Welta

Welta was a German camera maker based in Freital near Dresden. It was founded in 1914 as Weeka-Kamera-Werk and became Welta-Kamera-Werk in 1919. It made a number of medium-priced folders before World War II, and its camera production was quite comparable to Balda and Certo. It also introduced two folding TLRs, the 6×6 Perfekta and the 6×9 Superfekta, which did not sell too well.

After the war, Welta continued production as a state company (VEB Welta-Kamera-Werk), with a range evolved from the prewar models. It absorbed Kamera-Werk Tharandt (the former Richter) in 1950. It became a part of the large VEB Kamera- und Kinowerk Dresden in 1959, a state owned conglomerate of East-German cameramakers that was to become VEB Pentacon in 1964.

35mm film

Folding

• Welti folding camera w/viewfinder
• Weltini, square and rounded top folding camera w/rangefinder
• Weltix, lower cost version of Welti
• Watson, lower cost (export?) version of Welti

Rigid

• Belmira

Half frame

• Penti

120 film

Folding

Viewfinder

• Garant (6×9)
• Weltax
• Perle 6×9

Rangefinder

• Trio 6×9
• Solida 6×9/4.5×6
• Weltur 4.5×6 black
• Weltur 4.5×6 chrome
• Weltur 6×6/4.5×6
• Weltur 6×9/4.5×6

Folding TLR

• Perfekta (6×6)
• Superfekta (6×9)

Normal TLR

• Reflecta, actually made by Richter, later continued by Welta as Reflekta.
• Reflekta II
• Reflekta III
• Weltaflex
• Peerflekta, Peerflekta II

Links

• Welta at Frank Petermann's site
• Company history at dresdner-kameras.de
• Welta page at Collection G. Even's site
• [hhttp://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/liste10_imagettes.php#Welta Welta cameras] at www.collection-appareils.fr
• Welta section at Retrography.com by Simon Simonsen, Denmark