About a Balda, and my first post.

[FoldingCamera]

Hello everybody, this is my first post. I have been interested in black and white photography since the 1970s and am totally committed to film, even though all of my prints are now from an inkjet printer. I have for many years used a 35mm SLR but have wearied of the weight of a Canon F1 and lenses. I had used a folding camera on odd occasions over the years and had appreciated the much better image quality available from 6 x 6 and 6 x 9 and they fold up so conveniently into a flat pack. A folding camera with with a rangefinder always eluded me until I discovered Ebay and now have several that I am trying out. Having just completed repairs to a Balda Super baldina (new bellows general clean etc.) I am currently trying it out to see how it performs. Being 35mm it slips so easily in to the pocket.

As soon as I have sorted out how to do it I will post an image of it.

Stephen.

 

[Ash]

Look forward to seeing some results! Upload them to the gallery once you have some examples to show off, and welcome 🙂

 

[FoldingCamera]

I have been searching around this page but have yet to work out how to upload the promised image. its getting late (midnight) and I will come back to this tomorrow.

Stephen.

 

[John Robertson]

Balda made some very nice cameras, what lens is on it?
you are a brave man doing the repairs yourself.

 

[colyn]

I have been searching around this page but have yet to work out how to upload the promised image. its getting late (midnight) and I will come back to this tomorrow.

Stephen.

If you want to upload photos click on gallery in the upper right. After the photos load click upload photos in the upper right and follow instructions.

🙄

 

[Ash]

You can also upload to the thread by selecting "go advanced" then scrolling down to "manage attachments"


if all else fails, sign up to photobucket.com

 

[FoldingCamera]

Here is the picture of the balda, the button on the left opens the front almost instantaneously. Part of this button screws in and was missing and I have made a replacement. The lever at the bottom left that operates the shutter was badly mangled and had a crack that weakened it considerably, this I have repaired with hard solder and with a little adjustment now works well.

When I have finished the film I will upload some of the pictures if they are good enough.

Stephen.

 

[FoldingCamera]

Balda made some very nice cameras, what lens is on it?
you are a brave man doing the repairs yourself.

The lens is a Mayer Gorlitz Trioplan, I believe this a quite a good lens but have yet to see any results from it.

Stephen.

 

[Rich Silfver]

Nice. I'd be interested in seeing some photos by it.

 

[John Robertson]

Meyer Trioplan is a Cooke type triplet, should give nice results if you stop it down to around f8. It will be softish at the edges wide open.

 

[FoldingCamera]

You can also upload to the thread by selecting "go advanced" then scrolling down to "manage attachments"


if all else fails, sign up to photobucket.com

Thankyou for this info, I am not yet fully used to computer speak, I have only been using one for about 4 years but am slowly getting used to it now.

Stephen

 

[FoldingCamera]

Here is one of my first Balda images it looks as though I have a problem with scratches, I will have to look into this and the rangefinder which does not work with the clarity that it should. I think the silvering on the mirrors May be in poor condition, probably not helped by the likelihood that they are surface mirrored. I have not taken the cover off to have a look.

There are some more to upload when I have the time, I will probably be able to get rid of the scratches in photoshop.

Stephen.

 

[IGMeanwell]

This lens seems pretty sharp ... it will be nice to see some more examples

 

[FoldingCamera]

Something odd going on here, for some reason I am unable to manage attachments, when I click on the bar nothing happens. What may the cause of this be?

Stephen.

 

[jano]

popup blocker?