135compact.com 110 cartridge ultra compact cameras Balda 1000 EL BR, 1000 EL RX and 1000 EL Macro
Balda built the Minox 110S from 1974 to 1978, a high end camera for Kodak 110 pocket film*(see below).
The Balda company was already entirely manufacturing the famous ultra compact Minox 35 film camera series. About 40.000 110S were
made, however Balda made its own model variants and sold them under
their proper name as Balda 1000, especialy after Minox stopped selling
the 110S abrupty in 1978.
*
110 film was introduced by Kodak in 1972. The film sits in a cartridge,
like Kodak's earlier 126 film, but is much smaller. A frame is 13mm ×
17mm, has one perforation per image to control film advance and 24
frames per cartridge (12 were also available). The film is protected by
a backing paper like 120 film. The frame number is visible through a
window at the back of the cartridge. The basic film is ordinary 16mm
film which was already on the market, so it could be processed in
existing machines. The small picture size made very small, pocketable
cameras possible.
Kodak introduced with its 110 film a line of
Kodak Pocket Instamatic cameras which were followed by
cameras from other manufacturers. Most cameras were cheap
point-and-shoot, but very sophisticated models were also made. Small
digital cameras made 110 film obsolete. Bit by bit manufacturers stopped making 110 format film (Fujifilm in 2009), but in 2012 (and 2019) Lomography made a large batch of 110 film, followed by other firms.
There were 4 Balda 1000 models:
a 1000
EL RX, like the Minox 110S with a 1:2.8 25mm Rodenstock Ysarex lens and both, cube flash and electronic flash connection,
a
1000 EL R, like the RX, but without cube flash
a 1000 EL BR, with a 1:4 20.5 mm 4-element Baldanon lens, without cube flash, about 2.500 were made and a 1000 EL Macro, same as the BR, but with an additional macro capability, not a macro lens.
In addition to these, I have bought a model of which I haven't found a trace. It's
named Balda Electronic Macro 1000. It doesn't have the "barn doors". I
have made a page here.
The
camera mainly shown is a Balda 1000 EL BR. Further down the page
there are also some photos of the EL RX, which is closer to the Minox.
At
the bottom of the page are photos of the EL Makro. After many years of
search I finally found one thanks to a English camera collector. It
came with its box and a manual.
They all have a rangefinder and advanced features, a luminous
lens, aperture priority and an automatic shutter. The lenses of the EL BR and the EL Makro are wider. Their main features are:
EL BR: 20.5mm F4 Baldanon lens, 4 elements, F4-F16, min. focus 0.6m
EL RX: 25mm F2.8 Rodenstock Ysarex lens, 4 elements, F2.8-F16, min. focus 0.6m
EL Makro: 20.5mm F4 Baldanon lens, 4 elements, F4-F16, min. focus 0.4m
Electronic shutter, 4s - 1/1000 Size 131x54x26, Weight 130 gr. 100 and 400
ISO, automatic setting, rangefinder, parallax compensation, electronic flash available
Balda 1000 EL BR Camera closed, front well protected.
Camera
front open. Bright view/rangefinder with framelines, parallax
corrected. The aperture is visible in the rangefinder and an under- or
overexposure arrow may light next to it. To the right, at the bottom:
film advance lever. It was a problem on all 4 of my Minox 110 cameras. It's tiny,
2-stroke, but works well on this Balda.
Seen
from the top. The aperture value is visible and can be changed via the
black dented wheel. The focussing is done via the slider and there is a
real rangefinder spot in the viewer. Small green exposure button and
cable release socket next to it.
Seen
from below. Tripod socket. The slider to the left opens the camera. The one at the bottom to the right opens the film
compartment.
Seen from the back.
Camera film compartment open. Battery carrier takes 2 625U batteries, still available.
Film compartment and film.
Loaded and ready.
This
camera is very easy to use, silde it open and it's ready.
It has
manual settings, you choose the aperture, the exposure is automatic.
You have to
focus and frame, which is easy via the bright finder and a real
rangefinder spot. If by half pressing the shutter no arrow appears,
exposure is fine. If a red arrow appears to the left, it's
overexposure. Turn the aperture wheel in direction of the arrow. If a
yellow arrow appears to the right, the
camera will use slow shutter speeds. Turn the aperture wheel in
direction of the arrow or put the camera to a tripod or firm surface.
For long exposures you have to hold the shutter button down until you
hear a second click, indicating that exposure is finished! There is an
electronic flash
available. After taking
a picture, you have to cock the advance lever twice. Putting a film is easy as well,
you drop the film into the compartment, advance to the first frame and that's it.
It's
a luxury camera
with advanced features as aperture priority and a very good lens for
good picture quality. The wider lens fits well to my needs. It has a
small and
very light pocketable body. Compared
to the Minox, this seems to be of much better build quality. So its an
extremely nice find. The Baldas seem to be quite rare, it took me years
to find one.
Balda 1000 EL
RX
It took me again several years to find a second one, a Balda 1000 EL
RX, which has a normal 25mm lens and is almost the same as the Minox
110S. Only the build quality seems to be better, especially the film
advance feels more solid. So here are some pictures of this one:
A flash cube socket and a min. aperture of 2.8. Set to infinity, you
can change the distance scale from metres to feet via this tiny slider.
Min. focus 0.6m as well, smallest aperture F16.
A reknown Rodenstock lens.
It came in a leather case and a silver chain.
Balda 1000 EL Makro
After many more years an English collector pointed me to a continental
auction for a Balda 1000 EL Makro, on which he could not bid. I won the
auction and got it. It came with its box and a manual. So here are some more photos:
The box. A type-written sticker indicates the model.
A camera, a flash, a manual in 3 languages für all 4 models and warranty papers.
Camera and flash.
The Macro model focusses down to 0.4m.
The Baldanon wide angle lens.
Flash attached. To switch on the flash, you have to turn the aperture
wheel past the min. aperture, a flash symbol appears and the flash
charges. There is a flash ready lamp in the clear button that releases
the flash from the camera. To turn off the flash, just turn the
aperture wheel back. Flash aperture will be automatically set according
to the distance. A really advanced system.
