Adox 300

The Adox 300

The Adox 300 was a 35mm camera made by the German company Adox and introduced in 1956. It was one of the few 35mm cameras to be equipped with interchangeable film magazines, allowing to change the emulsion in the middle of a roll. Other examples were the Zeiss Ikon Contarex, some versions of the Zeiss Ikon Contaflex, the Rollei SL2000F and SL3003, the Kodak Ektra, the Mamiya Magazine 35 and maybe some others.

On the back of the Adox 300, there was a hinged door that closed over the magazine, opening the magazine's dark slide. The magazine had two reminder dials for the type of film and the DIN or ASA sensitivity. The hinged door had a window to show the magazine's dials. Each magazine also had an exposure counter, with a corresponding window in the camera's top plate.

The Adox 300 had a fast-action winding lever around the lens, similar to the Tenax I, Tenax II or Konica III. The lens was a fixed four element Schneider Xenar 1:2.8 f=45mm or three element Steinheil Cassar 1:2.8 f=45mm, both with front cell focusing. The shutter was a Compur-Rapid or Synchro-Compur to 1/500. The four possible lens/shutter combinations have been observed. The Adox 300 also had a Bewi Automat uncoupled exposure meter, using the Light Value system, a fixed accessory shoe and a sync plug on the lens barrel.

The early bodies were marked Dr C. Schleussner Fotowerke GmbH and Made in Germany on the top plate, with the serial number in the accessory shoe. The model illustrated in the user manual, printed in XI/56, had Dr Schleussner engraved in handwritten style on the lens barrel behind the diaphragm ring. The later bodies had Adox Fotowerke Dr C. Schleussner GmbH on the top plate, the Made in Germany marking and the serial number being reported to the back of the bottom plate.

The most obvious drawback was the absence of a rangefinder. All in all, the Adox 300 presents a strange mix of advanced and basic features. This illogical conception, together with the bulkiness of the magazine backs, resulted in quite poor sales. Today the Adox 300 is quite uncommon, and the prices asked reflect more its collector than its user value.

The Adox 500

McKeown shows prototypes of an Adox 500, basically an Adox 300 with interchangeable lenses and with or without rangefinder depending on the model.

Magazine backs

Most of the magazines for the Adox 300 are marked Adox. Some are marked Leitz and present some little difference. Some people say all the magazines were made by Leitz, including the ones marked Adox, but McKeown gives another story, that Leitz bought the tooling after Adox stopped the production and that they were used on the Leitz Orthomat microscope camera. This version makes more sense. The Leitz magazines were made in black and other colors. McKeown says olive and white, and a grey magazine has been seen at ebay. You can see a Leitz Orthomat with a white magazine here.

Other accessories

• plastic lens cap
• white diffuser for the exposure meter
• leather case for the camera
• leather case for one magazine, with a window to show the emulsion settings

Serial numbers

• Adox 300 with number in accessory shoe, marked Dr Schleussner on the lens barrel: 001257 (picture in the user manual)
• Adox 300 with number in accessory shoe: low 001737, high 004804
• Adox 300 with number on the back: low 003905, high 009241
• Adox magazine: low 001111, high 012944 (015631 reported)

Links

In English:

• Adox 300 at ukcamera.com's Classic Cameras
• Adox 300 pages at Alan McPherson's site
• Adox 300 in the highlights of the 24 April 2004 sale by Auction Team Köln

In French :

• Adox 300 at www.collection-appareils.fr