Watson (Welta Weltix) from 1938

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

This camera is in terrible cosmetic condition yet fully functional - the outside looks like a rusty piece of junk, the inside is perfect.

The Welta Weltix was the cheap model in the Welti/Weltini line of Welta's 1930's 35mm folders. Unlike the more expensive Welti, the Weltix was made from sheet steel stampings.

A good article on the Welti/Weltix -

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Welti

What I have here is actually a Watson, which was a brand used by Burke&James of Chicago, at the time one of the biggest photo products dealers in the US - think of them as the 1930's Spiratone. Butkus has the 1938 Burke&James catalog that features this camera (and what seems to be all the Welta product line also), so we can date it quite accurately.This Watson is interesting because it has the cheaper sheet steel body (which is why it is so rusty), but the more expensive Compur shutter, which is NOT listed as an available combination in 1938 !

Its a very basic camera - guesstimate focus, guesstimate exposure, the shutter has to be separately cocked, even the film advance has to be unlocked to wind after each frame (like the Argus C3). The only "advanced" feature is the cute parallax-compensating finder.

Whats wrong with mine is entirely due to that cheap steel body - it rusts like crazy, and of course ruins the leather above it. If it had the cast aluminum body it would look much nicer today. But even so, the insides are not rusty, and they work very well.

The lens is a three element Steinheil Cassar. I don't know how good it is wide open as thats a bit pointless on a viewfinder camera, but just as all cats are grey in the dark, nearly all lenses are just fine at f/8 ! It is actually quite resistant to flare for an uncoated lens, and I could not use a hood.

Nesster · Expire: 2014-02-20

what a beautiful stealth camera - the lens/shutter looks practically new inside the beast of a body... beauty in the beast!

fish4570 · Expire: 2012-03-21

La belle et la bete!

herrhenson · Joined: 24 May 2012 Posts: 1

i have the exact same camera i bought at a yard sale. i was wondering what that little lever above the lense was? thanks!

David · Expire: 2013-01-25

That has very similar construction to my Baldinette, especially the folding mechanism and accordian. The back looks similar, but the Baldinette winds from the bottom and has different button placement.

The Baldinette I bought also functions perfectly, but was rusted (including some rust perforations. I managed a repair with a dremel equipped with brass and steel wire cups and wheels. The leatherette peeled off without issue, allowing me to access all the rust. To protect the lens, I places clear mailing tape over the film sliders (on the inside.) This kept about 99% of the rust shavings off the lens.

When I re-painted it, I used matte black. To repair the rust perforations, I used the thickest, blackest engine hose tape I could find and placed a piece on each side of the hole (with enough to adhere to the steel.) Then I re-glued the leatherette and painted over the tape on the inside. From more than a foot, it looks like there's no flaw at all.

So if you haven't already, repairing the rust ought not be too difficult. For me, the more-intense repair took about an hour plus drying time.

dof · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 2:15 pm Post subject:

I have a Welti with Xenar 2.8, a wonderful little camera.

Tiny and well made with unit focusing.

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

Very similar to the Belca Beltica I once had, and stupidly sold.

My Beltica had a Tessar and took great, sharp pictures, yours looks like a good shooter too.

In your picture above, the front standard looks not parallel to the camera body, is it just an illusion or a distortion in the picture?

One of the pics from my Beltica

dof · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 8:04 pm Post subject:

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Optical illusion.
Its quite parallel as best I can tell.