Pentacon Penti

[photax]

Hi !

I would like to show you some Penti cameras from East Germany. Production started in 1959 by Welta. Later they had been manufactured by Pentacon VEB ( publicly owned company ).
The Penti`s are very stylishly cameras which had been available in different colours, and as accessories metal lens hoods in matching colours. All three models have a 1:3.5/50 lens ( first model a Meyer Trioplan, Penti I and II a Meyer Domiplan ) and a shutter cocking system that is similar to the Voigtlaender Vitessa, namely by a gear rack on the right side of the camera. The film format is “half frame” 18x24mm and came in special “ quick load” 35mm cassettes, like the Agfa Rapid system. A relative of mine took pictures with a Penti in the 1970`s. As I can remember, they had been not too bad.


The first model had been manufactured from 1959 - 1961



A green 1959 Penti made by Welta.



A early blue Penti made by Welta.



A white Penti made by Pentacon.



A green Penti made by Pentacon.



A red Penti whit accessory lens made by Pentacon.



The Penti I and II had been manufactured by Pentacon from 1961 – 1977.



A white Penti I.



The Penti II has a coupled light meter with indicator in the viewfinder, the housing is the same.



A black Penti II with box.



A green Penti II with additional flash socket ( I have some of the bakelite flashes somewhere in a box ).



They also made a Penti II silver coloured export version.


MIK

PS.: I will miss Peter`s excellent comments, facts and stories about East German cameras. He was a real expert.

[mickeyobe]

MIK,

I think your comprehensive collection of Pentis qualifies you as a Penti expert.
I have never heard of Penti before.
They are, indeed, attractive cameras. I like their modern but conservative design.

Mickey

What is that rod for that protrudes from the right side?

[photax]

Mickey,

The rod is for cocking the shutter, similar to the Vitessa. I made a translation mistake in my first post, sorry. I will correct it.

MIK

[Doug T.]

Hi Mik!

I think that I like the Blue / Gold finish the best.
I've had a couple of Paramats, and they were very nice little halframes. They fit nice in my hand, and were fun to use.
Do these have a similar build quality?

Doug

[Andrew]

actually i think they (welta) started them in 1958 under the name of Orix.

cute cameras! for some unknown reason i have almost every one of these in the various models and colours (except the allusive Orix which i have been trying to find for years!).

unknown reason because i have never put a film through any of them, perhaps i just collected them for the sake of it, trying to get all the colours, harder still was collecting the colour matched lens shades....

at one stage i had a weird plan to transplant a cheap small modern digital into the body of one ..it may (likely) have proved impossible to do but that wasnt going to stop me from trying haha..the tiny film format never interested me in practical terms (i dont have much use for 35mm when it comes to that) but the cameras are kinda cute and in the hand remind me of the old glo-mesh purses that were popular with women..i think i musta thought they would be a cool retro camera for my daughter to use

[bigdawg]

A very nice collection. I've never seen or heard of these before. I'm now enlightened.

[photax]

Andrew,

you are right, the first model ( from 1958 to 1959 ) was named "Orix". Please let me know if you find one someday. I am also trying to find a Orix for years, but I have not seen one so far. " Penti goes digital" sounds great !

Doug,

Unfortunately I dont know if the Penti`s will match the Agfa`s, I dont have a Paramat in my collection.

MIK

[colray]

Neat little cameras.