Symbolica

The Symbolica was an attempt of Zeiss Ikon AG to establish an user-friendly versatile viewfinder camera with original Tessar lens and Prontor shutter. It was made around 1960. It has a really bright reverse Galilean optical bright-frame viewfinder with parallax marks. In version II the match needle instrument of the coupled selenium meter is mirrored into the finder but also visible through a window in the top. A special connector for cable-less connection of the Ikoblitz flash is placed between normal flash connector and meter window. The match needle meter depends on a combination of sun or cloud symbol on the lens barrel matching the actual ASA film speed value of the speed setting ring. After setting the combination with unlocked film speed ring further exposure correction has to be made with the exposure (=aperture?) ring which has two black plastic grips. Front lens focusing is also aided by symbols which are imprinted onto the frontside of the lens barrel. The advance lever is hidden in the camera back, the rewind knurl is counter-sunk in the camera bottom. On the back is a film type reminder. Around the shutter release on the top is a resetable eposure counter.

Symbolica II