Balda Baldina B (1956)
A 35mm folding camera with a built-in exposure meter, part of Balda's mid-1950s range that shared one body design.
Overview
The Balda Baldina B is a 35mm folding camera introduced in 1956. Balda made it as one of a family of cameras on the same body, with the variants split up by features like metering and focusing. The Baldina B is the one with a built-in exposure meter, which takes up the second window on the top cover. It competed with established European folding cameras like the Kodak Retina and Zeiss Ikon Contina.
Specifications
| Lens options | Schneider Radionar 2.8/50; Schneider Xenar 2.8/50; Schneider Xenon 2.0/50 |
| Shutter options | Compur-Rapid 1 to 1/500, B (with lightmeter); Synchro-Compur 1 to 1/500, B |
| Exposure meter | Equipped with a Gossen light meter |
| Lens focal length | 50 mm |
| Lens mounting | Mounted on a helicoid |
| Lens extension mechanism | A small button on the front of the camera allows the user to release the lens tube spring and extend the lens |
| Manual operation | Only possible in flash setting and when changing DIN value |
Design
The meter is a Gossen. You read it and then set the values by hand on both the shutter and the lens. The second window on the top cover belongs to the meter. The lens sits on a helicoid and extends on a spring-loaded mechanism, released by a button on the front.
Context
In the second half of the 1950s, Balda built its 35mm folding cameras on a common body and offered several variants. The Baldina B had the built-in exposure meter. The Super Baldina added a rangefinder. The Baldina series was Balda's entry into the 35mm folding camera market, and it competed directly with the Kodak Retina and Zeiss Ikon Contina.
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