Which model, Edixa Reflex?

[Crux]

Heya!

I'm no camera buff so when I inherited this old thing I started research it. I gone lost in reading about all the models of Elixa Reflex though. Does anyone have any idea?

 

[loccdor]

Looks like an original Edixa, type A.

 

[Crux]

I thought so too, but it lacks that belt that shown on every pic of type A? Is it because mine is missing it?

 

[loccdor]

What do you mean by belt?

I'm guessing that button in your most recent picture is for closing down the aperture of the lens before the camera takes the picture. The A didn't have automatic aperture. So the button is mechanically triggering the lens before triggering the camera.

So perhaps it could be a lens meant for a later model of camera, attached to the Edixa A?

Try unscrewing the lens, playing with the aperture setting. Does it make the lens close up?

Later models of the Edixa have a nameplate which denotes their model. This camera only says Edixa so it appears to be the first.

 

[MattKing]

What do you mean by belt?

I believe this belt - which looks a bit like the fan belt on my first car, a 1965 Comet.

 

[loccdor]

Interesting, is that a rubber belt? It looked like it might be made of metal.

That's a nice looking car Matt, although I don't know about the double headlights.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

That should be metal. The Edixa's don't have an internal aperture stop down mechanism, so they use an extension off the lens with another shutter release button to trip the body release. Press the shutter button on the lens, lens stops down, presses against the body release, trips the shutter.

The Exaktas used the same mechanism, but located on the other side of the body. Not all lenses had this stop down mechanism, Those like the one on OP's camera are manual or preset aperture, so you needed to compose and focus wide open then turn the aperture ring before shooting.

So, OP, your camera seems normal, as that part being referenced is a component of an interchangeable lens, not the camera body.

 

[hsandler]

That’s not a belt; it just looks that way. It’s the metal casting on the lens for the pressure-activated diaphragm button that stops down the lens when it’s pressed to push on the camera’s front shutter release. It’s part of the lens. You simply don’t hqve one of those lenses on your Edixa. I had a Westanar normal lens for my Edixa B which had the “outrigger”. Here is how it looks from above. You can use any preset or manual diaphragm M42 lens on the early Edixas if you dont have ones with the pressure-activated diaphragm assembly. You will just have to stop the lens down manually before each shot.

 

[Crux]

Thanks for all input!

Good to know my Edixa isn't missing any parts.

The lens seems to be an Kilfitt-Makro-Kilar f/3.5 40mm Type D, and if I'm going to sell the camera it seems like a good idea to sell the lens separately:

Kilfitt f/3.5 Camera Lenses for sale | eBay

Get the best deals on Kilfitt f/3.5 Camera Lenses when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices.

www.ebay.com

 

[BMbikerider]

The aperture control looks like an amalgam of the designs used by Exacta and the Russian 'Start' reflex.

The Edixa model which was the most coveted was the Model D which had the full scale of speeds from 1 sec to 1/1000 and a Tessar or Sonnar lens. Others came with Triotar or other not so expensive designs

 

[loccdor]

Your call of course, but if I inherited something like that I'd keep it.

It's likely that the camera will have problems in its functionality if it hasn't been used or serviced in a while.

 

[choiliefan]

I had a model D with a Schneider Xenon.

 

[hsandler]

Thanks for all input!

Good to know my Edixa isn't missing any parts.

The lens seems to be an Kilfitt-Makro-Kilar f/3.5 40mm Type D, and if I'm going to sell the camera it seems like a good idea to sell the lens separately:

Kilfitt f/3.5 Camera Lenses for sale | eBay

Get the best deals on Kilfitt f/3.5 Camera Lenses when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items | Browse your favorite brands | affordable prices.

www.ebay.com

I had an Edixa Reflex B with both the waist-level finder and prism. I tore up the shutter curtain trying to adjust the curtain tension, and the prism was cracked, so I sold the camera as a parts source with the two finders. It turns out the waist-level finders are really prized by collectors and most of the value is in those.

 

[ic-racer]

I have the waist level and prism too. I recently fixed mine and got a nice 24mm Lithagon lens for it too.