Just got an Adox Adrette II

What a beauty! Cost me ZAR150 = about $25. This is apparently

the same as a Wirgin Edinex. Really peculiar design, with

bulged body handles like a 1980s plastic SLR. Quirky! I

suppose mine is a pre-war model, but the company apparently

started making the same designs post-WWII.

 

Mine has a helical mount, Steinheil f3.5 Cassar (uncoated),

and Compur-Rapid shutter. There is a barn door in the back so

your admiring friends can pop it open and ruin your new

roll of APX 100. It loads through the bottom and has a

spool inside for the 35mm film.

 

Hope to send photos of/by in a couple of weeks. Right now I

am just admiring it.

 

Anybody have one? I'm guessing the focussing distances are

in feet, but it is not marked. Also, there is some kind of

accessory post on top...not sure the function thereof.

 

M.

You can easily check whether the focussing dial is calibrated in ft or m. Most 35mm cameras have a close up distance of 0.8 to 1.0 m, so if the lowest number is in this range the dial is in m. If the numbers run down to between 2.75 and 3.5 it is marked in ft.

 

You are right that many pre-war designs were continued post-war. Adox acquired the former Wirgin plant when the (jewish) Wirgin family had to leave Germany in the 1930s. They received back their former property post war but Adox probably continued to manufacture some of the older originally Wirgin designs. Later Adox dropped the camera business and the Adox camera plant was acquired by Wirgin again - there were a few transition items showing the Adox sign (two interfering circles) without Adox lettering but with a Wirgin engraving.

"If the numbers run down to between 2.75 and 3.5 it is marked in ft."

 

Adox: ...3...2.5 Must be feet.

 

Thanks for the tip. The penny just dropped awhile ago. At least,

that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

I appreciate the useful response and all the background.

 

M.

Just wasted a whole roll of APX 100 in the Adox. I was

pondering why it was blurry and vignetted, fiddling with

the camera, trying to guess who sabotaged the thing.

 

Then I twisted the 2 ears on front and Voila, the lens

standard moved forward on a nickel plated tube and

locked into place, allowing perfect focus on a piece

of wax paper I taped to the film plane.

 

As Homer Simpson says, "DOOOOOHHHH"

 

M.

 

P.S. "If all else fails, read the instructions"

And now I see this advice about the same camera in a thread

on a (this?) forum from Jan 2004:

 

"have fun with it but don't forget to pull the telescoping lens out before shooting."

Hey there, I was recently passed down (what I believe to be) an ADOX Adrette i. I have no experience with film/analog cameras and would love some help in regarding required film, etc.

Thank you.

 

Well your Adox post illicited yet another Adox post!

 

I too recently required an Adox '"Golf" I was pondering the marketing names(Golf, Polo) and geographic regions (Wolfsburg) recently in another post. The "Golf" is a very meager 6.3 triplet 120 folder. I'm shooting a roll now. This was a real bargain.

Oh both Mark_W and Lotus, please post any results and do continue to post pictures of the cameras ( a.k.a. camera porn) with your results.

Thank you Chuck! Would you have any tips in regarding film I should use?