Difference between revisions of "Baldina"

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('''Baldina''' (folder): notes on shutters mechanism.)
('''Mess Rigona''' / Hapo 35 / Rival 35 (folder): lens notes)
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* Balda Werk Bünde Baltar 50 mm f/2.9
 
* Balda Werk Bünde Baltar 50 mm f/2.9
 
=='''Mess Rigona''' / Hapo 35 / Rival 35 (folder)==
 
=='''Mess Rigona''' / Hapo 35 / Rival 35 (folder)==
The Mess Rigona was a Mess Baldinette with round, rather than square right rangefinder window.  It was sold in the United States by Peerless camera as the Rival 35 and in Europe by Porst as the Hapo 35.
+
The Mess Rigona was a Mess Baldinette with round, rather than square right rangefinder window.  It was sold in the United States by Peerless camera as the Rival 35 and in Europe by Porst as the Hapo 35. Lenses included:
* Balda Baltar 50mm f/2.9 (Baldinette)
+
* Balda Rigonar 50mm f/2.9 (Mess Rigona)
 
* Enna Haponar 50 mm f/2.9 (Hapo 35)
 
* Enna Haponar 50 mm f/2.9 (Hapo 35)
 
This suggests that this particular Baltar lens was a re-branded Enna, probably the Ennagon triplet
 
This suggests that this particular Baltar lens was a re-branded Enna, probably the Ennagon triplet
 +
 
=='''Super Baldinette''' (folder)==
 
=='''Super Baldinette''' (folder)==
 
The Super Baldinette was a Mess Baldinette with a coupled rangefinder and a unit focusing lens.  
 
The Super Baldinette was a Mess Baldinette with a coupled rangefinder and a unit focusing lens.  

Revision as of 18:32, 12 May 2009

The Baldina and Super Baldina were a series of cameras manufactured in Germany by Balda Werke from the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s. These cameras can be very confusing to the collector, as the basic original camera body was enhanced and marketed under more than a dozen different names by two different manufacturers (both of which used the name Balda for a period of time). To further complicate matters, the name Baldina (and Super Baldina) was used on two very different series of camera bodies.

In addition to marketing cameras under their own brand names, Balda sold their cameras to the German distributor Porst, who re-branded them as the Hapo 35, and to the American firm of Peerless, who re-branded them as the Rival 35; there may have been others as well. Balda did not make their own lenses - the Balda Baldinars, Baltars and others were rebranded lenses from third party optical houses, usually as a lower cost option.

Baldas were well made, and most used Baldas continue to function well. Some of their engineering was, admittedly, less than elegent. The rangefinder on the pre-war Super Baldina was rather clumsy looking at best. The owner's manuals of the post-war Rigona, Baldinette, and Super Baldinette warn "Do not press the body shutter release unless the shutter is cocked. If you do so, the mechanism will be disturbed" (these statements themselves are a bit disturbing!} Also, the Super Baldinette's front cover will not close when either the synch lever is in the "M" position or the lens is not at the infinity position.

Prewar by Balda Dresden

Baldina (folder)

The Baldina was a 35mm folding viewfinder camera made by Balda in Dresden, Germany, before World War II. Introduced in 1935, the Baldina bore a strong resemblance to both the Welta Welti of the same year and the original Kodak Retina (type 117) introduced a year earlier. There were significant variations in the shutter release mechanism. The camera was originally made with no body release; subsequent models had a body release either on the top plate or on the lens bed door itself.

The choice of lens/shutter on the Baldina included:

The Baldina featured a parallax compensating viewfinder, a knob film advance, a frame counter, and, on the better lenses, unit focusing. There was no double exposure prevention.

Jubilette (folder)

Beginning in 1938, a simplified version of the Baldina was introduced as the Jubilette, in honor of Balda's 30th anniversary. Most, if not all, were equipped with lower cost lenses:

These were all front element focusing lenses. The Jubilette's viewfinder lacked the parallax adjustment of the Baldina.

Super Baldina (folder)

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:

The camera was available with a Compur shutter to 1/300 or optionally with a Compur-Rapid shutter to 1/500.


Postwar by Balda/Belca

Baldina / Beltica (folder)

The Baldina was again produced in the Balda plant in Dresden (then East Germany) until 1951, when the name of the factory was changed to Belca as a result of legal action by Max Baldeweg, and the camera was renamed the Belca Beltica (first model). Note that Belca used the Beltica name for two subsequent entirely different model cameras.


