Kipon Icarex to Micro 4/3 adapter. Purchased on eBay.
Kipon adapter.
Zeiss Ikon extension tubes (left and center) and Zeiss microscope adapter (right) with Icarex 35
bayonets.
The Kipon adapter is visible at the bottom right.
Pros: Solid one-piece construction.
Cons: Rather expensive compared to other adapters of similar design. Black anodyzed
aluminium rear bayonet, integral with adapter body. Interior is relatively shiny and may need to be
painted flat black or lined with flocking to avoid flare and loss of contrast. The Icarex bayonet of this
adapter seems a bit too thick to mate well with some of my original Zeiss Ikon adapters, while it
works satisfactorily with others.
Zeiss Ikon marketed the Icarex SLR cameras in the mid-20th century. The first of these cameras had a
peculiar male bayonet on its camera body (generally called Icarex 35). Lenses and accessories were
attached by rotating a broad fastening ring. The attachment is very solid and does not exhibit any play or
twist. For this reason, it is possible to use stacks of several extension tubes without introducing wobble
or play. Two types of extension rings (25 and 50 mm long) are commonly available on the second-hand
market. The microscope adapter shown above is slightly less common. Another interesting feature of these
accessories is that they have built-in baffles to reduce the chance of internal reflections. They can be
useful in situations where an extended length of tubes and a rigid connection are required.
