5 Frames with my 1920 Ica Icarette

The Icarette is a tiny little 6x6 folder that makes huge 120 negatives.

CAMERAS

sonny rosenberg

1/20/20230 min read

You know if someone told me that I had the choice between picking my favorite camera or letting them shoot me, I'd have to get shot. I think picking a favorite camera must be like picking a favorite child (we don't have our own kids, but we've had some foster kids). So to say that the Ica is one of my favorite cameras would be a little silly. All my cameras are my favorite cameras or they find a new home.

Still, the Ica is a delightful little gem. It's a little fiddly in use because the shutter speeds and f stops are so tiny that I can just barely see them without a magnifying glass (I blame that on both the minuscule lettering and my elderly eyes). Oddly enough it's one of my very easiest cameras to load. It wasn't made for 120 film, but will accept it although after a few frames the winding becomes a little tight and sometimes scratches the film. I know I'm easily amused, but I find the very bright view through the smaller than postage stamp sized external viewer to be an endless source of fascination.

Multiple exposures with the Ica's 1/300th are super easy as there is no multiple exposure protection of any kind, so I thought I would try a few. I guess I'm on somewhat of a multiple exposure kick. Who know how long that will last?

This was a roll of Ilford Delta 100 in 620 format by the Film Photography Project. 620 seems to fit a little better in this camera that was originally made for 117 film. Or maybe it's that Delta 100 is a thinner film? I dunno. I developed this roll in Adox FX-39II, a developer that I'm liking quite a bit so far. That and given that I 'think' Delta is a t-grain film and I very clearly remember the total disaster that developing T-max in Kompostinol was.

I don't recall having used Delta 100 before, but my initial impression is positive. For a brief moment I was dismayed though. During washing I was impressed by how flat the film seemed to lie, even once I hung it to dry all seemed good. Then after a few minutes, it struck.The curl from hell! I thought I had once again been cursed by the curliness gods, but no. A few minutes later and the curls relaxed back to completely and dociley flat, the film scanned quite amicably thank you.