Beirette was a name applied to a long sequence of compact 35mmviewfinder camera models, made from 1958 to the 1980s in East Germany by Beier. There were also some folding Beirettes, made from 1939, but production apparently disappeared during WWII. Although the name stayed the same, various tweaks in the design were made. It was the first camera that came out of the former East Germany that had a rapid advance lever. It is a very compact, little simple camera, and the first thing you notice is the beautifully designed shutter release button placed on the front. There are many models and versions during its very long manufacturing period. Flash sync, for example, moved from a pin of the lens barrel to a standard hot shoe, and a plastic shutter release button replaced the original metal one in the mid-1970s.
Several versions of this camera were sold by Boots, for example the Boots Beirette BL, or branded as Revue for export markets.
Beirette v early model w/ E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm f/2.9, Model II shutter by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)
Lens: Meyer Trioplan 1:3.5/45mm or Ludwig Meritar 1:2.8/45mm
Shutter: Junior-II, Modell II or Priomat with speeds 30, 60, 125, and B
Viewfinder: optical, early versions were ocular shiftable for parallax correction
Model List[]
Models for 135 film[]
Beirette, 1958 (Meyer Trioplan 45mm/3.5 or E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.9 lens, Junior II shutter, circular eyepiece turning for parallax correction, shutter release on top of the lens base)
Beirette, 1963 (Meyer Trioplan 45mm/3.5 or E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.9, Junior II, rectangular eyepiece, shutter release on the side of the lens base)
Beirette v,[1] c.1964-65, new body design, film advance lever without an additional advance knob, a rewind crank instead of a knob (Meyer Domiplan 45mm/2.8, Priomat)
Beirette vs, 1968, a version of the Beirette v with symmetrical lens base (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.9, Priomat, PC sync on lens, translucent plastic around lens, still has extra shutter release and metal "guard")
Beirette vs, 1974 (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat, PC sync on lens, translucent plastic around lens, no additional shutter release)
Beirette vs, 1974 (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat, hot shoe, black plastic around lens)
Beirette vsn, 1977 (Black body. E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat, plastic frame advance and rewind crank.)
Beirette vsn, 1987 (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat, plastic frame advance and rewind crank.)
Beirette vsn, 1988 has half-plastic, half-chrome levers.
Beirette vsn, unknown date, has translucent plastic around lens.
Beirette k100, 1977 or 1982, for 135 type film (Chromar 52 mm/11 lens, 1/30 s and 1/125 s shutter speeds) - a mixture of the vsn body and SL 100 lens
Beirette 35, 1987 - basically Beirette vsn with black plastic body and CdS exposure metering (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat, hot shoe, black plastic body)
Beirette vsn 2, 1989, a version of the Beirette vsn with black plastic body top (E. Ludwig Meritar 45mm/2.8, Priomat)
