Superb! 1930 Zeiss-Ikon Kolibri Camera, CLA'd, Freshly Serviced!

Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted. Ready for immediate use

This lovely little camera is a Zeiss-Ikon Kolibri. Kolibri is the German word for ‘humming bird’ and it’s high praise for this elegant, precise, fine handling design. It was an expensive high end camera produced in Dresden Germany prior to WWII. This Kolibri is in exceptionally fine condition and comes with its original brown leather case.

The Zeiss-Ikon Kolibri was only produced briefly from 1930 to 1935. The serial number of the Zeiss lens indicates it was produced in 1930.

The Kolibri produces 3x4 cm exposures on 127 roll film.  By the way in case you’re wondering, 127 film is still available from specialty film firms on the internet. The 127 format is still very popular among collectors who actually use their vintage cameras because of the very compact size of the cameras and the generous format of the film which is considerably larger than 35mm. In fact many photographers of the 1930’s preferred these cameras above early 35mm cameras for precisely this reason. The generously proportioned 3x4 cm negatives produced a superior image when enlarged.

This superb Kolibri has been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted and everything works as it should. The quality Compur shutter works smoothly and all speeds (T,B & 1 sec - 1/300th) are appropriate. The slow speeds buzz along smoothly and the faster ones are clean and snappy.

The lens is a 3.5/50mm Carl Zeiss Tessar, which is of course a superb lens with four elements in three groups. The classic Tessa is well known for its lovely rendering and bokeh. There are no scratches, just a couple of unavoidable light cleaning marks. (But you’ll need a magnifier to see them.) The lens is clean and clear and it’s cable of producing lovely photos with modern color and B&W films.

It comes complete with its brown leather case and an old exposed roll of film which was in the camera when we acquired it.

 All in all, a very lovely and unusual vintage camera for your collection.