Zeiss Ikon Box-Tengor 54/2 (1934-1938)

The Box-Tengor was one of Zeiss Ikon's cameras for beginners. It makes eight nominally 6cm x 9cm (actually 58mm x 88mm) pictures on size 120 film.

The body is formed from steel and has black leatherette and black painted trim with a little nickel plate. The handle is leather. The front of the camera has the viewfinder windows, the focus zone selection lever, the lens, and the aperture selection lever. The right side of the camera has the film winding key, the landscape oriented viewfinder window, the time/instantaneous exposure tab, the camera body latch, the shutter release lever, the shutter lever latch and a cable release socket. The pre-WWII Box-Tengor is not synchronized for flash. The left side of the camera has a tripod socket for pictures in landscape orientation. The back of the camera has the little red window with its sliding cover. The top of the camera has the portrait oriented viewfinder window and the handle. The bottom of the camera has the portrait oriented tripod socket.

The lens is an uncoated, Goerz Frontar meniscus with a focal length of about 100-110 mm. Objects from 8 meters to infinity are in focus at the distant setting. For closer focusing additional lens elements can be shifted into place using the lever above the lens. The closer focus zones are 8 to 2 meters (the lower strength element) and 2 meters to 1 meter (the higher strength element). Eight meters is about 26 feet, two meters 7 feet and one meter 3-1/2 feet. The Goerz name on the lens came from C. P. Goerz, which was one of the firms that merged to form Zeiss Ikon in 1926, and made an earlier version of the Box-Tengor. Aperture stops, f/11, f/16 or f/22, can be shifted into place using the lever below the lens.

The shutter is a rotary shutter with a nominal speed of 1/25 second per the instruction booklet. A slide can be pulled out for time exposures. The shutter release has a latch that can be used as a safety catch to prevent accidental exposures or used to hold the shutter open for time exposures. There is a threaded socket for a standard cable release. Two 3/8" tripod sockets are provided.

Loading the camera is like loading a Brownie. You unlatch the back and pull it open for loading. The empty spool goes in the top compartment and the fresh film goes in the bottom. You space the pictures on the film by looking through the little red window at the numbers printed on the backing paper. The slide over the red window is kept closed except when winding the film. The camera was made when films were much slower than they are today. 100 speed film is over exposed about 1 stop with the camera set at f/22 on a sunny day. 400 speed film is good on a cloudy day or in the shade.

Because the camera is not synchronized for flash (you need the post-WWII 56/2 model for that), you have to use the open flash method for pictures indoors at night. You put the camera on a tripod, set up your shot, turn down the room lights (the room should be dark enough to avoid "ghost" images), open the shutter, fire the flash, and close the shutter.

This example is in good shape for being at least 82 years old. There are a few spots in the viewfinders and some wear to the finish. Box-Tengors were made in the hundreds of thousands and they are relatively common.

The bow scroll from the armored cruiser USS Tennessee, Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee.

The Tennessee was completed in 1906. Originally the ship was painted white and buff and had this decorative bronze bow scroll. The bow scroll was removed from the ship when it was modernized about 1911, and was installed in Centennial Park. In May of 1916 the armored cruiser was renamed USS Memphis and in August of that year was wrecked by a tidal wave in Santo Domingo harbor.