Cameras made in Germany (West or East)
This is a Contessa 35 (model 533/24), a compact folding 35mm rangefinder camera made in Stuttgart, Germany by Zeiss-Ikon between the years 1950 and 1955. The Contessa was designed as a premiere fixed lens compact folding camera that had the features and quality of the best of what Germany could…
It might come as a surprise to those who collect vintage cameras today that not everyone knows how to use a TLR like a Rolleiflex. With a huge amount of information available on the Internet with countless review blogs like mine, easily searchable user’s manuals, and groups like the Vintage Camera…
What is it? This is a Minox 35 ML 35mm compact camera made by Minox GmbH of West Germany starting in 1985. It was the first model in the Minox 35’s third generation with a redesigned body with a flatter top plate, all new electronics, shutter, and LED viewfinder. Perhaps…
What is it? This is a Kochmann Korelle 6×6 strut folding camera made in Dresden, Germany by Franz Kochmann Fabrik Photographischer Apparate starting in 1933. The Korelle 6×6 was the fourth in a series of strut folding medium format cameras first released by Kochmann in 1931. As the name implies, the…
What is it? This is a Kodak Retina Ib – Type 018 camera built by Kodak AG, the German subsidiary of the Eastman Kodak Company between the years of 1954 and 1957. It was the successor to the earlier Retina Ia – Type 015 and was sold simultaneously with the Retinas…
What is it? This is a Photavit IV 35mm camera made by Photavit-Werk GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany starting in 1947. The Photavit IV shoots 24mm x 24mm square images on regular 35mm film stock, but it requires the use of proprietary Photavit film cassettes to maintain it’s extremely small size. Before the…
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 It was originally made by Nagel Kamera-Werke and later by Kodak AG in Stuttgart, Germany between the years of 1929 and 1937.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…
