C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Zeiss Ikon Cocarette is a 6x9 cm folding camera produced by Zeiss Ikon from approximately 1927. It is one of the earliest cameras to appear under the Zeiss Ikon brand following the landmark 1926 merger that consolidated Contessa-Nettel, ICA AG, Ernemann, and Goerz under the Zeiss umbrella. The Cocarette represents a rationalisation of the folding camera lines inherited from those predecessor companies, offering 6x9 cm negatives on roll film or plates with a quality Tessar lens at a mid-market price.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 120 format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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About this camera
An early Zeiss Ikon 6x9 folding camera produced shortly after the 1926 four-company merger, equipped with the Tessar lens and a simple leaf shutter.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 6x9 cm on 120 roll film (or plates) |
| Lens | Carl Zeiss Tessar f/4.5 or f/6.3 (variant-dependent) |
| Years | ~1927 onward (discontinuation unverified) |
| Shutter | Derval or Compur leaf, ~1s - 1/100s + B |
| Flash sync | None (pre-sync) |
| Meter | None |
| Focus | Scale focus |
| Battery | None required |
The 1926 merger that created Zeiss Ikon was one of the most consequential events in German camera industry history. Four companies — Contessa-Nettel (Stuttgart), ICA AG (Dresden), Ernemann (Dresden), and C.P. Goerz (Berlin) — were united under Zeiss Ikon AG, with Carl Zeiss of Jena retaining an ownership stake. The immediate challenge was rationalising overlapping product lines from four former competitors.
The Cocarette emerged in this rationalisation period as part of Zeiss Ikon's effort to offer a coherent range of folding cameras at multiple price points. The model name and some design elements derived from predecessors in the pre-merger companies. It was positioned as a capable but not top-of-range 6x9 folder, distinguishable from the premium Ikonta and Super Ikonta lines by its simpler focus system and more modest shutter.
The 6x9 cm format was popular in this era because it produced a negative large enough for significant enlargement while remaining manageable in a folding camera body. Contact prints at 6x9 cm required no enlarger, which was practical when enlargers were not universal.
The Cocarette is historically significant as a product of the immediate post-merger Zeiss Ikon period, reflecting how the new company organised its folding camera portfolio. It demonstrates the wide use of the Tessar in this era — Carl Zeiss supplied lens elements to Zeiss Ikon, and the Tessar was the standard quality option across much of the range.
For collectors, the Cocarette is an accessible entry point to early Zeiss Ikon cameras; prices are lower than the Super Ikonta line because it lacks a rangefinder. For users, the large 6x9 negative and Tessar optics can still deliver excellent image quality if the camera is in working order, though scale focusing requires careful technique at close distances.
The camera illustrates a broader industry pattern: in the 1920s the dominant format for serious amateur photography was medium format on plates or roll film, and the folding camera was the preferred form factor for portability.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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