Bluefire is different from Efke/Adox. I believe Bill is correct that it is Agfa Copex with a different developer.
I've been doing some rearsch into the Adox film label for a awhile. This is what I have learned from various sources:
"Fotokemika Zagreb licensed the process from EI DuPont de Nemours after they had purchased the Dr C Schleussner Fotowerke concern around 1960. Messrs Schleussner claimed, with apparent accuracy, to be the oldest company still producing photographic emulsions -- since 1849, I believe -- in existence at the time of their demise, so I suppose that honor now passes to Fotokemika Zagreb. But I don't believe any "machinery" passed, just the rights to the emulsion. Adox films were the miracle emulsions of 1952. Enjoy this, guys! These films are wonderfully foregiving, have a really long toe, and do not growl when you use D-76 or XTOL. And the company sent me a nice FAX a decade back, when the US recognized Croatia as a nation. "
-Marc James Small
"Adox cameras were manufactured in the former Wirgin plant in Wiesbaden, Germany. The plant changed ownership in the 1930's since the owners were jewish and had to leave the country. However, it was acquired by Dr.Schleussner (owner of the Adox film company, some of their then famous b/w films are still manufactured under licence by Efke) on a legal basis.
They continued to make cameras, mostly 'consumer grade' until the early 60s when they went bancrupt. Like Wirgin, their predecessor, they just made the bodies and bought shutters and most lenses from other manufacturers.
The equipment was sold to the re-founded Wirgin (AKA Edixa, this trademark was introduced in the late 50s) plant, and they continued manufacturing some of the Adox 35mm cameras under their own trademark - besides their own 35mm line and the famous Edixa SLRs. I got all this from an extensive features of a german camera collectors' magazine."
-Winfried
"Adox/Schleussner is one of the first who made films at commercial scale. Adox developed the films in 1950 and 1952, Willi Beutler formulated Neofin for those films. They were the first "Duennschichtfilme". At that time Adox had one of the most modern film production line in the world, for photographic and technical (xray) films in Neuisenburg near Frankfurt, for papers in Cologne. DuPont got interested in their technology and bought them in the early 1960s, but continued production up to the late 70s/80s in the mentioned plants, the films were sold as "Adox, by DuPont" or so. Since the mid1980s DuPont granted Fotokemika of Yugoslavia a license for the emulsion. A long time their boxes beared the tags "licensed by DuPont". Well. Fotokemika moved in the late 1990s from Zagreb to a smaller town, Samobor.
Last year the trademark protection of Adox ceased to work due to "non-usage" and Fotoimpex has just begun to take up that brand - "Adolight", "Adostor".. nice design."
-Roman (I think this our Roman)
I just bought some of the last Efke 35mm that Frugalphotographer.com had for sale. JandC seems to be the exclusive Seller in the US, perhaps all of North America.
-Paul
