Meopta was a Czech manufacturer of still and movie cameras, and is currently making darkroom and enlarging equipment, among other things.
History[]
The company was founded as Optotechnica. It was established in 1933 in the Prerov city in what was then Czechoslovakia. It started producing enlargers and darkroom equipment and even its own lenses. During the war, all sorts of optical equipment was being produced for the German military, since the factory found itself in the occupied zone. The first camera was produced in 1939, the Flexette, a 6×6 TLR that was the startoff for what was to become a long line of TLRs. In 1946 the company was nationalized and renamed Meopta. After the fall of communism, it was privatized again in 1992.
120 film[]
TLR[]
(chronological release)
- Kamarad I
- Kamarad II
- Autoflex
- Optiflex
- Flexette
- Flexaret I
- Flexaret II (3 types exist, type 2 is very rare)
- Flexaret IIa ( the old name (Optikotechna) on the top was changed to Meopta)
- Flexaret III
- Flexaret IIIa (same as the III but with a Flash Synchro Shutter)
- Flexaret IV
- Flexaret IVa (can take 35mm insert)
- Flexaret V
- Flexaret Va (extra winding knob added to rewind 35mm film)
- Flexaret VI (early version in black skin, later version in grey skin)
- Flexaret Standard (most commonly in black skin but also exists in grey skin)
- Flexaret VII (grey skin only, can also use 6x4.5 mask and has double exposure option)
folder[]
- Milona
35mm[]
Interchangeable lens (viewfinder/rangefinder)[]
- Opema I/II
Fixed lens[]
- Optineta
- Etareta
stereo[]
- Stereo 35
16mm submini[]
- Mikroma series
- Mikroma I
- Mikroma II
- Stereo-Mikroma I
- Stereo-Mikroma II
large format[]
- Magnola (13x18cm)
Links[]
In English:
In French:
- An interesting Flexaret and Meopta history in French
- Cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr
- Meopta page at Collection G. Even's site
In Spanish:
- Meopta at Historia de Bolsillo by J. Noir