The Zeiss Ikon Icarette, as the name suggests, was inherited from Ica when Zeiss absorbed that company in 1926. Although the Ica produced forerunner started out life in 1919 it was continually developed and Zeiss must have considered the design had merit as they continued with it until 1936. During this time numerous formats, body types, shutter and lens combinations arose. The camera was certainly a notch above many of it's contemporaries, particularly the higher grade models - such as our example. This example is with the dual roll film or plate back body for critical focus photography. The standard of construction and finish is high, operation is delightfully smooth and precise but without a feeling of delicacy. The name appears to be "Jcarette", owing to the highly stylized "I", this is also carried over onto the shutter nameplate, as can be seen in the image. Amongst the camera's interesting features are two clips that prevent bellows sag impinging on the image area, these unclip when the lensboard is racked out, and automatically clip themselves back on when the camera is closed up.

This particular example was donated in February 2010. It was in fine condition and, apart from a deep clean and service, has been conserved exactly as it arrived. Remedial work was limited to polishing the shutter and aperture leaves, as well as returning the seized delayed release mechanism to working order. Dated to 1931, courtesy of it's Zeiss Tessar serial, the Compur shutter serial seems surprisingly low however. The indications are that at least one of its former owners was heavily into macro photography, as the critical focus plate back has been bought, as have several close up attachments, and a focus inspector - all Zeiss Ikon accessories too.

Body No.Q 98446
Shutter, Compur No.1088122, speeds T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 & 250th
Lens, Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar, 10.5cm f/4.5, serial 1180888
Condition, 4F