Welta Rollfilm Folder Camera
Photo thanks to Nguyen - [email protected]
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Folder FAQ
Welta camera made in USSR occupied Germany. The camera is still in very nice condition considering its age, there is a viewfinder on the top, on the front leather is the Welti logo. It comes with alens that can be removed.
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998
From: [email protected]
Reply to: Classic Camera Collectors and Users Mailing List
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [CCCU] Tessar-lensed folders
you write:
While a xenar is "basically" a tessar copy they do seem to be slightly
different that the "real thing". What I like about "real" xenars is that
they are usefull for a variety of shooting conditions. Wide open they are
slightly soft focus with softer edges which is great for portraits, while
stopped down they are very sharp all over.. Anyway was wondering if these
schneider lenses were ever used on folders and whose used them. Especially
interested in coated ones. I know the radionar was used quite a bit but
curious why you don't see many xenars...
I once owned a pre-war Welta Weltur, a very nice folder with coupled
rangefinder, 4.5x6 cm, with a 75mm f2.8 Schneider Xenar. In spite of the
fact that 75mm is a bit long for 4.5x6, and therefore ought to lead to
pretty good coverage, I always found the lens to be frustratingly unsharp,
at all apertures. It just didn't have the crispness that I had come to
expect, even from such comparison points as pre-war Zeiss Tessars and
pre-Depression Kodak Anastigmats. When I have seen Weltas for sale
recently, all have been with the f2.9 Steinheil Cassar, but I have ads
from pre-war British Journal Almanacs showing them with a variety of
Schneiders, maybe even Tessars if I recall correctly.
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[Ed. note: special thanks to Jason for sharing these photos!...] Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 From: "[email protected]" [email protected] To: 'Robert Monaghan' [email protected] Subject: Welta photos Just in case you might be interested, I've posted 6 photos tonight on photo.net that were taken with the Welta Weltur folder. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=199209 The 1st 3 were taken in Malaysia, while the 2nd 3 were taken in Australia last week or so. Naturally, these are all the sharpest ones. There's one photo in particular where nothing appears to be in focus...in the days when I had yet to discover that f/2.8 in medium format translates into really very very little depth of field...but I do like it a lot nevertheless. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=587596 Kodak Verichrome Pan 125, 1/25s, f/2.8. I should have shot 1/10 and f/4.5 and held my breath. Regards, Jason
[Ed. note: thanks again to Jason for sharing these notes ;-) ] Date: Sat, 20 Apr 2002 From: "[email protected]" [email protected] To: 'Robert Monaghan' [email protected] Subject: Welta Weltur mini review version 2 I guess I should have sent you the full specs in the first place! I've discovered that the Welta Weltur is really hard to come by. I see that lots of people have the Welti, but not the Weltur. I've read that it was manufactured in Germany between 1936 and 1940. It's a rather interesting folder, having a coupled rangefinder, focusing by moving lens bed rather than front cell. It has an uncoated f/2.8 - f/22 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 75mm lens. Focus at greater distances is easy and accurate. Close quarter focusing is a little bit more tricky, so I tend to use a slightly greater depth of field to give me a little more margin for error. It is also dual format, and this is supported by a sliding metal mask in front of the viewfinder that can be hidden away to give you 6x6 framing, or pulled out to enable you to frame 6x4.5. To facilitate the use of the 6x4.5 frame format, it provides 2 red windows on the back of the camera, one for 6x6 (nearer the center of the back) and another for the 6x4.5 frame numbers, closer to the edge of the camera body. In addition to this you will of course need the metal insert to be placed into the inside of the camera to mask off the 56mm x 41.5mm area of film. Unfortunately, I do not have one of these inserts. I have seen another Weltur that does not seem to have this dual format feature (i.e., lack of the 6x4.5 mask on the viewfinder, and lack of dual red windows). All other specs were the same, I believe. The viewfinder doesn't show the whole picture. Based on gut feeling, I would say it's something like 80% - 85% of the view. The rangefinder uses the superimposed image method, and it's quite clear, but not nearly as bright and easy to focus as my Yashica Minister D. Other specs, shutter is a Compur-Rapid, T, B, 1s - 1/250s (although my Weltur is marked up to 1/400, the shutter actually only goes up to 1/250s). There is a round switch on the top of the lens barrel that can be used to activate a roughly 10 second self timer and close to that is a screw thread that accepts a standard cable release. Oh yes, the tripod mount is the 3/8 inch type. Luckily, I just happened to have a 1/4 inch tripod reducing bushing lying around the house... For those who don't know, T is for "Timed" exposure, I believe. I've used it to do star trail photos - press the cable release to toggle the shutter open and press again to toggle it shut. Just make sure if you do this in cold weather that dew doesn't form on the camera! Once again, those looking into folders will quickly realise that these folders seemed to have very different specs from one camera to another...different lens, different shutter mechanism, etc. My Welta Weltur was CLA'd by Jurgen Kreckel and he really did a fantastic job. I believe he also replaced the bellows. Best regards, Jason