C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Zeiss Ikon Ercona is a 6x9cm folding camera produced from approximately 1955 by VEB Zeiss Ikon in Dresden, East Germany. It is distinct from the Zeiss Ikon cameras produced simultaneously in West Germany (Stuttgart): after Germany's division, the Zeiss Ikon name and factory assets were split between East and West, with the Dresden operation continuing under the VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb -- people's owned enterprise) designation as part of the East German state-controlled camera industry.
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Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
East Germany's VEB Zeiss Ikon Ercona -- a 6x9 folder with Tessar or Novar lens, built in Dresden from 1955.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120, 6x9cm (8 exp per roll) |
| Lens | Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 105mm f/3.5 or Novar 105mm f/4.5 (fixed) |
| Shutter | Prontor or Vebur leaf: ~1s - 1/200s + B |
| Meter | None |
| Battery | None |
| Viewfinder | Optical direct; no rangefinder coupling |
| Focus | Scale focus |
| Flash sync | PC socket |
| Years | ~1955 - Ercona II successor |
The postwar division of Zeiss is one of the more complex corporate histories in the camera industry. Carl Zeiss had its headquarters in Jena (in what became East Germany) and a major manufacturing presence in Dresden. After 1945, the Soviet occupation authorities removed significant equipment and personnel westward, and some Zeiss personnel re-established operations in Oberkochen, West Germany. The result was two companies both using the Zeiss name and its associated brands, which led to decades of legal disputes over trademark rights in various national markets.
In East Germany, VEB Carl Zeiss Jena continued producing lenses -- including the Tessar formula -- and VEB Zeiss Ikon Dresden continued producing cameras. The Ercona appeared in this context in approximately 1955, as the East German camera industry was consolidating around a set of rationalised product types. It draws directly on the prewar Super Ikonta design heritage but is simplified for the production realities of the DDR economy.
The Ercona II followed the original Ercona with minor refinements. The Ercona line represents the continuation of the 6x9 folder tradition in East Germany through the 1950s, alongside other VEB products including cameras from the Certo, Welta, and Balda factories.
The Ercona is interesting for several reasons. First, it is evidence of the parallel camera industries that developed in East and West Germany after 1945 -- the DDR camera industry produced cameras of genuine quality that are substantially less expensive today than their West German equivalents, partly because they were less widely exported to Western markets and carry less collector prestige.
Second, the Tessar-equipped Ercona provides access to genuine Carl Zeiss Jena glass at 6x9 format for a fraction of the cost of a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta C. The Tessar 105/3.5 from the postwar Jena factory is a good lens by any measure; resolution and contrast are competitive with comparable West German glass of the era.
Third, the 6x9 format provides a very large negative -- nearly 5x the area of 35mm -- at a price point that is accessible to photographers who cannot justify the cost of a Mamiya 7 or Fujifilm GW690. The absence of a rangefinder requires more careful distance estimation, but the large negative tolerates moderate focus errors better than smaller formats.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Zeiss Ikon Ercona
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