Good evening intrepid readers. I did plan on having a whole pile of snazzy-looking medium format pictures to show you but it seems that the mailman forgot to bring that package with him today. Which sucks (more for me than you because I really wanted to see how the photos turned out), but I have something else to talk to you about: My latest camera acquisition – A 1958 Balda Baldessa 1a.
Now those of you who have managed to trudge through the filth that I like to call my blog will know that I already own a Balda Baldessa. But only a 1, not a 1a. For those of you who are wondering what the differences are, well, they’re pretty bloody mind-blowing.
Firstly, the 1a has a coupled rangefinder. This does away with the ‘guess and pray’ focusing methods used with the 1, and gives you the accurate focusing that only a rangefinder can. The rangefinder is also made to compensate for parallax error which is something that the viewfinder on the 1 was notorious for (and my Yashica 35CC, made 20 years later doesn’t have). It has the same lens, shutter and other usual functions that the 1 has too (40mm f/2.8 Westanar).
The Baldessa 1a pictured here with my Metrophot light meter. They are a match made in heaven.
I’ve shown this camera to a few people, and they all ask the same question: ‘How do you take the photo?’ Well, unlike the top-mounted button on the 1 the 1a has the shutter release on the front of the camera (a fashion found on a lot of late 50’s cameras). In the picture above it’s to the left of the lens. The wheel above it is the focusing knob, and their closeness means that you can focus and take photos really quickly – but there’s a danger of knocking the focus wheel when you press the shutter button.
I got this last Friday, and it was in a pretty sorry state. A 10 minute rub-over with a soft cloth got it looking pretty spiffy, I loaded it with Fuji Superia 200 on Saturday and got snapping.
These are some of the better shots from the roll (I wasn’t looking for artistic prowess but instead looking for correct focusing and shutter speeds). As you can see there’s a bit of a ‘haze’ in the more brightly lit photos. This is due to dust inside the lens (and as such I don’t want to get in there for fear of stuffing it all up).
Overall reaction: this is a good camera with no focusing issues, good shutter speeds (at the fast times, slow times are slow but I don’t aim to shoot any slower than 1/30) and a user-friendly set-up (once you work out where everything is). On top of all that though – the thing looks cool. Everyone I have shown it too comments on it’s shape and feel. And with pictures that spiffy on cheap print film I can’t wait to get some rolls of Ilford XP2 in it!
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