The
Welta Belmira came in the post today, from a Camera shop in Dresden, then it was carefully unpacked, and then came a big problem, despite being quoted on Ebay "as working", the Vebor leaf shutter was not firing on any speed, even B, with the shutter blades "hanging", partially open, although on winding on, they snapped closed.
But after persisting with "working" the shutter, it has burst back into life, so far without resorting to servicing the shutter. The speeds check out as accurate, with 1 sec a fraction slow. The
Vebor shutter is a copy of a Compur/Prontor type shutter, made in East Germany. There is no delayed action fitted. Shutter speeds from 1sec to 1/250th.
The Tessar lens is quite clean and fungus free, no marks etc. The focus is smooth and accurately connects with the built in rangefinder. Unusually, the Vebor shutter is part of the lens structure and moves with the lens elements, and aperture, as the camera is focused. The lens is a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 4 element lens, 50mm F2.8, No
5209746. The body is serial numbered
37455.Nice condition anodised aluminium on the lens etc., and clear depth of field scales. The lens does not turn as it is focused.
The camera dates from the
Welta production period after the formation of
Pentacon, so early 1960's. The original
Belca Belmira was introduced in 1951, before changing to
Welta Belmira in 1960.
Presumably this camera has never left Germany till now, produced under the East German regime, and remained at Dresden.
The rangefinder is accurate, and has a large 8cm base, although the viewfinder centre is very small. The whole viewfinder is heavily tinted.
The interior is pretty much as new, and features the same idea as the French made Foca Cameras, it has a raising guard with a roller, over the spocket, to keep the film in place. The film gate is unusaul in that, although the gate is flat, the approaches are tapered, which was meant to flex the film towards the pressure plate, to keep the film dead flat. Zeiss and Adox did this the same way on some models.
The camera back is totally removable, no hinges, and has a more complex than usual pressure plate and springs.
The reason that the film transport is a bit complex is the rapid winding system, there is no convential lever wind, it is a tab that is moved sideways to pull the film forward, and cock the shutter, via a pull rack gear. It uses the same ideas as the Werra does, but the Werra wraps the action into a rotary form.
Now it's working again, it is well worth a colour test film, and if the Tessar lens is in good order, then the picture results should be good.
Stephen.