Baldina
Prewar folder by Balda Dresden
The Baldina was a 35mm folding camera made by Balda in Dresden, Germany, before World War II. The choice of lens/shutter on the Baldina included:
- Schneider Xenar 5cm f/2.8 with Compur 300
- Schneider Xenon 5cm f/2 with Compur-Rapid 500
- Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 4.5cm f/2 with Compur-Rapid 500, a rare version sometimes called "Night Baldina"
The Super Baldina is a version with a coupled rangefinder. The rangefinder was of the split-image type, and separated from the viewfinder. The viewfinder had an automatic parallax correction, coupled with the focusing lever, a quite advanced feature for the time.
The Super Baldina existed with a black finish (earlier version) or a chrome finish (later version). The choice of lenses on the Super Baldina included:
- Meyer Trioplan 5cm f/2.9
- Schneider Radionar 5cm f/2.9
- Schneider Xenar 5cm f/2.9
- Schneider Xenar 5cm f/2.8
- Schneider Xenon 4.5cm f/2
- Schneider Xenon 5cm f/2
- Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 5cm f/2.8
The camera was available with a Compur shutter to 1/300 or optionally with a Compur-Rapid shutter to 1/500.
Postwar by Balda Bünde
After the war, the names Baldina and Super Baldina were used again by the Western Balda company based in Bünde, for a series of 35mm viewfinder and rangefinder cameras with the lens and shutter mounted on a telescopic tube.