Balda Super Baldina

There is something I love about the design choices and workmanship of old Balda cameras. It's not that the workmanship is stellar, it's not. It's not that the designs are groundbreaking, they're not. It's more that I am sympathetic to the design compromises made by a company targeting its product to everyday people who wanted something better, but not something silly expensive.

I've owned and handled a great many Balda cameras, they have all been very well built, solid feeling and usually completely functional 50+ years after they were built. The optics are always very good and the cameras are capable of producing images to satisfy all but the most demanding needs.

Balda seemed to hit that sweet spot just shy of the point of diminishing returns. They built 90% quality products and left the Leicas, Contax and Zeiss folks to fight over the remaining 10% of quality that most people would not notice or could not afford to pay for.

The Balda Super Baldina is a great example of a solid Balda camera. It is substantial without being unnecessarily heavy. The controls are simple and placed where they should be. The rangefinder/viewfinder is bright enough and large enough to make focusing quick and easy. As a bonus, the rangefinder adjustments are easily accessible without taking the whole darn thing apart (as required by some cameras old and new). The one feature I can point to and wonder about is the telescoping lens. It saves perhaps 1/2 inch when retracted and adds unnecessarily to the complexity of the rangefinder coupling.

As a bonus, I think it's a fairly handsome camera.

 

 

The results are about what you'd expect from a triplet lens, not stellar wide open, but as good as could be wanted by f8.

 

I realize that this may seem like an ode to mediocrity. I'm ok with that. For the vast majority of folks, a 90% solution is more than enough, and paying for diminishing returns would make no sense. When value is considered, Balda was consistently excellent. 
 
 
 

Comments

[Andrew Sanderson]

I used to have (on loan0 a 6x6 Balda rangefinder which I loved, -unfortunately I can't remember what model it was. I did find it easy to use and was very happy with the results.
Andrew Sanderson.