OT question; ever used a 'Werra'?

[Duncan Ross]

It's certainly not a rangefinder but having tried and failed to find an Olympus 35RC that I can afford the chance of a much, MUCH cheaper 'Werra' has come up.

Anyone have experience of these unusual-looking cameras? Is the lens any good and are they reliable? Sorry for going OT in a Rollei-35 sort of way but I can't find much info on the web apart from long articles on how splendidly minimalist they are.

Thanks!

Dunx

 

[Roman]

I have a Werra Matic (that's the version with exchangeable lenses & framleines in the finder for those, and with a coupled rangefinder & lightmeter); haven't been using it a lot, and I'm not really an expert - but they are a pretty cool design, with some very unique and practical features. The better ones came with a Tessar standard lens, but there was a cheaper triplet version, too, IIRC.
Alfred Klomp has a bit of info on the Werra Matic (and some links, e.g. to manuals) on his cool site:
http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/werramatic/index.htm

Roman

 

[Duncan Ross]

I have a Werra Matic (that's the version with exchangeable lenses & framleines in the finder for those, and with a coupled rangefinder & lightmeter); haven't been using it a lot, and I'm not really an expert - but they are a pretty cool design, with some very unique and practical features. The better ones came with a Tessar standard lens, but there was a cheaper triplet version, too, IIRC.
Alfred Klomp has a bit of info on the Werra Matic (and some links, e.g. to manuals) on his cool site:
http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/werramatic/index.htm

Roman

Thanks! Did you find the Tessar was a good lens?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Seriously weird camera, as reliable as anything of that vintage, wonderfully compact, and the Tessar is, well, a Tessar. Go for it!

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[Roman]

As I said, I did not use it a lot, maybe shot 2 or 3 rolls...
Results were quite acceptable, on par with other Tessar types of the period.

Roman

 

[pshinkaw]

I have a Werra 1, no rangefinder, fixed 50/2.8 CZJ Tessar lens (one of my favorite lenses).

I read somewhere that the Werra started out as a make-work project to get a new Pentacon factory in the DDR in production. The product line seems to me to be a "proletarian" version of the Contessa fixed lens cameras.

I like mine a lot. I bought it on e-Bay from a US Seller who told me that he picked it up on a trip to Paris.

February 2002, Agfa 200 HDC color negative film, 1/300 @ f11.

-Paul

 

[Duncan Ross]

Thanks everyone, and the picture looks superb. I think that's made up my mind!

 

[Seele]

Duncan,

Since you're in the UK you have more of a head start in finding Werra equipment. All the models are very useable and give very good results, but for my money, aim for a Werramatic and the complete set of three lenses: the Tessar, Flektogon and Cardinar. Also, I only wish some of the cameras I have used had framelines as clear as those in the Werra viewfinders.