dude stop flipping that camera around so I can take a look at it

I bought this because I fell in love with the sleek lines and design. And it hasn't disappointed me much. Build quality is on par with Japanese Minolta XE-1/XE-5 and Nikon F I think. Really good shutter, metal, vertical travel. I have a Leica as well and of course it feels more solid, but that can be deceiving. Japanese cameras are mostly well made and can sustain a fair bit of bashing, is my experience. Focusing was a bit tricky until I found out how to find the correct eye point; which weirdly enough is a bit away back from the finder. Pushing my eye close to the glass makes the focus window dimmer and almost disappear.. Also I keep collapsing/slipping the rewind crank a lot when I turn it. But it has never come lose or been bent. All things said, I prefer this to my Leica, mostly because it's larger and easier to grip with my somewhat thick fingers. It's very easy to load and the meter is good. I use the 2l76 3v battery instead of two LR44s. There's no + indicator in the battery well but it goes in + side first (negative against the lid). Like Ken Rockwell always says: "I love my camera to death" :-D Thx for the review.

I just got a Zeiss Ikon ZM! Thank you for the video; you’re right there’s hardly any information about it here on KZfaq. Thank you this video and your other ones helped making my purchase 🙏🏼

Extremely detailed and helpful review thank you so much

I love my ZI, and it's great to hear your thoughts. Thank you for this video.

Thanks, always good content and really professional!

Love your reviews brother. You keep it real and to the point. ✌🏾&💜

I've got an M2 and a Zeiss Ikon ZM literally in the mail to be delivered to me in 2 days. Pretty pumped. I've got a 28mm Elmarit with external finder, which I've gotten used to using on the M2, but I'm excited to try it on the ZM because I heard you can see the 28mm framelines a lot easier. So then I'll have the M2 which I'll throw my 50mm Zeiss Sonnar on, and my ZM with the 28mm for a nice double kit setup. I'll follow up my my reaction to the differences here.

This camera was developed and manufactured by COSINA of Japan. "Carl Zeiss" is the brand name COSINA was allowed to use under agreement with CZ of Germany. "Zeiss Ikon" is the name of a series of cameras including this one. "ZM" is the model name. The relationship between CZ and COSINA is just like the one between CZ and Yashica with those Yashica/CONTAX cameras.

I've always thought ZMs were the coolest, it's great to hear your thoughts on it!!

I prefer the simple film loading of this camera over my Leica cameras. I also noticed that the Zeiss ZM lenses fit much better on this camera than the M6 or M10. I actually prefer the sharpness of the Zeiss lenses over heritage Leica M lenses. I agree the viewfinder is big and bright, I wear glasses but I've never experienced any issues with loosing the rangefinder. While I love my M10 and M4-P I am less impressed by my M6 TTL which I rate lower than my Zeiss Ikon, because of the superior viewfinder and easier film loading.

Very nice review, thanks 🙏 Love the laces too!

Good review. Thanks for posting.

Great review of the Zeiss ! From your experienced use of the Zeiss, sounds like the camera beats Leica hands down ! With great respect nobody ever mentions the loading of a leica,and the loading being awful , with the panel you have to put in your pocket and then replace, aaah could it be the red dot, the jewellery effect ,or is it because the Leica weighs a ton as some kind of pay off, a golden brick ? I liked your first observation, that it’s the first camera you pick up to go out with, that gives perfectly exposed images ... I’m a new comer to your channel and Love your channel ! Thanks

Thanks for this episode. As you say, there is not a lot of info on this on KZfaq. I had no idea about the thin metal body and the RF spot. Kind of a bummer. I'd love to see an updated version of this camera from Zeiss, but I guess that will never happen unfortunately.

Super good review thank you for your insight.

Hi Nico, I’m having trouble deciding between this Zeiss Ikon ZM and a Nikon F6 (to those unfamiliar a rangefinder and SLR, respectively). So far I have two medium format rangefinders: Fuji GF670 & Fuji GW690III, and three medium format SLRs: Pentax 67II, Bronica GS-1, and Pentax 645NII. I also have a 35mm Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7, but the autofocus on it gives me blurry shots, so I don’t use it; it’s a camera I’ll be selling, particularly as there are no split image/microprism focusing screens made for the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7. That all said, I’m still working my way down from large format to 35mm, a format which I have little experience with. My whole goal is to shoot light and fast since working with my medium and large format cameras can get me into trouble. I have a tendency to shoot in restricted areas so my next cameras needs to be small, portable, light, and have a lens ecosystem of very high resolution. In all, besides my two top contenders being the Zeiss Ikon ZM and Nikon F6 (which I worry might be too heavy), I’m seriously considering the Minolta CLE, Pentax LX, Olympus OM-4ti, Nikon FM3a, and the Nikon F3. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on this? Perhaps I should stick with my Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 and get it repaired? (Perhaps it’s not even broken, maybe the autofocus just isn’t up to par?)

