Balda Super Baldina |
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Manufactured or assembled in Germany from (Circa) 1936 to (Before) 1938.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 3090
See the complete technical specifications
Chronology of cameras Balda
From the 1930s onward, Balda manufactured folding cameras using 35mm film. Due to their features, they competed with the early Kodak Retina cameras.
These are compact vertical cameras, with bellows forming a triangle with the folding door and the main body. The initial models were called Baldina (1935), followed by Jubilette (1938), a series released to commemorate the company's 30th anniversary. The war halted production.
Production resumed only in 1950, in the new Federal Republic of Germany, after Max Baldeweg fled from the German Democratic Republic and the communist regime. The new models are a continuation of pre-war designs with different names. The Baldalette and Baldini are very similar to the Jubilette. One of the differences is the relocation of the shutter release on the camera body. The Baldalette was quickly replaced by the Baldinette. The latter comes in variations such as Mess-Baldinette when equipped with a rangefinder and Super-Baldinette when featuring a coupled rangefinder.
The Rigona is a simplified version of the Baldinette. As it is a late model, it is conceivable that it was intended to deplete existing stock.
Baldina (1935) | Jubilette (1938) | Baldalette (1950) Shutter release on body |
Baldini (1950) No top hood |
Baldini (1951) Half top hood |
Rigona (1954) |
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Super Baldina (1936) Rangefinder |
Baldinette (1950) Full top hood |
Super-Baldinette (c. 1952) Coupled rangefinder |
Mess-Baldinette (1953) Rangefinder |
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The following 35mm models are no longer folding cameras.
The Super Baldina is a compact folding camera, with a 24 x 36 format, equipped with a coupled rangefinder for focusing and sometimes featuring parallax correction. The shutters Compur and Compur-Rapid, along with the lenses, consistently maintain a high quality. The encountered lenses include the Meyer Trioplan f/2.9, Carl Zeiss Tessar f/2.8, Schneider Xenar f/2.9, and Schneider Xenon f/2, all with a focal length of 5 cm.
During its time, this camera stood as the flagship model of the brand, combining technical excellence with an elegant design. The leather covering is thin, and the frame counter is concealed by a flap.
They were manufactured during the second half of the 1930s. From 1938, there is an evolution in the design of the cover protecting the rangefinder, initially partially covered with leather before becoming exposed. A more significant change is the relocation of the shutter release button to the base of the folding door, making it easily accessible to the fingers of the left hand.
The name Super Baldina will be used in the 1950s for a very different type of camera.__________
This specimen is from the early part of the production, before 1938, as the rangefinder is still partially covered in leather. The rangefinder's normally metalized front, worn or stripped, reveals brass.
The separate Galilean viewfinder lacks parallax correction.
The lens is the Zeiss Tessar with an aperture of 2.8. The shutter release is on the lens (with a mechanism allowing it to be triggered in two distinct places). The linkage between the distance focus on the lens and the rangefinder requires a rather complex mechanism given the folding design.
![Balda Super Baldina](../../balda/images/Balda_Super.jpg )
![Balda Super Baldina](../../balda/images/Balda_Super_2.jpg)
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