Balda

Balda was a German maker based in Dresden. It was founded in 1908 and took the name Balda-Werk Max Baldeweg in 1913. It made a quantity of medium-priced folders before World War II, and its camera production was quite comparable to Welta or Certo. One originality of Balda was to sell cameras to many other companies for resale under their own brand (today this would be called OEM).

After the war, Balda was nationalized in East Germany in 1946, while its founder Max Baldeweg fled to West Germany. The name of the East German company was changed to Belca-Werk in 1951. It continued for some time to produce folders like the little 35mm Beltica, and was absorbed into VEB Kamera-Werke Niedersiedlitz in 1956.

Max Baldeweg set up a new company called Balda (Balda Kamera-Werk), this time based in Bünde, West Germany. This company produced a series of 35mm and medium-format rollfilm cameras, some of them being sold by Porst under the Hapo brand. Balda later produced cameras in both 126 and 110 cartridge format. The company discontinued camera production in the late 1970s.

Balda Dresden, later Belca

35mm folder

• Baldina
• Jubilette
• Super Baldina (coupled rangefinder)

120 folder

4.5×6

• Baldax (4.5×6, #0 or #00 shutter size)
• Baldaxette I (4.5×6, coupled rangefinder)

6×6

• Baldax (6×6, #0 shutter size)
• Baldaxette II (6×6, coupled rangefinder)

6×9

• Baldafix (6×9)
• Juwella (6×9)
• Pontina (6×9 and 4.5×6), also sold as Hapo 10 and Hapo 45
• Super Pontura (6×9, coupled rangefinder)

120 box

• Balda Box (6×9)
• Frontbox (6×9)
• Poka (6×9)
• Rollbox (6×9)

127 folder

• Baldi (3×4)
• Rigona (3×4)

Belca

35mm folder

• Beltica I (vertical style folding, like the pre-war Baldina)
• Beltica II (horizontal style folding)

35mm stereo

• Belplasca

120 folder

• Belfoca (6×9)

Balda Bünde

35mm folder

• Baldini
• Baldinette
• Mess-Baldinette (uncoupled rangefinder), also sold as Hapo 35
• Rival 35
• Rigona
• Super Baldinette (coupled rangefinder)

35mm fixed lens

• Baldina
• Super Baldina (coupled rangefinder)
• Baldessa / Baldessa I
• Baldessamat F / RF
• Super Baldamatic I / II / III

35mm ultra compact

• CA 35, and Voigtländer Vito C
• CE 35
• CS 35

126 film

• Nizo Elektronik 1000 (made for Niezoldi & Krämer)

6×6 folder

• Baldi 29
• Baldix
• Mess-Baldix (uncoupled rangefinder), also sold as Hapo 66e
• Baldax
• Super Baldax (coupled rangefinder)

6×6 collapsible lens

• Baldixette

Links

In English:

• Flickr group Balda Cameras
• Balda section at Retrography.com by Simon Simonsen, Denmark

In German:

• Company history at dresdner-kameras.de
• Balda page at Frank Petermann's site

In French:

• Balda page at Mario Groleau's website
• Balda page at Collection G. Even's site
• Balda cameras and Belca cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr