Have a picture of Zeiss Ikon Icarex 35BM 35mm SLR camera?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of Markus Maisel.
| Photograph Quality | 9/10   |
|---|---|
| Features | 8/10 |
| Ease of Use | 6/10 |
| Value for Money | 9.7/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 9/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7/10 |
Full review by
Eddie Vaughan
on 20th Jan 2008
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
Good Points: Lens quality is a particularly strong point. Zeiss lenses in the Icarex range are all of excellent quality, and the Zeiss Tessar 50mm lens, though only a four element lens, offers very good contrast and resolution compared with modern camera lenses. The camera body is solidly built. It is also a good looking camera, and the usual high quality Zeiss/Voigtlander chrome finish is very durable.
Bad Points: The camera is heavy, which is not necessarily a bad point, and light metering via the detachable CS prism is primitive and not especially accurate. (A hand-held light meter is a much better option.) This is a mechanical camera with no electronic or automatic functions. It therefore requires the user to have at least a reasonable knowledge of camera controls and photographic basics, though, once again, this is not necessarily a bad point.
General comments: I bought my Zeiss Icarex 35 CS new in 1967, preferring it to the better selling Minolta SRT 101. I have never regretted the choice. I am a keen amateur photographer, and the camera has had extensive use. It has travelled the world a few times, and remains one of my favourite cameras. It is always my first choice for 35mm black and white photography, for which the Zeiss Tessar lens is ideally suited. The camera has been extremely reliable and has not required any servicing or repairs.
Eddie Vaughan's review and ratings | 224 words
Review by
Mike.
on 1st Aug 2003
User Rating : 10
Respect :
+2
Solid, back to basics SLR. Will probably outlast most modern autofocus SLRs. Mine is 30 years old and works fine. The 50mm 2.8 Tessar is an excellent lens, and with the new faster films, f2.8 isn't really all that bad unless you need all the lens speed you can get. There is also a f1.8 Ultron which I don't have but I'm sure that is also a very good lens.
Mike.'s full review | 128 words
Review by
Andy Radcliffe.
expert review 
on 25th Nov 2002
User Rating : 9
Respect :
+1
In my opinion, the Zeiss Ikon Icarex 35 BM is a very under-rated system. The Carl Zeiss lenses are first class, even if compared to much newer designs, and can be found at pretty reasonable prices if one is prepared to hunt around a bit.The exceptions to this are the 90/f3.4 Dynarex (which is probably one of the best of the lot) and the 36-82mm Zoomar- both of these, especially the latter are pretty rare. The interchangeable finders are one of the better features although the CS prism is big and ...
Andy Radcliffe.'s full review | 231 words
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