Introducing the Edixa

<p>The names "Wirgin" and "Edixa" have a long pedigree in the annals of West German camera manufacturing. This little rangefinder is the Edixa II, circa 1954.</p><div></div>

<p>The Wirgin company was founded in Wiesbaden in 1920 by three Jewish brothers, Josef, Max and Heinrich. Production continued until the mid-1930's when the Nazi regime made life unendurable for the brothers, and they fled to the United States, leaving the Wiesbaden works to be incorporated into the Adox company. After the war Henrich, now known as Henry, returned to Germany and re-established a camera company in Wiesbaden. Camera production continued through a range of simple cameras, more complex rangefinders and eventually a range of quite innovative SLR cameras, the company becoming a major West German manufacturer of focal-plane shutter cameras, and some lenses. Production ceased in 1967.</p>

<p>The Wirgin cameras seem to have a mixed reputation. Much of the design and construction was of a high standard, but it appears that the Company made every effort to cut costs, and the quality of the materials used and the quality control standards apparently suffered. The later SLR's have achieved a semi-cult status, with "love them or hate them" protagonists evident among camera enthusiasts. This little camera began life as the "Edina", but the name was altered as a result of a lawsuit brought by Kodak, claiming the name to be too close to the "Retina" trademark. The Wirgin line of cameras had included a very successful predecessor to the Edina named "Edinex", and the name "Edixa" was apparently selected as a compromise. In typical Wirgin style, the instructions apparently continued in print with an "Edixa" sticker over the Edina title. The camera remained in production for some years and formed the basis of the well-known Edixa Stereo Rangefinder camera.</p><div></div>

<p>Despite it's good looks, it's actually a pretty ordinary little camera. This copy is fitted with a 43mm Isco-Gottingen f/2.8 Isconar lens, a lens I can find very little reference to. It appears to be a triplet, lightly coated, with a rather nice 10-bladed iris controlling the aperture. Film loading is by a conventional hinged back and the wind requires two throws of the lever to advance a frame and cock the shutter. The frame counter has to be reset by mean of a rather tacky slotted knob on the top deck The camera has a coupled split-image rangefinder with a separate eyepiece next to the viewfinder, front element focusing, and a Prontor-SV shutter with speeds of 1 to 1/300 plus "B". The supporting side-tubes or "buttresses" provide a solid mount for the lens and shutter. It's not a particularly pleasant camera to use, with the detached rangefinder slowing down the process of composing and shooting, and the viewfinder, while bright enough, seeming particularly tiny. The camera has a rather light-weight and insubstantial feel to it, with the film wind feeling particularly imprecise.</p><div></div>

<p>I shot a roll of just-outdated "Focal" 100 ISO film, and wasn't overly excited by the results. "Adequate" would be a word that springs to mind, and it's certainly not the sort of camera that makes one want to rush out and hunt for pictures. I include a few of the least-boring for your entertainment.</p><div></div>

<p>No.2</p><div></div>

<p>No.3</p><div></div>

<p>No.4</p><div></div>

<p>No.5</p><div></div>

<p>No.6</p><div></div>

<p>No.7</p><div></div>

<p>Wirgin itself did not close in 1967. Henry Wirgin retired in 1968 and company name changed, but the last Edixa TTL and LTL models were made until 1970. There was a brief effort to reorganize which resulted in the new Edixa Electronica TL (not to be confused with the original Electronica from the same company) being produced, but this venture failed by 1972.</p>

<p>The Wirgin cameras are interesting, but the company was positioned in a tough place in the market, with many German companies already dominating the top end of the market, film companies supplying the bottom of the market, and Japanese companies taking more and more of everything in between during the 50s and 60s. This left them with a diminishing customer base, and no chance to expand into the higher or lower markets. <br>

They also missed the boat when they rejected the design for what would later become the Rollei 35.</p>

<p>Neat little camera. I've seen ads for them in some of the old back issues of Popular Photography that I inherited from my dad. Never read a test report on them or heard any history on them, so thanks, Rick, for a very informative post. I'd be tempted to try some Plus-X or Ilford FP4+ and rate it at E.I. 200 to 250 to goose up the contrast a bit more. Still, the color results were quite nice. Thanks for an informative post.</p>

<p>Interesting report which I enjoyed very much.</p>

<p>Nice work.</p>

<p>A sturdy looking camera, indeed. Nice old proofing frame in the background of your camera illustration. The images are lovely and well seen, as always, but seem to lack a bit of snap. Except the last one, perhaps helped by a strong back light. Thank you for showing off this interesting camera. </p>

<p>There was an extensive article about the Wirgin/Edixa company some years ago in a german camera collectors magazine.<br>

