Folder Question

[wmichaelb]

Folks, I recently found an old folder, unknown manufacturer, in a

camera shop near here. It seems to have a real rangefinder, and has a

lens marked "enna haponar 75mm f3.5". Internet searches have turned

up mostly web sites in German, and nothing in MF Digest. Has anyone

heard of such a lens, or know anything about such a camera?

 

Thanks!

[roger_michel]

i believe your camera was made around the trusty haponar lens by balda. the lens itself was a product of the enna lensworks at munich. the camera, i believe, should have been branded "hapo." many lensmakers (goerz is another prominent example) had cameras badge engineered for their lenses. to get a rough idea of the performance of the haponar, you mite try http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/MF_testing.html. the balda cameras (and their sibling the lisettes) were pretty good cameras. the lens i have never used. try it, you mite like it. good luck and see the folder club link below.

[jeffrey_long]

Hello, I just bought a Hapo 66-E at the weekend in a photo fair in Vienna. According to research it was made for Foto Porst, the famous German (then West German) chain store - still going, I think - otherwise known as HAns POrst of Nuernberg (Nuremberg), hence HAPO (which is the way many German nicknames are made, by the way), by Balda, and is very similar to a Balda Baldaxette, or perhaps another Balda model I'm unfamiliar with. The Haponar 3.5/75 is made by Enna Werk of Muenchen (Munich), just down the road from Nuernberg. It's got an uncoupled rangefinder, a simple Prontor shutter (B 25 50 100 200) and what looks like a PC connection (flash all all speeds on a leaf shutter, of course). I've just shoved a roll of expired Agfa Scala 200 in it, and am going to give it a work-out at ISO 800. Enna are reputed to have made some pretty sharp lenses, so'll let you all know how many mistakes I make. The name Hapo-66E is blind embossed on the leatherette, in keeping with most cameras from the 1950s.

 

I'd be interested to know how many elements there are in the Haponar. 3? 4?

[kuzano]

There is a fellow who sells folders on E-bay frequently. I just bought a Balda Hapo 66E from him. It has the lens you are talking about. I just exposed a roll of TriX and am VERY pleased with the results. He now has another Hapo for sale, which appears even nicer than the one I purchased. He restores them and all his cameras appear to be CLA'd before going on E-bay.. Look him up by the seller name Certo6.... Which by the way is another folder, usually with a Tessar formula lenz from Carl Zeiss Jenna.

[ant_nio_rodrigues]

Hi

I came accross several postings regarding the Balda Hapo 66e so I would like to be told if is there any site with useful information about that particular camera model (lens sharpness, if range finder is coupled, and so on.).

Thanks a lot.

Regards from

A_Rodrigues