# Hapo 66E



## compur (Aug 5, 2020)

This little folder is the Hapo 66E and was made in Germany by Balda in the 1950s. It is a re-badged Balda Mess-Baldix (“mess” = rangefinder in German). It is a 6x6 on 120 folder with uncoupled rangefinder. The lens is an Enna “Haponar” 75/4.5 (triplet) and the shutter has speeds to 1/200.












I bought this for a few bucks at an estate sale last weekend along with some other stuff and I really didn’t even look at it until I got it home. The cosmetic condition is very good but the camera does need work. The rangefinder is shot and the shutter needs the usual cleaning.

It’s claim to fame is a nifty frame counter which is unusual on cameras like this. You wind the film advance knob backward and then forward to advance the film and the counter. So, you only have to use the red window on the back to set the first frame. The camera is also lighter and smaller than most 6x6 folders with rangefinders.


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## Derrel (Aug 5, 2020)

Cute folder. Thanks for posting.


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## webestang64 (Aug 6, 2020)

Agreed....neat folder. Looks similar to my Voigtlander.


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## Dany (Aug 7, 2020)

Very nice find !
Thanks for sharing.
It seems that this camera was sold by Porst under the name Hapo 66 E
The "E" of the name corresponds to "Entfernungsmesser" (rangefinder) and 66 correspond to the format.

https://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=6381


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## compur (Aug 7, 2020)

Dany said:


> It seems that this camera was sold by Porst under the name Hapo 66 E
> The "E" of the name corresponds to "Entfernungsmesser" (rangefinder) and 66 correspond to the format.



Yes, and Hapo was a Porst brand for many cameras that they sold and were made by various manufacturers. It comes from *Ha*ns *Po*rst, the founder of the company.


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