Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor (56/2)

The Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor (56/2) is a well-built and relatively advanced box camera (regarded by some as “the king of box cameras”) introduced by Zeiss Ikon shortly after the end of World War II and the subsequent division of Germany. The Zeiss Ikon Box Tengor line is a continuation of the original Box Tengor series manufactured by Goerz before it merged with ICA, Ernemann and Contessa-Nettel to form Zeiss Ikon in 1926. The 56/2 is the final camera to bear the Box Tengor name.

Ernemann Heag XV

Roughly the size of a large stack of playing cards, the Ernemann Heag XV is a pocket-sized folding camera introduced in 1911 by Ernemann. Founded by Heinrich Ernemann in 1889, the company produced both still and cinema cameras as well as projection equipment. After its defeat in the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay an enormous amount of money in reparations (about 442 billion USD in today’s economy, a sum they only just finished paying off in 2010) which absolutely devastated its economy. Unfortunately, the German camera industry floundered during this period of hyperinflation, causing Ernemann to merge with three other companies (ICA, Goerz, and Contessa-Nettel) to form Zeiss Ikon.