Zeiss Super Ikonta COLOR ADAPTER

When I saw this camera for sale it was, at first glance, just another 6x6cm Super Ikonta. But then I noticed it had the viewfinder masked for a smaller format. I had never seen any reference to an accessory 35mm adapter from Zeiss so, wondering if this was a home-made creation, I took a closer look. After opening the back I could see a metal mask was in place at the film plane and that a couple of spools had been fitted into the film chambers. The parts were well-made and closer inspection told me two things: one – these were not home-made items, and two – they were not meant for use with 35mm film cassettes. But the puzzle was the film mask aperture, because it was 24x36mm.

Now some research was obviously needed here. Soon I discovered that the items were indeed made by Zeiss Ikon. They were originally sold in a kit called “Color Adapter” and were for use with Kodak Bantam roll film, size 828.

To quote from the instruction book: “This color adapter will be especially welcomed by all owners of the Super Ikonta B and BX cameras who wish to take color shots. The adapter is ideal for making Kodachrome transparencies 24x36mm at very little cost.” So while it used Bantam size film (a paper backed roll of un-perforated 35mm film) it did not utilise the full Bantam frame size of 28x40mm.

The kit comprises of four items: a viewfinder mask, the picture mask and two spool adapters. The picture mask has a wire spring on one side to hold it in position. The kit was supplied in a compact leather case “small enough to slip into your pocket” and sold in USA for $9.00 in 1946.

Kodak 828 film gave eight exposures when used in Bantam cameras but this kit allowed you to make nine exposures per roll. How was this achieved? Well it was a combination of two factors: the smaller frame size and the thinner film spool core. Although no modification to the camera's winder was required, there was a set procedure to follow.

With the Super Ikonta B (which made 11 exposures on 120 film) you exposed from number 1 to number 9, then made two blank exposures before winding off. With the Super Ikonta BX (12 exposures on 120) you made a blank exposure on number 1, then exposed numbers 2 to 10, followed by a blank 11 and 12.

Eastman Kodak made 828 adapters for three of their 620 film cameras and at least one other USA manufacturer made an adapter for using the Bantam size film. Burke & James in Chicago made one for roll film cameras called the Essenkay Color Film Adapter. In Back Focus #94 I wrote about a French 120 TLR, the Royflex camera, which I was surprised to find could be used with 828 film; this Super Ikonta kit was another 828 surprise!