Pentacon

Welta Penti II

Welta Penti II

The Welta Penti II is a flamboyantly styled 35mm half-frame camera originally manufactured by Welta in the German town of Freital and, after the company became part of Pentacon, in their factory in the nearby city of Dresden. Confusingly, the Penti II has a cheaper, near-identical twin called the Penti I (with the only difference being the absence of the IIā€™s selenium light meter) and both of them are successors to the original Welta Penti (which, to avoid confusion, may also referred to as the ā€œPenti 0ā€). Like its siblings, the Penti II is designed for Agfaā€˜s Karat film cartridge as opposed to conventional 35mm film and also comes in a variety of colors including cream, teal, and maroon. As its glitzy appearance may suggest, these cameras were marketed primarily towards women with promotional materials depicting the shimmering Penti II alongside a set of jewelry and a pocketbook.

Welta Penti

Yashica Rapide (three-quarter view)

The Welta Penti is a stylish compact 35mm half-frame camera introduced by VEB Welta Kamera-Werke in the Dresden suburb of Freital, East Germany for use with Agfaā€˜s Karat film cartridge. Sometimes referred to as the Penti 0, this particular camera is the first of several Penti models made by Welta andā€”after Welta merged with other manufacturers like Zeiss Ikon and Altissa to form itā€”Pentacon. Like the vast majority of camera manufacturers based in Dresden, Welta became a state-run company after World War II as Germany split apart.