Balda Baldix Folder, Ennagon 75/f3.5

I've picked up a Balda Baldix folder the other day with an Ennagon

coated 75/f3.5 lens (3 element I think) and uncoupled rangefinder.

The camera is lovely to use, very sturdy & ergonomic with a very

useable rangefinder, and a lens which produces quite crisp contrasty

chromes, but there is one slight problem with it: the lens vignettes

quite badly, even at smaller apertures. Are there any other Balda

users out there who have experienced the same problem, ie. is it

generic problem with this lens, or have I got a particularly poor

example? It's a real shame as otherwise this lens is a beaut, I

prefer the "look" of chromes taken with this camera to those taken on

my Perkeo II (Colour Skopar).

My Ennagon is very sharp also. I wonder if it's a Tessar type? The vignetting is from the front diameter, so avoid small filters or hoods which might make it worse. I think that they thought the photographer would crop a 6x4.5 image out of the center, so the dark corners would not be seen. Is it possible that you like the look of the chromes because of the vignetting? I think that it gives a more rounded(3d)look to the image.

I just revcieved a Hapo 66E which is a close cousin. I haven't seen any issues with the lens so far. Stopping down one stop seems to help overall.

You could be right about the vignetting effect John. I know it's common practice to vignette images in photoshop in order to keep the eye in the frame. I suppose this camera will just save me a little post processing time as it's output is vignetted already ;-) All in all it's still a lovely thing to use. I love the coupled shutter/aperture setting. Just set the EV reading from my Weston Master & off we go!

I know, it's a very late response but I had some experiences with

that same lens. The design of the front cell focussing triplet is for

some reason too long (or too narrow). Wide open (f 3.5) and at

infinitive you get "good" results, with a almost no noticeable

grading towards the corners. Aperture f 16 and focussed to 1.5

meters is a real disaster: The corners are totally black and the

image shows a sharp edged circle! You actually SEE the corners

of the front element - which is designed too narrow.

I decided to give this lens a second chance in my old Rolleicord,

which was was waiting for a long time for help with the

cleaned-to-death Triotar. What I have seen on a groundglass

(even with f 32) was promising. And the important thing is - no

frontcell focussing anymore. If the first film is developed (and

scanned) I will give a short note about the quality.

 

Norm

<p>Hey everyone. I realize this thread is very old, but found it when searching for info on Balda Baldix cameras. Sorry to dredge it up, but as it's one of the first things that come up when you search for a Baldix, I want to perhaps help correct some ideas here about this camera. I'm no expert on this camera, but either something changed in the design over the production period, or something else is wrong with your cameras--or do you not all have the Ennagon lens?-- because I get no vignetting with this camera with the Ennagon lens. The photos are all stunning. Even stopped all the way down and focused close in there is no vignetting to speak of.</p>

<p>If you all truly have the Ennagon lens, then I'm guessing there was a change in the production at some point. The serial number on my lens is 70058.</p>

<p>Hope that helps someone out!<br /> Cheers,<br /> Karl</p>