Manufactured by Zeiss Ikon of Germany from 1948 to 1953, the Ikonta 521/16 is a folding camera that produces twelve images, 6x6cm, on 120 roll film. There are various lens/shutter combinations both pre-war and post-war. Flash synchronization only exists on postwar models; there is no light meter. 

The compact, lightweight black and chrome camera weighs a little over a pound (540 grams) and measures 135x45x78 mm (5.3×1.8×3.1 inches) when folded. It has a pop-up viewfinder. “The post-War medium-format Ikontas retained most of the fundamental design characteristics of previous decades, but new materials and design ideas did take hold as the German camera industry struggled to reassert its place in the market.” (https://mikeeckman.com/photovintage/vintagecameras/ikontab/index.html). 

The 521/16 replaced the 520/16, produced from 1938 in pre-and post-war Germany, and offered an improved shutter release and prevention of double exposures. 

Initially, Carl Zeiss built “high-end optics in the late 19th-Century. And lenses were all the company did until they gathered several camera makers throughout Germany to form their own camera manufacturing base and called the company Zeiss Ikon.” (http://www.alexluyckx.com/blog/2020/12/07/camera-review-blog-no-126-zeiss-ikon-ikonta-521/). The earlier models were plate cameras; roll film cameras appeared in the late 1920s. The Ikonta line was the high-end. 

“The [first] Ikonta 520 came out in 1929 and came in four variants (A, B, C, and D) and five tiers. The letter variant determined the image size . . . . The Ikonta line proved popular, and Zeiss Ikon released an updated version in 1938, continuing with only the 120-roll film formats (A, B, and C) and updating the model to Ikonta 521.” 

The Ikonta 521 was produced during WWII until German manufacturing was destroyed by Allied bombs. Production on the Ikonta 521 was resumed years later, late 1940s to early 1950s, in occupied Germany. 

The post-war models “often had slightly better optics as the lenses were now coated . . . . Sadly the 1950s brought a close to the era of folding cameras, and by 1954, the Ikonta 521 had ceased production. ” 

Though the format changed, the Ikonta name was retained: the Super-Ikonta had a rangefinder and the Ikonta 35 used 35mm film. 

Reviewers have commented positively on the simplicity of all-manual operation for the Ikonta 520 and 521. One user wrote “I think I like the completely manual setup. It puts me in touch with the very core aspects of photography. There are no batteries to run out. No electronics telling me what to do or taking over the task of making a photograph. Just me. And a machine. And the simplicity belies the sheer quality of the results that are possible. That Zeiss glass is superb. The Compur shutter goes to a mean 1/500th and the whole thing is just a marvel. Plus it smells of leather and history – what could be better!” (Camera Monkey). 

A description of known lens/shutter combinations can be found at http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ikonta_521/16.

~Photos by Joel Moses, PHSNE Past President