Well the secret is out. Thanks a lot James. I’ve been wanting to add more Wirgin Edixa Reflexes to my collection for some time, but a combination of high prices and poor condition have kept my collection to just one model. But after reading this excellent article that covers both the strengths and weaknesses of these old German SLRs, I think my odds of finding a cheap working model are even worse than before.
But that’s OK though, as I really enjoyed reading this article, not only for the wonderful pics of the camera, and the sample photos it made, but James perfectly captures my exact thoughts on what I both love and hate about using classic film cameras.
Here are more great posts from some of my favorite sites:
I’ve always walked the line of including instructional content on my site for the benefit of people wanting to get back into film. Whether you’re a first time reader, or have been to my site many times, you likely already know one of my strengths is not brevity, and every time I try to put together some type of instructional exposure guide, I over complicate it. I’m not sure I could do a better job than Hamish Gil did in his recent article about understanding the relationship of film speed, shutter speed, and aperture.
One of these days, I’m going to have to create an article on some of the most over-hyped and over-priced cameras out there. Until then, check out Kosmo Foto’s thoughts on the over-everything Yashica T4 and T5.
I’ve only been collecting cameras for just under 5 years, so while I can’t say I’ve had a 37 year dream, but the Nikon F3 is one I hope to one day add to my collection too. Nick Orloff from Emulsive tells us about his recent pickup of a very nice Nikon F3 and his thoughts on it after all these years.
I’ve said this before, but one of my favorite things about Jim Grey’s “Down the Road” site are his frequent adventures in rural Indiana towns, capturing images that remind me of where I grew up. This week, Jim shares with us his thoughts and images from a Kodak No.2 Brownie using Kodak Verichrome Pan film. About the only thing more American than images of rural America, in an American camera, with classic American film, would be if I read this article eating Apple Pie while listening to Don MacLean.
This week Peggy Marsh takes a look at the Canon EOS IX7, an APS SLR from the early 2000s. As of this writing, I have yet to review an APS camera on this site, but that’s not due to not trying. I’ve previously shot a Nikon Pronea 6s and something called the Fujifilm Tiara. The issue I have with APS is that I can neither develop it myself, nor do I have a good way of scanning it. Not to mention, I think it was only available in color film stocks that all age poorly. If I could find some Kodak VPan or Fuji Acros in APS, I might be more interested.
This isn’t really news, but holy crap, this big ass spider is what nightmares are made of!
Kosmo Foto sells some really terrific film, but unlike most films where once you receive it, you discard the packaging, the artwork on Kosmo film cassettes is spectacular! If you’re as big of a fan of their artwork as I am, you should love this new Cassettallite T-shirt!
Don’t feel too bad about not having an Edixa. One was my wife’s first serious camera- and though she managed some great results it isn’t a very good machine. Gives that Eastern bloc shoddy feeling in a West German product. Eventually she bought a Nikon F (used) and never looked back, We have the Edixa around somewhere, with some lenses, but I don’t recall if it still works!
Josef Wirgin and his brothers made their chops bargain-shopping. Their SLRs and folders were built to a price floor. The Edixa series is an interesting challenge for collectors (as opposed to active photographers) since there were some 40 variants on the theme. I’ve owned a dozen of them over the years for half of the reason cited by Kurt Ingham: They have a midcentury West German, Contaflex-ish look and feel. As a plus they accept M42 lenses. But reliability in my experience is questionable. And if you find an Edixaflex or Edixamat where the leatherette has not peeled off, you have one of a kind!
As a footnote: One Edixa product IMHO stands out as collectible, usable, elegant, and valuable: The Edinex model 0, fitted with the Xenon 50mm f2.0 lens and a Compur shutter. This one is a pocketable version of a Leica III, complete with the same telescoping lens mount, the bottom-load challenge, and the capability to produce excellent images. Price (if you can find one) is in the same range as the Leica III, too.
Hi Mike–
I actually got my hands on some B&W APS film recently; I think, though, that it is C41 and not true B&W…
At any rate, love the site, and thank you for your excellent work!
Andy
I’ve seen black and white C41 film in APS format like you mentioned, but never true B&W film. I wont suggest that all APS film still out there won’t develop well, I just wish that there was a prevalent selection of true B&W emulsions like Plus-X or Fuji Acros.