If you have tight light seals it won't effect the film, also you could write down what frame, rewind till S & reload it later. 👍

Muy buena review Nico!. Yo tengo una ikon Zm con el Carl zeiss 35mm f2 zm. Me encanta. No puedo comparar con las Leica M pues no tengo ninguna. Es mas, me compré la Ikon por que no podia llegar al precio de la Leica m6 que es la q me gusta. El que pese menos que las leica lo veo una ventaja, te la cuelgas al cuello y no cansa. Si es verdad q a veces no se ve bien el parche si no centras bien el ojo pero todo es acostumbrarse. El visor es una gozada, grande y luminoso y ademas no mezcla las lineas de las focales como hace leica. Hay una para 28 otra para 35 otra para 50 y otra para 85mm. Que puedas usarla con prioridad a la apertura la hace rapidisima y utilizando las hiperfocales solo tienes q preocuparte de encuadrar bien. Yo creo q es la camara perfecta para street photography. Un saludo

Nice Cosina 😉. I like it so much, a friend have it in silver finish and I think it’s a great camera. Now that Cosina stop rangefinder cameras production, this one and all Voigtlander have increased their prices in second hand market.

Hi It's me again, You know that when you mentioned about the shutter of the Zeiss is that the company Cosina use the same shutter from the Bessa models, and also that the rewind crank, Didn't I remember that the Leica M5 had the rewind crank on the bottom, and also the Early Models of the Praktica SLR, and also the Praktiflex models from the 1930's that their prototype had the bottom rewind crank then move topside.. But how can you say that when pulling the rewind crank that you might open the film by accident since that there is a safety lock latch to prevent it? Now when working at the camera store in San Francisco as the camera rep for Zeiss did allowed me to borrow the camera for a day shoot as I shot a roll during my lunch break. I did like the camera but it lightweight model as I look and compare to my Dad's Zeiss Contax IIa from 1954 in which it felt like a camera, and also the 50mm f2.0 Sonnar cannot beat the sharpness, and contrast but my Dad's camera is inside a display case with my first SLR a Praktica Nova 1B as a memorial to him. But I did decide to save up and I got myself on eBay A Zeiss Contax II, and III with the Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm 2.0 Sonnar. And I had really good fun in using in Japan . Oh Yes Less Camera Shake Please I was getting a headache, and my eyes could not focus while of your shaking.... Other wise Good Video.

Always thought Zeiss ought to have made a digital version of the Ikon. Pity they never did.

I would say, go for a Leica 14312 nylon strap, you don’t need special tools to attach it, you can hook it on and off easy. And well think it suits the Zeiss too (use this strap also on my Nikon F)

Love your camera strap.

It's a great camera; i have one. it's got a brighter viewfinder than a Leica. It's easier to load film into the ZM, and it's got aperture-priority exposure. The problem with a Leica is it's very heavy; it's like a brick. The ZM feels like a Japanese camera, and it feels solid. It feels like a film slr. I heard the ZM costs more now than it did when i bought it new.

thats pretty intuitive using shoe laces for neck strap. easy to undo and wash too

My apologies if you answered this on another video. Any update on the the Kickstarter rewards? I'm just about to let it go and stop asking.

I have used this Zeiss Ikon ZM, compared to the Leica 'rangefinder' Gold Standard ? Among other things, the rangefinder of the ZM in particular, is very Voigtländer/COSINA like...

So, if my CLE ever quits on me...

Hey Nico, do you still own & use this camera?

:D A Leica camera will also break if you drop it, TRY !!! It is just sooo much more expensive to repair a Leica !

my 4 M7 never drain battery even if you leave it on… except maybe few faulty ones .

the rubber band will create great art effects youncan pull the camera back and let the camera go zooming through the air creating a art effect

Maybe the reason it does not drain the battery, when you leave it turned on, is because it goes on to a sleep mode. At least with the one I used it would start sleeping after 20 or 30 seconds and when I liked something I like to quickly picture, it cause a half a second delay to trigger the shutter. I dunno if that was a defect on the camera I used but it annoyed me that shutter was not responding instantly. Is your also like that?

Wow looks like a Texas Leica!

Imagine if zeiss would have developed a rangefinder but digital, it would had made a big fight with Leica!!

If zeiss release ikon in 2020 itll sell a lot

Looks like a Cosina/Voigtlander.

Why not just get a used M3 instead? Same price in the used market.

Is that a Shoelace?

Specify the goal and need money

Overpriced on ebay. Worth 600 dollars being sold for 1.7k

Very annoying, moving the camera around

Great video. but why are you comparing it to a leica? its not a leica