Loading is not easy with Kodak ektar,...but is avery good camera. Thanks so much!

My mother's grandpa had one of these when he took pictures for the white house in the 40s and 50s and I was thinking about restoring it but now I definitely will because it's not in bad condition and the only thing it needs is a new bellows

Thanks so much for making this informative video. I've been considering a folder for some time and your video has pushed me to finally pull the trigger.

Love it.

I have had several of these, and similar. At the time, 120 film was only numbered for eight exposures of 6x9. On the Super Ikomat B or Super Ikonta B, as above, the red glass on the back is meant to position the number one. After that, you were meant to set the numbers on top to one and then to use them to get eleven exposures. I have tried several of them with Kodak, Ilford and other films, and they all worked fine. On the Ikonta A, which gave 16 exposures of 645 dimensions, you should put the number 1 in the first red glass and then do the same in the second. Then continue in the same manner with the number two.

you can add a 2-3 inch piece of masking tape on the back of the paper to add some "extra" paper thickness. thiss will help keep the spacing from over ,apping.

I recommend that you try and find a copy of the manual. They are readily available on internet. You will find out what the two red dots on the lens mean and what the mirror image of f stops mean.

Great review. I got a 531/2 from my grandfather and I'm really excited to use it now.

Hi Joe -thanks for the review. I recently picked up a 530/16, also 1936. It's no speed demon in setting up a photo but wow, the results are really nice. If I'm shooting landscapes I've been taking this rather than grab a 35mm. I've been using Ektar 100 and Ilford FP4 and also did not have issues with overlapping. I'll look for the Holga, thanks for the tip. One thing you may have mentioned that I missed is that the larger format than a 35 really helps in making enlargements stay crisp and clean with a lot less enhancement work needed.

I've got an early post-War 532/16 Super Ikonta B. I don't find the RF hard to use, but I've used rangefinder cameras, off and on, for more than half a century (first was a borrowed Yashica at summer camp, 1969). The difficulty you describe may be due to a deteriorated beam splitter (which combines the images from the prism housing and straight-through window in the RF). The 562/16 is heavy, the f/2.8 Tessar loses a lot of crispness when wide open (though it's very good stopped down past f/5.6), and I find it hard to hold steady at slow speeds (unlike my significantly larger Moskva 5 or my much smaller Welta Weltini 35mm folder). It does have a frame counter, so I don't have to use the red window except to start the counter, but because it was made to use the 6x9 numbers (because it's a pre-War design, and 120 film couldn't be counted on to have a 6x6 track before about 1940), it was originally built to give 11 frames instead of 12. I modified the stop cam to give a 12th frame, and as long as I start the film very carefully, it works great. Due to its weight, inability to use the full speed of the lens, and the care needed to start the counter to get 12 frames, the Super Ikonta has been generally replaced, for me, by my somewhat newer Mamiya Six folder. Better lens, unit focusing (via moving the film plane) instead of front element focused, and captive format masks to give either 12 or 16 frames, not to mention close to 1/3 lighter. Maybe someday I'll get one of the Mamiya Six versions with a counter, so I don't have to use the red window(s)...

Hallo, diese Kamera enthält ein leather bag, eine Gegenlichtblende und Farbfilter.

The one I have is similar but isn't quite the same, maybe a few years apart from yours or maybe mine's different for the European market. I tried to use it yesterday but the shutter button won't depress. The little chrome arm at the front below the lens can be used to fire the shutter but its very awkward especially on mine (since the mounting arms hold the whole pop out assembly from above and below rather than the sides). Can anyone help?

My shutter is cocked still won't take picture, also tried it by pushing the little lever, it clicks but the counter ring does not move!

What a beautiful camera! I have just got a Super Ikonta 531, the smaller brother of your camera, released in 1937. It is a 645, but it has 2 windows in the 6x9 row, so it works well, so I don't think the standard was different other than not having 645 numbers. They probably thought that since the winding is automatic, noone would use the window. Anyways, mine has a 75\3.5 Tessar, and it is a front element focusing lens, something that is nowadays considered an inferior design to whole lens focusing. I was just wondering if the top of the line model was front element focusing as well. Can you check it for me please?

Why would the thickness of the paper backing influence the frame count if you are using the numbers in the red window to advance the film? Is there also a mechanical frame counter on the body?

its 11 frames.