Welta
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Welta was a German camera manufacturer in Freital (Saxony) and a brand name for cameras that were manufactured there.
history
On 6 May 1914, the merchants Walter Waurich and Theodor Weber founded Saxon Hainberg the weeka camera work . At first they only employed two mechanics who produced small numbers of handcrafted plate cameras . As early as 1919, eight basic models were available, which, through variations, resulted in almost 100 different models. The model name of the first cameras was Welta , which was soon adopted as a trademark and later as the company name Welta Kamerawerke Waurich & Weber . From 1923 the company was only called Welta GmbH for short .
In autumn 1939, as the war began, production of parts for military control technology had to be started. Camera production was cut back drastically, and in 1942 the company switched completely to armaments production. From then on, Welta acted as a supplier for Zeiss Ikon and Radio H. Mende & Co. in Dresden until the end of the war . As a reparation payment , the manufacturing facilities were dismantled in June 1945 after the Second World War . In 1946 Welta GmbH was expropriated by the Saxon referendum and restructured into VEB Welta-Kamera-Werke .
From 1947, the production of the Weltax began with tools that have since been manufactured. In 1950 the merger with the now also state-owned company Reflekta-Kamerawerk Tharandt followed . Through this merger, the successful models "Reflekta" and the already developed "Reflekta II" were added to Welta's product portfolio, the workforce grew to 215 workers. The engineers in Tharandt continued to develop this for Welta until 1954 to create the “Weltaflex”.
In 1955 the dilapidated production building on Leßkestrasse had to be cleared and demolished. Production continued in makeshift workshops. In December 1956, Welta moved back to Leßkestrasse in a newly built production building at the same location.
The Welta workforce had grown to over 600 in 1957. In order to utilize this workforce potential, in addition to cameras, on-board devices were also manufactured for the Ilyushin Il-14 passenger aircraft produced in the Dresden aircraft factory . From 1958 Welta produced the "Orix" designed by Walter Hennig from VEB Kamera-Werke Niedersedlitz . In order to make the small-scale photo industry of the GDR internationally more competitive, companies were merged from 1957 onwards. In 1959 Welta was added to the VEB Camera and Kinowerke Dresden (later VEB Pentacon ) and the Welta brand was taken off the market. Before the merger, the "Orix" was already on the market as the "Penti". Their successor models "Penti I" and "Penti II" were produced until 1977.
The Welta production facility including 472 employees was transferred to VEB Prüfgerätewerk Medingen on January 1, 1960 , which began with the conversion of the production of cameras to laboratory equipment and laboratory technology. The test equipment factory was located on Leßkestrasse for a few years and then moved to a new location on Goetheplatz . The old Welta building was demolished after the Elbe floods in 2002 .
Models
Overall, the company brought a relatively manageable range of cameras onto the market, albeit in numerous designs and variants. Here is an excerpt:
Dubla
The Dubla two-lock was a high-quality and precise plate camera in the 9 × 12 cm format from around 1925. Later models could be up to 10 × 15 cm. The special thing about the Dubla is the landscape format, the triple extension and the double shutter , a Compur central shutter in the lens and an additional cloth slot shutter with up to 1 / 1000s
pearl
Welta has produced many different models in many different formats under the name Pearl . The range extends from medium format 4.5 × 6 cm, 6 × 6 cm (120 film) to 6 × 9 cm, 5 × 8 cm for 129 film to 6.5 × 11 cm for 116 film.
Perfecta and Superfekta
The Perfekta is a TLR in the medium format 6 × 6 cm from 1933. The Superfekta is a perfecta from 1935 that has been expanded to 6 × 9 cm .
World 35
Folding camera in 35mm format from 1935.
Welti
The Welti is a 35mm folding camera that was manufactured from 1935 to the 1960s. It belongs to a group of very similar cameras, which also includes the less expensive Weltix and Watson cameras. Numerous improvements and changes were made during the production period. The cameras were equipped with different 50mm lenses from Meyer, Schneider, Steinheil or Carl Zeiss. All models have an optical viewfinder with mechanical parallax compensation, a depth of field table on a metal plate attached to the back of the camera, manually cocked shutters and knurled knobs for film advance and rewind. The models manufactured in the GDR after World War II are called Welti 1, sometimes with an additional letter.
Weltini
Rangefinder camera in 35mm format with coupled rangefinder from 1937. The Weltini was based on the Welti, from which the actual camera housing with the Compur-Rapid lock was also taken, supplemented by the rangefinder. Due to the identical parts of the basic housing, this simplified production, but made handling a bit more complicated, because film transport and rewinding as well as shutter lift were now on the underside of the camera, while the rangefinder and shutter button were on the top. The camera was manufactured in two versions, both officially called Weltini, but now known as Weltini I and Weltini II. The two cameras differ mainly in the shape of the housing of the attached rangefinder and in the selection of the lenses attached ex works.
The Weltini I was produced from 1937 to 1938. The angular housing of the rangefinder is a little shorter than the actual camera housing. The lenses available from the factory, all with a 50 mm focal length , were a Schneider Kreuznach Xenar 1: 2 or a Xenar 1: 2.8, as well as a Tessar 1: 2.8 from Carl Zeiss Jena .
