Balda Baldina, First Photos

[dazedgonebye]

A little while ago, I was the lucky recipient of this free camera.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20292
from Krasnaya_Zvezda.

It's a gem! Easy to use and nice shots out of it.
Thanks again to KZ.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

great shots Steve, these old folders are excellent if you give them a chance.

Todd

 

[dazedgonebye]

Actually Todd, this is the slightly later version with the pop-out lens instead of the folder.
Coupled rangefinder as well.

 

[bmattock]

Woah, that's good. I had a Super Baldina with the popout and the 3.5 Baldanar lens. Liked the little thing, but was not impressed with the lens - could have just been my camera, though. Great shots, which lens have you on there?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[dazedgonebye]

Bill,
It's the Baldinar 50mm f2.8.
Here's a write up on the camera. http://licm.org.uk/livingImage/S-Baldina.html

That lens is giving nothing up to the xenon 50mm f2 on my Retina IIa.

 

[bmattock]

Bill,
It's the Baldinar 50mm f2.8.
Here's a write up on the camera. http://licm.org.uk/livingImage/S-Baldina.html

That lens is giving nothing up to the xenon 50mm f2 on my Retina IIa.

Smokin! But the Baldinar is a Tessar clone, the Xenon would be a Gauss, wouldn't it? I like the Xenon on my Karat IV, but I think Tessar's do tend to look sharper.

In any case, well done!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[dazedgonebye]

xenon is, I think, a double gauss (6 element) design.
I couldn't say which design is inherently better, just commenting on the relative performance of two lenses on cameras from the same time period.

I'm pleased.

 

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

Good shots there, Dazed! Glad to see the Balda getting some action. It was going to waste sitting on my display shelf. Yeah, I always thought it had a pretty sharp lens as well.

 

[dazedgonebye]

So, I now have 2 Baldas, the 6x6 and this 35mm, and they are both shooters.
Very cool.

 

[Squonk]

Just got myself a Hapo 24E, which is a Porst version of the Baldina. See my post here...