When it comes to folding cameras, it doesn't get much cuter than the Balda Baldi. Made by the German company Balda in the 1930s, the Baldi is a self-erecting, folding 127 camera. It produces a horizontally oriented 3x4cm frame; though the camera is so small, that it is easy to rotate and use in a portrait orientation as well. It has an optical viewfinder that can correct for parallax via a small adjustment wheel. It also features either front cell or helical focusing, depending on the exact iteration, of which there were a few.
Film advance is done manually, via a pair of red windows in the back door where the camera actually uses the pre-printed numbers for the 4x6cm format twice each. ...Think of it kind of like a 127 half-frame. When not in use, the camera snaps closed into a pleasantly compact package that can easy fit into a pants or vest pocket.
The Baldi can be found with several lens/shutter combinations. Various shutters include Vario, Compur, or Compur Rapid while lenses can range from several Meyer Trioplan optics, with differing maximum apertures, to Vidanar or Gewironar optics. It is quite possible that there are even more variations, of which we are not aware.
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Balda Baldi Featuring our Favorite Baldy
The Balda Baldi modeled by our favorite baldy.
At first, we were simply enamored by the cuteness of this camera. The Baldi is a self-erecting, folding 127 camera. It makes 3x4cm images using sort of a "half-frame" mode that utilizes dual red windows in the back door that display the normal 4x6 format numbers. You advance the film far enough so that each number appears once in each window. Kind of funky, but not the first time we have seen this sweet, little camera. The camera itself is so compact, it fits right in the palm of your hand! Snapping it open is one of those lovely tactile pleasures you seem to only be able to get from film cameras.
So there we were, falling in love with this little 127 folder and thinking that we just had to immortalize it in the Museum. The Baldi portion of our customer base is vastly underrepresented. But who to model it?... and, of course, Arthur walks by... serendipity! Arthur is one of those unabashedly bald people you sometimes have the pleasure of getting to know in your life. As he puts it, "There can only be so many perfect heads in the world, all the rest have to be covered up with hair." And yes, that is a direct quote he shared with us when asked if he would pose with the Baldi here.
Anyway, if you ever see one of these Baldi cameras in our inventory, grab it! Meanwhile, you have to stop by the shop in person to say 'hi' to our other baldy here.