Mr Tubbs’ 1977 book on the famous Zeiss-Ikon cameras
Toronto. After WW1, Germany faced high inflation and had a serious need for foreign funds. Mergers and consolidation within German industries was in the air! For example, its camera industry was a conglomeration of relatively small firms who spent their time competing domestically with far too many similar cameras and far too scarce domestic resources.
To rationalize the industry and foster foreign sales, the mighty Zeiss organization of Jena was brought in and amalgamated many firms (amalgamation was underway for decades, even before WW1). Zeiss reduced the number of competing camera models, and named the new company Zeiss-Ikon based in Dresden.
Looking beyond WW2, in the latter part of the last century, there was a flurry of camera collectors world-wide and many books were published to cater to the group. In the case of Zeiss-Ikon, D.B. Tubbs wrote about the iconic firm from its formation to the start of WW2. The book (first edition) was published in England in 1977 by Hove Camera Foto Books.
An even rarer (and massive) book was written decades later by the late Larry Gubas of Las Vegas (about 400 copies). It was called “Zeiss and Photography” and printed in 2015 by Friesens of Manitoba, Canada (known as a printer of school annuals). Larry was well known to many through Zeiss Historica.
Our 2025 Events have come to a close, but the 2026 PHSC Events are just around the corner. They will be listed in the right-hand side bar of this site (date and location when known) and posted as each event nears. You may find Zeiss-Ikon information, and certainly many models of Zeiss-Ikon film cameras at our events.
