Balda Baldixette

One of the best looking box cameras going. This camera from around 1956 has a fancy 2-element 72mm lens (well, fancy for a box camera), and 2 apertures, f/9 and f.16. It also has a pretty fast shutter speed (for a box camera) at 1/60.

It shoots 12 frames in square format on 120 film. It also has a collapsible lens tube which springs out at the push of a button. The shutter release will not fire unless the tube is extended. It folds away again when you are done shooting.

The focusing ring indicates 3 zones: portraits, groups, and scenes. The Baldixette 1 model clarified the distances as 5-10 feet, 10-25 feet, and 25 feet to infinity.

The viewfinder is comically small, almost unusable.  I bought an accessory viewfinder to make using this camera easier.