Edixa Reflex
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| original basic Edixa Reflex image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
The Edixa Reflex cameras, made by Wirgin, were West Germany's most popular own series of SLR's with focal plane shutter. Early cameras were made in the former West Germany in the town of Wiesbaden, a spa resort town in the state of Hesse. The Edixa reflex models went through a variety of changes over the years that they were produced, and were made with different sub-models and features. Wirgin used a variety of names for this series of cameras, including Edixa Flex, Edixa Reflex, Edixa-Mat Flex, and Edixa-Mat Reflex. Some of the key characteristics of these cameras are described below.
The original name of the first Edixa SLR was Komet. The Wirgin company had to change the name after complaints of two other companies with equally named products. In 1955 the cameras got additional slow shutter speeds, and in 1956 cameras with aperture release mechanism for certain lenses were available. {
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| leaflet about Edixa Reflex variants scanned by Brian Eager (Image rights) |
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| ad for Edixa Reflex "A" (Image rights) |
Until 1959 four variants of the Edixa Reflex were introduced:
- Type A, with shutter speeds up to 1/1000 sec.
- Type B, with aperture release mechanics
- Type C, with meter
- Type D, with exposure times up to 9 sec.
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| Wirgin Edixa Flex baujahr 1956 image by Brian Eager (Image rights) |
A name variant was "Edixa Flex". The model pictured here is unmetered, but some had an uncoupled selenium meter below the rewind crank. The pentaprism is removable and can be substituted with a waist level finder. The mirror is of the non-returning type and requires the film lever to be advanced to return the mirror for viewing through the lens.
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| Edixa-Mat Reflex Model S image by nedjetwave (Image rights) |
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| Edixa-Mat Reflex features scanned by Dr. Philm (Image rights) |
In 1960 the four types were reissued as "Edixa-Mat Reflex" series. A name variant was "Edixa-Mat Flex". Models B, C and D got the rapid mirror and improved shutter mechanics. Type A was replaced by the type S which had a slower shutter. A special feature of the Edixa Reflex and Edixa-Mat Reflex camera series was the exchangeable viewfinder unit. A simple top-view finder and a pentaprism finder were available. The model C was also sold as the Astraflex 1000.
basic and budget variants:
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| original basic Edixa Reflex image by OZBOX (Image rights) |
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| budget version Reflex Ba image by Kimmo Kulovesi (Image rights) |
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| budget variant Kadett image by Uwe Kulick (Image rights) |
Links
- The History of Kamerawerk Gebr.Wirgin and Edixa Reflex by Klaus-Eckard Riess
- Edixa Reflex A at Schaum-Holzappel's (German source)
- Wirgin Edixa SLRs at UKCamera.com (archived)
- Edixa Reflex at www.collection-appareils.com by Sylvain Halgand (in French)
- Edixa Reflex PDF manual from OrphanCameras.com website
- Edixamat PDF manual from OrphanCameras.com website
- Edixa-mat Reflex PDF manual (German) at OrphanCameras.com
- Edixa Reflex Model D PDF manual at Butkus' OrphanCameras.com
