Changes: Werra

Latest revision as of 03:53, 4 August 2015

The Werra is a series of 35mm viewfinder or rangefinder cameras manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Jena factory which was primarily a lens-making plant. The Werra is named after a small German river.

The cameras offer a high degree of control with a minimum number of levers, knobs or rings. In their simplest incarnations, the Werras featured only a shutter release button on the top plate. With it's streamlined styling, one could call the Werras a design camera. Nearly all other controls were incorporated into the lens barrel.

Twist that lens ![]

The most unique feature of the Werra is the covered ring around the lens barrel. Twisting the ring cocks the shutter and advanced the film in one motion. In addition, the lens cap doubles as a shade (compare the pictures below).

Markings on this camera[]

The lens, a 50/2.8 Tessar, is often marked T instead of Tessar and Jena instead of Carl Zeiss Jena because of a conflict between the East- and West-German division of the firm -- though examples of export Werras with both disputed marks do exist.

On the lower left part of the barrel or shutter speed dial, there is a logo, "Q1," meaning "Erste Qualität" or first quality. This was a designation for East-German exports to the West. Models meant for the home market lacked this logo.

The lower right side featured the Ernemann tower logo derived from a tower found at Ernemann's camera factory in Dresden.

Variations and later models[]

Several variations were made. There is an olive green version of the Werra 1. The Werra 2 and Werramatic models have selenium cell lightmeters. The models Werra III, Werra IV, Werra V and Werramatic have a coupled rangefinder together with interchangeable lenses, allowing tele- and wide-angle lenses.

Links[]

Werra page in French at KRG's website
Werra page at Dirapon website
On www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand :

In English:

