Topic: The last, lazy weekend of August, 26-27

[EarlJam]

Two firsts for me: starting the weekend thread, and posting a couple of pictures from a Werra 1C, a camera that I've long ignored. My dad went on a camera accumulation spree from the mid 70s to mid 80s. The Werra sat on the shelf for a good 40 years, maybe longer, before I decided to dust it off a couple of weeks ago and see if it was suitable for a newbie photographer. It is not.

The Werra is an (almost but not quite) endearing little camera, simultaneously modern and archaic. Stunning timeless design, mind-numbingly awful ergonomics. For example: as you focus closer, from infinity to 0.9m, the aperture ring rotates from the top to the bottom of the lens and disappears from view. Frame counter, rewind knob (early versions) or crank (later versions), and back removal lock, are on the bottom and clearly served as a model for the Rollei 35. Film advance and shutter wind are done with a ring around the lens mount. Since Jena was a lens factory, the camera was designed primarily by optical engineers, so some of the mechanical features I suppose are defensible, but lens operation itself is baffling, particularly for a post-war camera.

Lens is a 50/2.8 Tessar, from the post-war Zeiss Jena factory which had the misfortune of ending up on the "wrong" side of Germany. It's supposed to be coated and I've shot with a variety of Tessar lenses over the years, but I've never had results like these on a single roll of film (Fomapan 400) in the same camera. For #12, the alley cat, the sun was just off axis of the lens, to the left. The 1960 Cadillac is a neighbor's, with the sun behind the camera.

For now, the Werra's back in the box and on a new shelf.

[Francois]

Is it just me or was the kitty not too happy to see you? 

[Bryan]

Earl, I've always been interested in that camera but you're not selling it for me.  I like the Cadillac though.

These were shot at the Seafair air show in Seattle.  Olympus OM-2n SLR with a Zuiko Auto-Zoom 75-150mm f/4 lens.  The film is Fujifilm Superia X-tra 400 expired 06/2018.

Vapor condensing over the wings.
Blue Angels with Vapor. by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Blue Angels over Bellevue by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

I didn't realize I got this shot right down their tailpipes until I got the scans back.
Blue Angels afterburners. by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

This is the biggest drunken boating fest in the Pacific Northwest.
Crowded Lake Washington. by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[EarlJam]

Is it just me or was the kitty not too happy to see you? 

I think I interrupted its breakfast. I'm accustomed to the look, though, as I routinely see it from many family members as well.

[EarlJam]

Earl, I've always been interested in that camera but you're not selling it for me.  I like the Cadillac though.

Jena made the camera from the early 50s to the mid 60s, in a number of iterations. What's baffling is that they seemed to make no effort to improve on the design over time, particularly lens mechanics. Instead, the effort went into developing a rangefinder, coupled and uncoupled meters, and interchangeable lenses. A couple of dozen engineering hours could have made it reasonably enjoyable to use and competitive with the Rollei 35.

The Caddy is a gem, although starting to show its age. It has a new stablemate now, a barn-find 914/2.0, so it's feeling a little lonely at the moment. Not sure what my neighbor has planned for it downstream, but it's always nice to see it out in the sun.

[irv_b]

A couple fom the @chromacameras 6:12 3D  printed camera. All shot with a 50mm Mamiya press lens developed in 510 Pyro.
I will have to make a couple of mods to the camera as lens is a bit too heavy for the magnets that hold the lens cone on and the 4 corners of the frame are cut off due to the internal design of the body.
I was hoping to get some panorama shot with the lens but will try it for portraits as well.

[Kai-san]

Earl, I've always been interested in that camera but you're not selling it for me.  I like the Cadillac though.

I had the earliest version with the aluminium advance ring and Tessar lens (the one before Werra 1), but I cannot say I recognise it from the description here. Sure it's an eccentric design and the viewfinder is not spot on, but that's what you get with a sone focus camera without frame lines. I loved the images I got from the Tessar lens. Zeiss Jena made some excellent lenses after the war, my favourite is the Flektogon 4/20 that I'm using on my Exacta VIIa.

[rotarysmp]

Earl your review of the Wera was brilliant. Thanks for sharing that

[EarlJam]

Earl, I've always been interested in that camera but you're not selling it for me.  I like the Cadillac though.

I had the earliest version with the aluminium advance ring and Tessar lens (the one before Werra 1), but I cannot say I recognise it from the description here. Sure it's an eccentric design and the viewfinder is not spot on, but that's what you get with a sone focus camera without frame lines. I loved the images I got from the Tessar lens. Zeiss Jena made some excellent lenses after the war, my favourite is the Flektogon 4/20 that I'm using on my Exacta VIIa.

Hello Kai - I had the sense, as I was writing my comments, that there was a very good chance of another Filmwaster also having a Werra and a different impression. Apologies for any offense from my words.

I've used, owned, and own a number of eccentric cameras over the years, as I'm sure most of us have. With the Werra, the film advance, while unusual, works quite well and on my camera is very accurate. Frame spacing is a consistent 1.5mm on mine, tighter than with the Leica as well as every Japanese camera I've ever owned or used. The 1C has frame lines in the viewfinder and I found that to be quite accurate as well. Film loading is a little fiddly but not significantly more difficult than with other cameras with removable backs or bottom plates, just takes some time to finesse. Other than the apparent light scatter from front lighting with the cat picture, the lens performs quite well as you note.

Between your early model (introduced in 1954) and my 1C (manufactured in 1962), the factory worked on expanding the line and, by 1960 offered four versions: I (basic), II (with meter), III (with rangefinder and interchangeable lenses), and IV (rangefinder, meter, interchangeable lenses). I guess my point with earlier comments is that, while they were engineering the other versions, not much additional effort would have been required to modernize the lens helicoid for the I.

I borrowed a couple of photos from the Internet for illustration: with the lens at infinity, the aperture marker and numbers are on top of the lens. As the focus is moved closer to the subject, the front of the lens rotates until the marker and numbers are on the bottom of the lens. The simple solution, from the outset, would have been to put the numbers and marker on the lens surround, facing forward, although that would have conflicted with the hood design and mount, which is why I suspect they opted for the production solution. There were certainly enough lens designs to borrow from by that point, whether from Zeiss on the other side of the border, Leitz, etc. To me, it's the one ergonomic issue that needed correcting and the one improvement that could have made the camera a true classic.

[Kai-san]

No need to apologize Earl, I was just shocked that you found it so bad it went back on a shelf. I think the two pictures you presented were just wonderful. When it comes to design development we have to remember that this was mainly governed by economy. East Germany was severely ravaged by the war, the main camera manufacturing city Dresden had been totally annihilated by allied fire bombing and the west was sanctioning material deliveries to the east bloc. And still they managed to make some wonderful cameras that was loved even in the west. I just enjoy using these quirky old cameras and the fact that they can still produce nice pictures. Some resistance along the road is to be expected, but the satisfaction of making it work outweighs the trouble.