turned out to be an excellent camera that works perfectly

[@danielaoliveira1322]

Thanks !! Beautiful video and photos 😊

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[@Torfinn-Skeimo]

It must have been a good vintage from 1954! 😊 Wery good video, and pictures. 👍

[@dixie491]

very good fotos. My fathjer had nearly the same camera. my be she was older. :))

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Thank you very much!

[@trevorroberts-o7q]

I have one of these but haven't used it for a few years now. If the bellows are light-tight and the shutter works keep your hand held shots to the higher speeds. For other shots the camera needs some support as you showed us. There is little to go wrong as there are no speeds below 1/25sec. which are usually a problem and they are very much more satisfying cameras to use than many modern ones. Thank you so much for reminding us of what they are capable of. I really enjoyed this video - very well presented. Enjoy your photography.

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Thank you very much for your kind comment. I became glad when I read it. I am impressed that the bellows ar light-tight after more than 70 years. I aggree with you, these cameras are very good.

[@dixie491]

Oh thats me on this channel gabriele

[@ianhepplewhite4328]

Greetings from England - My Father has given me a Zeiss Ikon 522/24 Camera, which uses 35mm film. It belonged to one of his uncles, and is essentially a thing of mechanical beauty (when you hold it in your hands it feels, as we say in England, "just right"). I recently put my first film through it, using the 'Sunny F16' rule and got a couple of very decent pictures. A Light Meter is on my horizon as I type (but don't tell the wife!). Although my camera is from the early 50's, I am only from 1963, so its got approximately 10 years on me! I really enjoyed your video, Guttorm. All the best ...

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Thank you very much for your greetings. In addition to the Nettars, I also have an Zeiss Ikon Ikonta 521 (120-film) and a Zeis Ikon Contina (the model with rangefinder) for 35 mm film. I am absolutely not a collector. Together with two of my sons I try analog photographing. For me, it is try once more. The light meter you see me use in the video, is an Ikophot from Zeiss Ikon with selen-cell - it does not ned a battery. I bought it second hand her in Norway for 200 NOK (aprox. 19 euro). Even if its older than you (and younger than me, I believe) it function very good. I hope you go on with the photographing. It can be a good idea to buy a strarter kit for black/white developing.

[@leocarlsson3753]

Tack för en fantastisk film! Väldigt mycket atmosfär och känsla i dina foton. Funderat ett par gånger på att köpa en Ikon, Nettar, eller liknande, men aldrig hittat någon jag verkligen gillat. Har en Rolleicord Va, som jag är väldigt nöjd med :)

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Og tusen takk for en veldig hyggelig tilbakemelding! Setter stor pris på å høre at du liker filmen. Rolleicord høres veldig bra ut, en gammel journalistkollega snakker varmt om den. Jeg kjøpte en Flexaret for et års tid siden. Det er også et veldig artig kamera. Her kan du se en liten film om den: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHfUonyqp9GMh6s

[@kris.krustev]

Nicely done video!

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Thank you so much! Very nice to hear that you like the video.

[@gierre1329]

Schöne fotos

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

Vielen Danke! Das gefreut mich sehr zu hören. Photografieren Sie auch med ein Zeiss Ikon Kamera?

[@gierre1329]

@@GuttormEskildNilsen nein ich fotografiere mit eine fuji X t 50 aber habe eine Canon FTb Ql nach viele Jahren wieder benutzt , jetzt muss ich noch den film entwickeln lassen. Bin gespannt ob ich noch Analog fotografieren kan

[@GuttormEskildNilsen]

@@gierre1329 Du kannst ganz sicher auch heute analog photografieren. Meine Sohne und ich kaufte ein Startersett mit ein Paterson-Tank. Es funktioniert gut. Es ist gemütliche seine eigne Bilder zy entwickeln. (Viele Fehler in meiner Deutsch, glaube ich. Hoffentlich verstehts du.)

[@gierre1329]

@@GuttormEskildNilsen Danke für deine Antwort. ich schreibe auch nicht gut Englisch.