Everyone should try a folder — at least once. My latest purchase is a 1955 Baldalux, one of several German cameras made in the years after WWII. The shutter button doesn’t work, so I fire it using the lens release. That’s not a huge problem, as with folding cameras all the controls — aperture, focus and shutter speed — live on the lens anyway. The viewfinder is tiny and basically useless if you wear glasses, and focusing is by scale, so no rangefinder, just educated guesswork. With my shaky hands, hand-holding is a non-starter, so it’s tripod only. You also only get eight shots on a roll of 120.
Those are the downsides. On the plus side, it’s compact, only cost me £40, has no light leaks, the shutter speeds seem accurate enough, film transport works, and the optics are clear. The 6×9 negatives are as big as medium format gets. I took it out to Cavenheath Heath in the Breckland with a roll of Kentmere 200 on a fine day and shot some landscapes. The results have a pleasing vintage character. Whether the Baldalux or folders in general are for me long term remains to be seen.