Concerning the history, Wirgin was re-founded after the war but some years later they re-owned the parts of the Adox camera production which had existed when the Wirgin brothers still owned then. (Adox continued their camera production in their own facilities). Wirgin also acquired the Franka company, a manufacturer of rather simple 35mm and #120 folding cameras, in the 1960s.<br>

The Edixa SLRs were something like a "poor man's Nikon F", since they had interchangeable focussing screens and viewfinders (actually a waist-level and a prism finder), and A.Schacht of Ulm also manufactured the Travemat TTL prism (uncoupled, of course).<br>

I a follow-up to the mentioned article, a reader contributed from the memories of a former Wirgin service guy. He had worked with Zeiss-Ikon before and was used to high-precision manufacturing of each and every part, and he was shocked when he visited the Wirgin plant. Many of the parts of the cameras had to be filed and bent into place during assembly. It is reported that Henry Wirgin sometimes answered to complaints from his sales people: "Well, people will buy the cameras anyhow"... Also, they had a strange policy to give new model designators to models with minor modifications. It is almost imposssible to figure out the model designators today, and it is reported that Wirgin had more than 50 variations of the SLR cameras in their catalogue at the same time.<br>

Also, Wirgin kept the original design of the Edixa SLR much too long. They introduced some TTL versions later - but due to the primitive shutter mechanism, the TTL metering was NOT coupled to the shutter speeds, and readings had to be transferred manually. I own both a Edixa TTL SLR and a Spotmatic, both from the same era, and it is hard to believe that both were made in the same decade.<br>

The last Electronica SLR was one of the (few) efforts of german camera manufacturers to compete with the japanese ones. But instead of buying ready-made components like the Copal square shutter and meter system, they designed their own (actually the shutter was designed by A.Gauthier, the manufacturer of Prontor shutters - but it was their first focal plane shutter design). This costed them a fortune, and the self-designed electronic circuitry was everything but reliable.<br>

Concerning the Edixa SLRs you are lucky to find a fully working one today. I was lucky two times, first with a non-metering Edixa Prismaflex (no slow shutter speeds, automatic aperture control) and a Edixa TTL (the slow speeds work more or less).<br>

PS. I just found an english version of the "memories of a Edixa service guy":<br>

http://www.kl-riess.dk/gewir.html</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I have an early (1955) Edixa Reflex:<br>

<img src="http://powflip.com/data/aweart/edix3.JPG" alt="" width="700" height="508" /></p>

<p>It's probably easier to find working examples of later models, the mechanism was improved when the instant return mirror was introduced in 1960, and is bit less crude/rough on those models.<br>

This one still works, but the shutter has serious fade on speeds below 1/500. </p>

<p>Rick,</p>

<p>What an interesting report on this camera. Most of the equipment listings from this time period for the Edixas that I have seen list them as Edixa A, Edixa B, and Edixa C. I did find one 1955 catalog page that list model I and model II in the heading.</p>

<p>I also found a directory listing showing the Edixa competitors in 1955.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>Here is page 1 showing the Edixa competitors in 1955.</p><div></div>

<p>Here is page 2.</p><div></div>

<p>This is the first time I have seen an Edixa rangefinder. I still have an Edixa SLR which was my first SLR which my father gave to me about thirty years ago. </p>

<p>Good to see such interesting responses, as <strong>Les</strong> remarked. I find it really worthwhile when I post on a subject about which I have a basic knowledge, and subsequent posts add flesh and blood to the bones I've provided. So, thanks to <strong>Dave G.</strong> and <strong>Winfried</strong>; the English translation of the "Memoirs" is a delight. Thanks, <strong>Marc</strong>; your old ads are always fascinating; there must have been quite a few "Edixa II's", as this model doesn't feature in the list appearing in the advertisment.</p>

<p>Thank you <strong>J.D.M</strong>, <strong>Mike</strong> and <strong>Louis</strong>; I realise that the quality of the samples leave something to be desired, but it was rather a struggle to find anything worth posting. The overall results were very dull, indeed. How about posting a pic of the old Edixa SLR, <strong>Steve</strong>; still having your first SLR is kind of wonderful.</p>

<p>Lovely article and history. My first "real" camera was a Franka similar to that Wirgin. Mine was clad in powder blue!Had a 45mm lens,f3,5. The frame finder was way better than the Retinette that replaced it!I remember the SLR models.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><strong>Steve</strong>; still having your first SLR is kind of wonderful.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It is. And it still works. But I must admit that I have not used it for at least twenty years. I will soon.</p>

 

I have Edixa 16 and Edixa 16M 16mm camera

 

EDIXA 16 CAMERA