In the Weltini II, which was manufactured from 1938 to 1942, the rounded rangefinder housing was just as long as the camera housing, and there was now a depth of field table on the rangefinder housing . The available lenses, again all with 50 mm focal length, were a Xenon 1: 2 and a Xenar 1: 2.8 from Schneider Kreuznach , a Tessar 1: 2.8 from Carl Zeiss Jena, and also an Elmar 1: 3.5 from Leitz . The Weltini II was the only camera that was equipped with the Leitz Elmar in addition to the viewfinder cameras manufactured by Leica . However, the variant was only produced in small numbers.
World ax
The Weltax is a compact folding bellows camera in the medium format 6 × 6 / 4.5 × 6 cm (two-format camera), which was built between 1939 and 1959.
Belfoca
The Belfoca is a compact folding bellows camera in the medium format 6x6 / 6x9 cm (two-format camera). Date of manufacture from 1952 to 1959. All models were equipped with: folding viewfinder, self-tensioning automatic shutter, flash connection, tripod thread. For the smaller format, the cameras required a metal mask that had to be inserted into the beam path. A cover in the viewfinder had to be folded down to reduce the detail.
There were the models:
- Belfoca I Bonotar (lens) Tempor (shutter) (from 1952): Lens Feinmess Dresden Bonotar 4.5 / 105mm , with diamond viewfinder, aperture 6.3 to 16, shutter Tempor (T, 1/1 to 1/250 sec.)
- Belfoca II Bonotar Junior (from 1958): Lens Feinmess Dresden Bonotar 4.5 / 105mm , without diamond viewfinder, aperture 4.5 to 16, shutter Junior (B, T, 1/25 to 1/100 sec.)
- Belfoca III Bonar Binior (from 1959): Lens Feinmess Dresden Bonar 6.3 / 105mm , without diamond viewfinder, aperture 6.3 to 16, shutter Binior (B, 1/25 to 1/100 sec.)
Reflecta
Reflekta
(Spelling with "k" from 1949)
Reflekta II
Through the merger with the Tharandt camera factory, Welta also got the newly developed Reflekta II in 1952 , a TLR in medium format 6 × 6 cm for 120 roll film. The camera was manufactured with different optics and shutter equipment. The lenses differ in quality, design, optical properties and performance.
Available were:
- ROW Pololyt 1: 3.5 / 75mm
- Meyer-Optik Trioplan 1: 3.5 / 75mm
- Zeiss Triotar 1: 3.5 / 75mm
- Ludwig Meritar 1: 3.5 / 75mm
Junior and Vebur (B, 1-1 / 250s), Cludor (B, 1-1 / 200s) and AGC Prontor-SV (B, 1-1 / 300s) with an X-synchronous socket were used as a closure . The viewfinder is a frosted glass viewfinder with a fold-out light shaft above the second reflex lens and a fold-out magnifying glass. When the light shaft is unfolded, the inner part of the cover can be folded in again to create a frame viewfinder (sports viewfinder).
The Reflekta II has a double exposure lock. You can cock the shutter again, but the shutter release blocks until you have advanced the film.
There are also different export models - e.g. B .: The “Flektar” (Reflekta) and “Peerflekta II” (Reflekta II) sold by the British “peerless camera company” as well as the Superflex sold by “Penn” .
Weltaflex
The Weltaflex is a further development of the Reflekta II from 1954. Like its predecessor, this camera is also a two-lens viewfinder camera (TLR) in a medium format 6 × 6 cm for 120 roll film. The following lenses were available:
- Ludwig Meritar 1: 3.5 / 75mm
- Meyer-Optik Trioplan 1: 3.5 / 75mm
- ROW Rectan 1: 3.5 / 75mm
Prontor-SVS (B, 1-1 / 300s) or Vebur (B, 1-1 / 250s) were used as closure . The focusing screen viewfinder is similar to that of the Reflekta II, but it can now be removed without tools. Compared to the previous model, the mirror is not square, but trapezoidal.
The simple models are only equipped with the usual reading window for reading off the picture number. Better versions have a self-resetting picture counter. However, all models have a double exposure lock.
Orix & Penti
The Orix is a compact pocket camera in half format (18 × 24 mm) with a Meyer-Optik Trioplan 3.5 / 30 mm. It was produced between 1958 and 1959. The camera was developed by Walter Hennig at VEB Kamera-Werke Niedersedlitz , but it was produced by Welta. Even before Welta merged with VEB Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden , the Orix was on the market as Penti until 1961 , and is now also known as Penti 0.
The Penti I is a Penti with a slightly modified case. Instead of the Meyer-Trioplan, the similar Meyer-Domiplan 3.5 / 30 mm was used. Between 1959 and 1961, the Penti cameras were technically almost unchanged in a multitude of different color combinations. The successor Penti II, built from 1961 to 1977, is an integrated selenium - meter equipped with Metered.
Web links
- Penti , everyday life in the GDR onkultur-projekte.de
literature
- Gerhard Herber: From the world to the testing device factory. (= Freital industrial history, published by the property development company Freital), Freital 2001