Dacora-Kamerawerk was a camera manufacturer founded in 1946 by Bernhard Dangelmaier in Reutlingen, Germany under the name “Dangelmeier & Co”. Dacora manufactured cameras for other European camera dealers to sell under their own brand, such as Porst, Ringfoto, Ferrania, Ilford and Lumière, and by 1960 the company had produced over two million cheap cameras.
In 1969 the company was bought by Leach Relais und Elektronik GmbH and renamed Dacora Kamerawerk GmbH. The company suffered some financial difficulties in the early 70’s and moved to Munich where it struggled to survive.
In 1972 the company was bought by Josef Weber KG and moved to Nuremberg. By working with semi-finished units from Munich, the company resumed production (now under the name Dacora Kamerawerk Nürnberg GmbH). Due to continued financial mismanagement, camera production eventually ceased and the company was formally dissolved.
Different company names:
- Daco Dangelmaier & amp; Co. (1954)
- Dacora Camera Work, Dangelmaier & amp; Co. (also in 1954)
- Dacora-Kamerawerk GmbH (1969)
- Dacora-Kamerawerk Nürnberg GmbH (1972, after being acquired by Josef Weber KG
Daci is a medium-sized box camera manufactured by Dacora and introduced in 1948. In 1949, the first Dacora cameras came on the market, the elegant Daco Box made entirely of bakelite. Due to problems with the light density and the risk of breakage of the casing, the successor came in 1950. Daci was the company’s second model. The new camera body was made entirely of aluminum, which was quite rare at the time (1950), the most common material was still bakelite. It costed about DM 7.50.
Daci is an unassuming camera, it does not have many features, which was common with box cameras. The lens has a simple fixed meniscus and its simple shutter offers only two shooting options that we see something roughly painted in white next to the shutter button as “Z” and “M” (Zeit / Moment – Time / Instant).
The camera is very small. It uses 120-film and takes pictures in 6×6 format. Due to the square format (and the compact design of the camera), it has only one upper viewfinder above the lens. Likewise, it has only a tripod wire at the base and a leather handle is built into its upper part. The camera case is also made of leather, similar to those used by pre-war box cameras.
Daci Box was also available in green, gray and red at an extra cost. This metal box is very compact and practical thanks to the smaller format 6 x 6 cm. These boxes were popular only after the Second World War, another box for this format is e.g. The Altissa box. In an exclusive version with front-line adjustment, this model was offered as a Dacora Daci Royal. There are other Daci models, including some colored as “Daci Royal”. Dacora itself did not make many models.
Film 120-roll, image size 6x6cm
Lens: simple meniscus f / 9
Shutter: rotating, a speed of 1/40 (instantaneous) and time
Body: metal
Color: Red, black, gray and green
Read more
Camerapedia at Fandom 2021-10-22
Collectiblend 2021-10-24
Cyberphoto 21-10-23
Lippisches Kamera Museum 2021-10-22
Vintage Camera LAB 2021-10-24
