WERRA

The Werra -- a 35mm viewfinder from the 1950s/60s. I believe this is one camera that must be among the top of a list that includes novelty in design for any period and at the very top for a deceptively simple look.

Just look at it... except for the shutter release on the top plate - that too, placed flush and very unobtrusive -- there is nothing of the usual lever for film winding, a window for the frame counter or a any of the usual controls that we would expect to see.





The back too -- nothing except for the viewfinder window...
Carl Zeiss, Jena, the legendary lens makers for cameras of that era decided to make a camera of their own and this is what they achieved.

You reverse the front cover and thread it on to the front of the lens to get a hood... and all is revealed. The shutter and aperture settings and the control for the advancing the frames. At the base of the lens, the ring with the ridges turns about a third of a circle to advance the film... no lever.
The rest of the stuff is tucked away neatly a the bottom -- the frame counter and the film rewind.

That is one Werra different camera.