Werra, the design that came from the east at Classic Cameras by RaúlM.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:166668396_b50d729379.jpg|right|300px]]
-== Werra, a twist apart ==
+The '''Werra''' is a series of 35mm [[viewfinder]] or [[rangefinder camera|rangefinder]] cameras manufactured by the [[Carl Zeiss Jena]] factory which was primarily a lens-making plant. The Werra is named after a small German river.
-<div>
-[http://www.flickr.com/photos/50678983@N00/166668396/in/pool-camerpadia/ http://static.flickr.com/78/166668396_b50d729379.jpg]
-</div>
-''Werra I''
-The '''Werra''' is a series of 35mm [[viewfinder]] or [[rangefinder camera|rangefinder]] cameras manufactured by the [[Carl Zeiss Jena]] factory. This is quite special, since it is actually a lens making plant. The Werra is named after a small German river. It offers a high degree of control with a very low number of levers, knobs or rings. One could call it a design camera. Looking at the camera house, there's only the shutter button. All other features have been moved to less-visible parts of the camera. This gives the Werra a stylish look. Even the accessory/flash shoe is optional.
-<div>
-[http://www.flickr.com/photos/50678983@N00/166668376/in/pool-camerapedia/ http://static.flickr.com/50/166668376_62c311fc58_m.jpg]
-</div>
-''Werra I with lens cap''
+The cameras offer a high degree of control with a minimum number of levers, knobs or rings. In their simplest incarnations, the
+Werras featured only a shutter release button on the top plate. With it's streamlined styling, one could call the Werras a design camera. Nearly all other controls were incorporated into the lens barrel.
 == Twist that lens !==
+The most unique feature of the Werra is the covered ring around the lens barrel. Twisting the ring cocks the shutter and [[film advance|advanced the film]] in one motion. In addition, the lens cap doubles as a [[lens hood|shade]] (compare the pictures below).
-The unique feature of the Werra is the covered ring around the lens barrel. Twisting this ring cocked the shutter and advanced the film in one smooth motion. In addition, the lens cap is also used as a shade (compare the second and third picture).
+== Markings on this camera ==
-<div>
+The lens, a 50/2.8 Tessar, is often marked ''T'' instead of ''Tessar'' and ''Jena'' instead of ''[[Carl Zeiss Jena]]'' because of a conflict between the East- and West-German division of the firm -- though examples of export Werras with both disputed marks do exist.
-[http://www.flickr.com/photos/50678983@N00/166678301/in/pool-camerapedia http://static.flickr.com/47/166678301_13d32e5561_m.jpg]<br>
-''Bottom of the Werra1 with controls. Note the lens cap doubles as a shade.''
-</div>
+On the lower left part of the barrel or shutter speed dial, there is a logo, "Q1," meaning "Erste Qualität" or ''first quality''. This was a designation for East-German exports to the West. Models meant for the home market lacked this logo.
-Since the Werra uses a central shutter, one could suppose it has flash sync. at all speeds (B, 1 to 1/750s). It has an X and M setting and even a selftimer V. The framecounter is on the right, on the left you see the rewind lever.
+The lower right side featured the Ernemann tower logo derived from a tower found at Ernemann's camera factory in Dresden.
-== Markings on this camera ==
-The lens, a 50/2.8 Tessar, is marked ''T'' instead of ''Tessar'' and ''Jena'' instead of ''[[Carl Zeiss Jena]]'' because of a conflict between the East- and West-German part of the firm. On the lower left part of the barrel there is a logo Q1, meaning "Erste Qualität" or ''first quality''. This was a designation for East-German exports to the West. Models meant for their home market lacked this logo and were probably marked ''Carl Zeiss Jena'' and ''Tessar''. On the lower right side of the barrel, there's a schematic view of the ''Ernemann'' tower, a tower in a Dresden camera factory quarter.
 == Variations and later models ==
+Several variations were made. There is an olive green version of the Werra 1. The Werra 2 and Werramatic models have [[selenium]] cell lightmeters. The models Werra III, Werra IV, Werra V and Werramatic have a coupled [[rangefinder]] together with interchangeable lenses, allowing tele- and wide-angle lenses.
-<div class="floatright plainlinks">
-[http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemphoto/283175020/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/283175020_ae27088af4_m.jpg]
-<br>
-''Werra lenses''
-</div>
-Several variations and later models were made. There is an olive green variation of the Werra 1. The Werra matic models have [[selenium]] cell lightmeters. The models Werra III, Werra IV, Werra V and Werra matic have a coupled [[rangefinder]] together with interchangeable lenses, allowing tele- and wide-angle lenses.
-{|class=plainlinks
-||[http://www.flickr.com/photos/alf_sigaro/292259342/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/292259342_fb2dde9500_m.jpg]
-||[http://www.flickr.com/photos/egons/500691064/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/500691064_14a673ac32_m.jpg]
-||[http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemphoto/283174917/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/283174917_3fe115528f_m.jpg]
-||[http://www.flickr.com/photos/mech_for_i/189872798/in/pool-camerapedia http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/189872798_9d15a973bf_m.jpg]
-|-
-||variant with alu film advance ring
-||[[Compur]] variant
-||''matic'' variant with Flektogon lens
-||olive green variant
-|}
 == Links ==
-* [http://perso.orange.fr/krg/werra/werra.htm Werra page] in French at [http://perso.orange.fr/krg/ KRG's website]
+* [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/krg/werra/werra.htm Werra page] in French at [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/krg KRG's website]
 * [http://dirapon.be/Werra.html Werra page] at [http://dirapon.be/ Dirapon website]
-* [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/appareils/html/werra_1.php Werra Ie and Ic] at www.collection-appareils.fr
+* On [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/general/html/francais.php www.collection-appareils.fr] by Sylvain Halgand :
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=2472 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra 2b]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=10564 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra I (olive)]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=1054 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra Ic]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=41 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra Ie]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=20162 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra III]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=2498 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra III]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=20163 Carl Zeiss Iena Werra IIIE]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=20164 Carl Zeiss Iena Werramat]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=2473 Carl Zeiss Iena Werramat]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=20165 Carl Zeiss Iena Werramat E]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=2474 Carl Zeiss Iena Werramat e]
+**  [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=20166 Carl Zeiss Iena Werramatic E]
 In English:
+* [http://camarasclassicas.blogspot.com/2010/09/werra-design-that-came-from-east.html Werra, the design that came from the east] at [http://camarasclassicas.blogspot.com Classic Cameras] by RaúlM.
-* [http://www.retrography.com Werra section at Retrography.com] by Simon Simonsen, Denmark
 [[Category: German 35mm viewfinder]]
 [[Category: German 35mm rangefinder]]
@@ Line 63: / Line 43: @@
 [[Category: East Germany]]
 [[Category: W]]
+[[Category: Carl Zeiss]]