Postwar by Balda Bünde

Baldina (folder)

After the war, the Baldina was again manufactured at Max Baldeweg's new Balda Kamera-Werk in Bunde, West Germany with Balda Baldanar 5cm f/3.5 lenses in Prontor 300 shutters (and possibly others as well.) Thus, these later versions of the original Baldina had the distinction of being produced by two different companies in two different countries. In 1950, the western Baldina received a satin chrome top plate covering the width of the camera

Baldalette (folder)

In 1950, the Baldalette, basically a Baldina with a body mounted shutter release, was introduced.

Baldini / Central 35 / Hansa 35 / Rival 35 / Studiophot (folder)

The Baldini was essentially the pre-war Jubilette with a new name. In 1950, it received a satin chrome top plate that covered the right half of the camera and contained the viewfinder, frame counter, and an accessory shoe. It was also sold as the Central 35, Hansa 35, Rival 35 and Studiophot.

Lenses included:

  • Schneider Radionar 50mm f/3.5
  • Balda Baldinar 50mm f/3.5
  • Balda Enna-Baldanar 50mm f/3.5 (possibly the same lens as above w/ different label)
  • Balda Werk Bunde Jos Zacharias Regensberg 50mm/2.9 Xenostar Anastigmat

This last lens appears to be a re-badged Zeiss Jena lens used in yet another of Balda's OEM re-branding efforts. Josef Zacharias opened a photographic specialty and optical supplies store in Regensberg, Germany in 1908. They are still in business under the name Fotohaus Zacharias

Baldinette (folder)

A subsequent model with a redesigned chrome top plate cover was called the Baldinette. Lenses included:

  • Balda Baldanar 50mm f/3.5
  • Balda Baldanar 50mm f/2.9
  • Schneider Radionar 50mm f/3.5
  • Schneider Radionar 50mm f/2.9


Mess Baldinette (folder)

The Mess Baldinette was a Baldinette with an uncoupled rangefinder and front element focusing lens. Mess stood for measuring.

  • Balda Werk Bünde Baltar 50 mm f/2.9

Mess Rigona / Hapo 35 / Rival 35 (folder)

The Mess Rigona was a Mess Baldinette with round, rather than square right rangefinder window. It was sold in the United States by Peerless camera as the Rival 35 and in Europe by Porst as the Hapo 35. Lenses included:

  • Balda Rigonar 50mm f/2.9 (Mess Rigona)
  • Enna Haponar 50 mm f/2.9 (Hapo 35)

This suggests that this particular Baltar lens was a re-branded Enna, probably the Ennagon triplet

Super Baldinette (folder)

The Super Baldinette was a Mess Baldinette with a coupled rangefinder and a unit focusing lens.

4 element lens:

  • Enna Ennit 50mm f/2.8

6 element lenses:


Rigona (folder)

The original Balda Rigona was a 127 roll film version of the Baldina or Baldax cameras. After the war, Balda-Werk Bűnde produced the 35mm Rigona, a lower cost version of the last model Baldinette, ala the original Baldina and Jubilette. The lenses and shutters were lower cost items as compared to the Baldinette. The factory referred to the camera as the Baldinette Rigona, but the camera itself was labelled just Rigona.


Baldina / Super Baldina (rigid)

Later, the names Baldina and Super Baldina were used again by the Western Balda company for a series of rigid body 35mm viewfinder and rangefinder cameras with the lens and shutter mounted on a telescopic tube. Despite the lack of a rangefinder, the Baldina, with its brightline finder, utilizes the same top cover as the super Baldina.

These Baldinas were available with either Prontor SVS or Synchro-Comour shutters and a wide variety of lenses.

3 element lenses:

  • Balda Baldanar 50mm f/3.5
  • Balda Baldanar 50mm f/2.8
  • Schneider Radionar 50mm f/2.8
  • Rodenstock Trinar 50mm f/2.8

4 element lenses:

6 element lenses:


256564635_2bc03f9d3d_m.jpg
Baldina B with meter

256564921_550421780b_m.jpg
Postwar Super Baldina rangefinder

256565016_f15d681365_m.jpg
Super Baldina with collapsed tube

485192407_14ed471f28_m.jpg
Hapo 24, OEM version for Porst

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