Isotope shifts and hyperfine structure of the BaI resonance-line (2 = 553.6 nm) have been measured by dye laser induced resonance fluorescence on an atomic beam for 135m, 129g~ 129m. 126Ba thus extending previous high resolution measurements of neutron deficient Ba nuclides (N < 82). The experimental results, now available for 16 Ba isotopes and isomers with A=14(~126, are used to deduce differences of rms charge radii, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments. While the groundstates display a pronounced odd-even staggering the h 11/2 isomers 135'~Ba and 133tuBa show a decreased staggering. Conspicuously the isomer shift of the g 7/2 + isomer ~29mBa proves to be negative. The nuclear structure information is discussed in the context of gammaspectroscopic studies of transitional nuclei with 50