Cameras made in Germany (West or East)
What is it? This is a Kodak Vollenda 48, a folding camera that shoots 3cm x 4cm images on 127 film. It was originally made by Nagel Kamera-Werke and later by Kodak AG in Stuttgart, Germany between the years of 1929 and 1937. The Vollenda was one of Dr. August…
What is it? This is a Praktina FX 35mm single lens reflex camera made by Kamera-Werke Niedersedlitz (KW) between the years of 1953 and 1958. The Prakina and all of its variants are historically significant cameras, being the first modern 35mm SLR camera aimed at the professional photographer. It had…
What is it? This is an Altissa Altix-nb 35mm camera made between 1958 and 1960 by VEB Altissa Camera Werk in Dresden, East Germany. The Altix-nb was the final model in a line of scale focus solid bodied cameras that began with the Altix I in 1939. The Altix-nb had an…
The horror genre is known for movie franchises with many sequels, remakes, and reboots. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, original horror movies would often spawn a whole series of sequels, mostly upping the ante on the thrills, spills, and chills of the original. Sometimes the sequels continued the story…
What is it? This is an AGFA Parat I, a 35mm half frame camera made in West Germany between the years of 1963 and 1968. The Parat I was the most basic model in AGFAs Parat lineup of half frame cameras, which also consisted of the Paramat and Optima Parat…
What is it? This is a Certo Doppel Box made by Certo Camera Werk of Dresden Germany around 1935. Some sources online suggest this camera was made in 1932, but I believe the later date to be correct. The Doppel Box is an all metal box camera with several unique…
What is it? This is a Bilora Bella medium format scale focus camera made by Kürbi & Niggeloh of Radevormwald, West Germany between the years of 1955 and 1958. The name Bilora Bella was the name of a long running series of inexpensive and simple, but attractive cameras made by the company…
What is it? This is a Pouva Start, a simple medium format camera made almost entirely out of Bakelite. It was manufactured by Karl Pouva AG in Frietal, Germany between the years 1952 and 1971. This is the first version of the camera with a popup sports finder and was…
This is a Pentacon FM 35mm SLR made by VEB Zeiss-Ikon Dresden in East Germany between the years of 1958 and 1961. This camera is part of the Contax S series which debuted in 1949 as the first German built SLR camera with a fixed pentaprism viewfinder. It is identical…
What is it? This is a Foth Derby folding strut camera made in Germany by C.F. Foth & Co. The Foth Derby was in production from 1930 to about 1940 and was designed as a lower cost alternative to Leica and Contax cameras of the time. It was a direct competitor…
What is it? This is a Voigtländer Brillant, a medium format Pseudo-TLR made by Voigtländer of Germany between the years of 1932 and 1937. This is the original variant with an all metal body and non focusing viewfinder. Although aimed at the low end of the market, it was a well…
What is it? This is a Kodak Retina Automatic III 35mm rangefinder camera made by Kodak AG of Germany between the years of 1960 and 1963. It was the top of the Retina Automatic series with a 6-element Retina-Xenar f/2.8 lens and coupled rangefinder. The signature feature of the Retina Automatic…
