Iloca Quick

Iloca Quick series

The Iloca Quick was the model that replaced the Iloca I and II series. There were two base models, a viewfinder version, called the Quick, and a rangefinder version called the Quick-B. There was also a Quick-A, which appears to be a simplified export version of the Iloca Quick. The cameras were probably called Quick because they automatically cocked the shutter during winding the film and had body shutter release buttons.
Rather unusual for Iloca, which usually used different names for different cameras, there are at least four identified versions of the Quick. They are functionally similar but have different body designs. They appear to have been made around the same time.

The Quick v.1 was the base model and in brochures it was sometimes called the Quick-L or Model L. It had a viewfinder in the middle of the top plate, two identical wind and rewind knobs and a front-cell focussing Iloca lens. It has metal stripe pattern on the front of the body and a herring-bone plastic or leather covering. The aperture is controlled by a turning ring behind the shutter. It came with a Vario or Prontor-SV shutter. It was available with a 45mm f/2.9 or f/3.5 lens in three versions, one marked Jloca Jlitar-Anastigmat without serial number, one marked ILOCA Ilitar Anastigmat with serial number and one marked Jloca Jlitar, also with serial number.

An Iloca Quick v.1 with a coated Jlitar-Anastigmat lens. Note that the J represents a capital i.

The Quick v.2 had a body very similar to the v.1 but the viewfinder has been moved off centre to the left of the camera, and the accessory shoe has been placed next to it instead of op top as in the v.1. The aperture lever was the same as on the old Iloca I and II models, so not oprated by a ring like on the Quick v.1. It appears to have been avaliable with f/3.5 lens and Prontor-S shutter only. The lenses were the two different versions of the Ilitar-Anastigmat also found on the Quick v.1 (i.e., with or without serial number). In addition, later production models were equipped with a lens with a black ring instead of the traditional silver version.

A Quick v.2. with a coated llitar Anastigmat lens. Note that this lens has a serial number, in contrast to the one on the v.1 pictured above.

A Quick v.2. with the black ring version of the llitar Anastigmat lens.

The Quick v.3 differs from the v.1 most in the front trim. The top plate and arrangement of viewfinder, release button and wind knobs are identical, as are the lens base and aperture control ring. However, the covering on this model is coarse-grained leather(ette) with a metal rectangular strip, reminiscent of the trim on the Iloca Stereo II.
There are a few variations of this model, with different shutters (Vario and Prontor-SV) and lens speeds (f/3.5 and f/2.9) but also the top plate is on closer inspection slightly different.

A Quick v.3 with Vario shutter and Jlitar f/3.5 lens.

(left) Back side of a Quick v.3 with embossed Iloca Quick logo; (top right) top view of Iloca v.1; (bottom right) top view of Iloca v.3, identical to v.1

The Quick v.4 has quite a different styling from the other Quicks. It has a larger top housing similar to that of the Iloca Rapid series, as well as a similar leatherette covering. Rather surprisingly, it has a winding lever, so technically one would expect this to be called a Rapid. However, in contrast to the Rapids, on this model the lever is on the right hand side and does not fold up. The most obvious cosmetic difference with the other Quicks is the square engraved metal trim around the lens base.
This model came with different lenses, most commonly a Steinheil Cassar (again like the Rapid series) but sometimes with Ilitar Anastigmat. It was also sold under different brand names as 'Reporter' and as 'Tower 50', the latter with different front trim. Interestingly, some version of the Photrix-B, an Iloca Quick-B branded as Photrix, has the same trim as the Quick v.4.

A Quick v.4 with Vero shutter and Steinheil Cassar lens.

The Quick-A is nearly identical to the Quick v.1 but has an additional piece of trim around the lens base and appears to be produced with a Vero shutter only, a simple shutter with no time delay and no slow shutter speeds.
An export version marked 'Made in Germany' below the shutter can also be found. Many of these had black film reminder and frame counter dials.

A Quick-A with Vero shutter and Jlitar Anastigmat f/3.5 lens.

An export version of the Quick-A marked 'Made in Germany' and with black film reminder and frame counter dials. The lens on this example has no serial number, unlike the other version above.

Yet another version, this one has a black lens ring, as could also be found on the Iloca Quick v.2 (see above).

The Quick-B is the rangefinder version of the Iloca Quick. However, the styling as well as functionality is more like that of the Iloca Rapid-B. Both have similar trim, identical top housing, coupled rangefinders and use helical focusing. The main difference with the Rapid-B is that the Quick-B has no wind lever but a winding knob and an Iloca Ilitar (-Super) lens instead of a Steinheil Cassar. Compared to the Iloca Quick models, the Quick-B is distinct because of its large wind and rewind knobs.
There are a few slightly different versions of the Iloca Quick-B. There are two different face plates, one with and one without on extra groove outlining the trim. There are two lenses, an Iloca Ilitar 50mm f/2.9 and a 50mm f/2.8 Ilitar-Super. The later was a Tessar style lens whereas the Ilitar was a triplet. It appears that most Ilitar-Super lenses were mounted on bodies with plain metal trim, but a few with grooved trim can be found.

A Quick-B with plain trim and Ilitar lens.

A Quick-B with grooved trim and Ilitar lens (left) and one with plain trim and Ilitar-Super lens.

The Quick-B was also sold under the brand name Photrix in at least three versions, one with trim identical to the Iloca Quick v.4 described above, in addition to the two trims available for the Quick-B. They came with Steinheil Cassar, ISCO Westar and Photrix Ilitar-Super lenses. They were also sold under the brand name Tower as Tower 51 (which model name was also used for a Rapid-B), again with various lenses: Cassar, Cassaron and Westar and Tower-branded rectangular trim.

The winding mechanism and rangefinder of a Quick-B. All fairly straightforward compared to the mechanism of the Iloca Rapid.

Two unusual Quick-B variants: (left) with an unusual, unbranded Anastigmat 50mm f/2.9 lens, which I have not seen on any other Iloca cameras, or any other Quick-B for that matter (right) with ISCO Westar 50mm f/2.9 lens, more commonly found on the Photrix version.

A strange find on eBay: it looks like an Iloca Rapid, but has Quick-B style winding knobs and an Iloca Quick style lens. So essentially a viewfinder only version of the Quick-B! It is not branded in any way (other than Iloca on the lens), but it came with a Photrix case, so presumably sold as such. Its serial number indicates it dates from before the Iloca Rapid came out, so this is the first camera with Rapid-style trim and top housing.

An enigmatic Iloca model, a little Frankencamera composed of Quick, Quick-B and Rapid elements, probably sold as Photrix.

last update: 19 March 2017