A smelly old ICA Sirene 135, a 9x12 folding camera from the 1920s

A smelly old ICA Sirene 135, a 9x12 folding camera from the 1920s. 

I don't really need another folder, I really don't, but the ICA Sirene 135 was so cheap that I thought I could take the ground glass from this one and fit it into the back of the Stölma II folding camera so that I can use it with the KW Patent Etui. Basically this was a back for the Patent Etui. Of course it was from the Kamerastore's 'Not Passed' category, it has 'flaws that will affect typical use', in this case, it smells. And it certainly does. I'm not sure what the smell is, it's certainly not your typical musty smell but an all encompassing deep lingering odour. I actually think it's years of nicotine staining from smoking, it has that musky old tobacco smell that you just can't get rid of.

Like most of the folders I've been getting, apart from the smell, the Sirene 135 'has haze and fungus inside [the lens]. The viewfinder and ground glass are hazy. The shutter is sticky [and the] body has signs of corrosion and mold (sic).' It therefore needs a good deep clean, inside and out, including the lenses, especially the front one which had white spots on. The first thing I did was to give the body a good wipe with a damp cloth, then I removed the camera back and took out the ground glass, which also got a good scrub, and cleaned up beautifully. 

I turned my attention to the lens and shutter assembly. With a pair of fine-nosed pliers I loosened the front and rear lenses. These were cleaned with alcohol and wiped down with a microfibre cloth. The haze and marks on the lenses were completely removed and both are now clear and clean. The viewfinder was also dirty, but a good rub with an alcohol soaked cotton bud cleaned that up nicely. Finally,  I cleaned as best I could the bellows, rail and inside the camera.

According to the Kamerastore description the shutter was 'sticky'. Admittedly there was some debris on the shutter, which I cleaned off, yet when I fired the shutter it was fine at all speeds with no signs of stickiness. So, apart from the smell the Sirene 135 is now as clean as possible and ready to be assembled. However, I've put that off for the moment and am leaving the camera in the open air to ventilate and, hopefully, get rid of most of the smell.

Apart from the smell, which is an issue that dominates this report, much like the smell, now that it's been cleaned the ICA Sirene 135 is in pretty good condition. So let's take a look at what I've been able to find out about the history of this camera. Between 1909 and 1912 five camera manufacturers (Hüttig AG, Kamerawerk Dr. Krügener. Wünsche AG, Carl Zeiss Palmos AG, and the Swiss company Zulauf), united to become Internationale Camera A.G. (ICA). Together they produced a range of roll film and plate cameras, including the Sirene 135, which was originally made by Wünsche, from 1914 to 1926. My particular model was sold by Foto Kompaniet in Gelfe, which I believe is Gelve in Sweden, according to the little stamp on the side of the camera. The likelihood is, therefore, that the ICA Sirene 135 was imported to Sweden from Germany and sold on the Swedish market.

The Sirene 135 is an all wooden camera, apart from the front door/rails and lens assembly, with a two-element 'Extra-Rapid-Aplanat Helios' lens, a focal length of 13cm and a maximum aperture of f8. The Sirene 135 has aperture settings of f8, f12.5, f18, f25 and f36 and shutter speeds of Z (Zeit, or Time), B (Bulb), 1/25s, 1/50s, and 1/100s. At either end of the shutter speed dial are two five-pointed stars, which was the company logo representing the five companies that united to form ICA . From 1909, ICA used a letter followed by a five digit number for its serial numbers, and since the serial number of the Sirene 135 is H10748, this suggests that the camera was produced in 1922/23. 

At the moment the camera is in bits in a box while I try to find some way to get rid of the smell. I'm leaving it outside in the fresh air and all being well the smell will dissipate. There are products available that I can spray over the smelly old camera to neutralise the odour but I'm a little nervous about spraying stuff on the camera and causing even more damage. Oh, and the reason for getting it? To use the ground glass screen in the Stölma II camera? Well that didn't work, the glass was too wide to fit comfortably into the Stölma II film back. I could trim it down but it's so clean now that I'm going to refit it back into the ICA Sirene 135. Besides, I have some Leelux 400 diffusion filter now that should work admirably. 

ADDENDUM: After a few weeks in the sun and fresh air the smell is almost completely gone. There's still a slight odour remaining but in comparison to what was there originally it's almost smell free. Soon it'll be time to reassemble the camera and take a couple of test shots, but first I'm going to leave it for a while in a box with some mothballs and then a few more days in the open air to get rid of that smell.

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