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Post by paulatukcamera on Mar 10, 2007 13:52:27 GMT -5
Judge for yourself Last week for the bargain price of £27 I got myself an example of the very first Werra ever, from 1954 Recognition points - Aluminium wind collar, Small rear viewfinder window, pull off lens cap (not threaded)     Doesn't give much away to the compact cameras of the late 60s & early 70s either - compared here with a Konica C35  Later on they became quite "mean looking" machines Rangefinder - the clearest I have ever seen - better than any other in my collection Three interchangeable lenses Shutter speeds to 1/750 Coupled Meter Speed & aperture settings visible in viewfinder (1959 remember for the Green Werra Vs which are the same spec as my Werramatic shown here) Not convinced? Take a look!  Just remember - the East Germans did it first! Some say it was the returning Contax designers who had just come back from transferring Contax production to Russia. I personally think the Werra 1 was light years ahead of any other design then current and evolved into a delightful comprehensively specced rangefinder by the mid 1960s. Shame they were absorbed into Praktica. Paul |
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Mar 10, 2007 21:29:43 GMT -5
Hi Paul,
Yes, Werras are certainly gorgeous cameras. Look to be in a league with older Exaktas, Contax, Leicas and Rollies. There are classic Japanese cameras also but some of the German ones are simply WOW.
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Post by johnvanv on Apr 11, 2007 21:28:52 GMT -5
 howz this for clean. seems like a great place to start w/ a dremel. natura classica at that japanese online store |
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Post by Randy on Apr 11, 2007 23:08:57 GMT -5
Gort! Klatu, Verada, Nikto! ;D
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 12, 2007 1:21:08 GMT -5
Paul,
Werra 1. Very definitely the cleanest design ever.
Then they started adding useful items like accessory shoes which broke up the clean lines. But they always possessed a certain elegance.
However, once the gew gaws started to appear I think the 1950 Voigtlander Vitessa regained first place which it had initially.
Yours is, indeed, the first Werra ( 1954 ) but McKeown does not call it the Werra 1. Just plain Werra.
The Werra 1 ( 1955 ) which is really the second model does not have interchangeable lenses. It has the vulcanite film advance ring instead of the milled ring. The lens cap on the Werra 1 is threaded.
Zeiss played the same numbers game with the Tenax 1 which was produced after the Tenax 2 although the Werra was made by Carl Zeiss Jenna and the Tenax by Zeiss Ikon A.G of Dreseden.
Mickey
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Reiska
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Post by Reiska on Apr 22, 2007 7:28:55 GMT -5
Zorki could also be one of the candidates, though it is a free copy of some Ricoh model (Or was it vice versa?)  lauro.fi/zorki%2011.htm |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 22, 2007 14:47:32 GMT -5
The body might be a candidate but that awful lens with the honeycomb light meter and the shiny chrome just doesn't pass the eyes of the critic.
Mickey ( the critic)
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Post by herron on Apr 23, 2007 8:37:09 GMT -5
Wow! That is clean! Is the olive leatherette the original color it came in?
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Post by paulatukcamera on Apr 24, 2007 17:05:11 GMT -5
They were all Olive Green until about 1959. This is the last of the Olive Green Werras - the Werra V. This one is a much travelled camera - bought in Chicago four years ago for close on $300 (it is really that mint) for my best friend who had a less mint one (shortly for sale if any one's interested - his wife thinks he shoudn't collect cameras!) This has now been across the Atlantic about seven times to LA where his son lives. He still thinks its the "bees knees" although the Minolta XD7 I got for him is taking more of his attentions now.  The V has interchangeable lenses, a coupled meter and rangefinder and other than superficial cosmetics is identical mechanically with my black Werramatic in the photo above. Expensive? Well if you want the best, I'm afraid they are still up there - that's why I bought the Werramatic for a lesser sum (about $150) Paul |
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Reiska
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Post by Reiska on Apr 25, 2007 15:33:16 GMT -5
Who might be the designer of "original" Werra? It was not a point in the democratic command economy but it would be nice to know.
Regards
Reiska
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 10, 2007 5:40:14 GMT -5
I love the clean, innovative design of 60s Japanese rangefinders, particularly the original Hi-Matic and the handsome, if fatally flawed, Fujica V2. Neither, however, hold a candle to either of these wonderful Werras. Thank you for sharing, my eyes are now peeled! Oh, and can one drink Schnapps from that lens cap?
Michael.
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Post by herron on Jun 10, 2007 10:06:12 GMT -5
I thought the design of the Werra came from Carl Zeiss Jena, the part of the company that was in communist-controlled East Germany after WWII...or do you mean the person responsible?
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Post by herron on Jun 10, 2007 10:14:35 GMT -5
I love the clean, innovative design of 60s Japanese rangefinders, particularly the original Hi-Matic and the handsome, if fatally flawed, Fujica V2. Neither, however, hold a candle to either of these wonderful Werras. Thank you for sharing, my eyes are now peeled! Oh, and can one drink Schnapps from that lens cap? Michael. I would think you could drink Schnapps from it...or a nice shot of single malt.  By the way Michael (nikkortorokkor), welcome to The Camera Collector! How are things in New Zealand this time of year?  |
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Reiska
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Post by Reiska on Jun 10, 2007 10:23:10 GMT -5
I meant a person but if I think closer it is more obvious, that the design is some kind of team work. The only heroes in the former DDR was Walter Ulrich and the athletes |
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Post by nikkortorokkor on Jun 11, 2007 2:25:13 GMT -5
By the way Michael (nikkortorokkor), welcome to The Camera Collector! How are things in New Zealand this time of year? ;) Not cold by Michigan standards, but chilly enough after a long, mild autumn. My wife and I took a day off today and headed up into the mountains with the cameras. Hoarfrost was still clinging to the willows even after midday, that's cold in these temperate latitudes! Fantastic light though. Now if only I'd had a Werra I'd have been able to take a wee something from the lens cap to warm the cockles! Michael, Rangiora, The South Island, NZ |
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