I found me a Wirgin!

T

tonyj

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Browsing a flea market yesterday, I caught sight of a rather intriguing 'older' camera sitting amongst the more familiar and recognizable pieces of treasure and junk, on the stall of a photographic vendor.

Taking a chance - as most of it seemed to be in 'working condition' - I bought it, for what I thought at the time, was a very reasonable offer.

OK, now to the downside of my tale. I have no idea what this camera is, other than it looks to be a rather well made, fixed lens, 35mm camera of German origin; perhaps made before or soon after the big conflict.

The lens is a f2.9/50 Schneider-Krauznach Radionar Nr 1646975 and is mounted on a retractible tube. The shutter is a Prontor 11. There is an inscription of 'Gauthier G.m.b.H. Calmbach', along with a small 'three pointed star in a circle' icon, carrying the letters 'A G C' on the shutter housing.

The camera has speeds of B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250 and B. The aperture is inscribed from 2.9 to 16. It appears to have one flash connection and a couple of sliding levers (for 'cocking' the shutter and a 'time' delay??) plus a triggering slide lever located near the bottom of the shutter housing. This, I think might be meant to operate the shutter.

There is no apparent Serial Number anywhere on the camera (at least, that I have been able to find), but as I mentioned earlier, the camera does appear to be very well made and of good quality. It is also in pretty good condition. Sadly however, it may yet be destined for use as a paperweight.

I am now wondering if some kind soul on these forums may be able to tell me more about this 'little gem'. To date, I know very little (zero?) about the camera or its manufacturer.

Please, is there anyone out there who could help me here with some information on this camera? It's age, a little of the camera's background - anything? - and perhaps just a few tips on how it actually 'works', as I don't wish to break it by pressing too hard here or there, in my ignorance. The film 'wind on/advancement' procedure and the two top mounted circular wheels are slightly puzzling. One, I'm sure is a 'Rewind/Film Advance' device, but I'm not too sure what the other over on the top left is. This and anything else, would be of great help and interest. Thank you.

.......... and now a few hurried (and blurry) photos from my handheld, flash turned off, digital. (Sorry!)

Wirgin1.jpg

Wirgin2.jpg

Wirgin4.jpg

Wirgin6.jpg

Wirgin3.jpg
 
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Nice! I just went looking at the butkus.org site to see if there happened to be a manual for the camera there; no luck. I can tell you that the knob on the right (as you hold the camera) would be the film wind knob; the lefthand knob is for rewinding. (And the small disc with the R engraving would presumably need to be turned in the direction of the arrows to permit you to rewind the film. I'm guessing the R stands for "rueck" = "back.")

On the bottom, A = "Auf" (open) and Z = "zu" (closed).

in the first picture, looking at the camera from the front, there's a small lever right a top dead center (above the 1/10 second marking). Push that counterclockwise to charge the shutter. But you probably knew that anyway.

The AGC logo and Gauthier markings refer to the maker of the shutter -- the Prontor was one of their better-featured models. (And -- point of pendantry -- the three-pointed "star" is actually a depiction of a partly opened shutter.)
 
Wirgins that old are hard to come by.
Specially in good working condition. They kind of wilt with with age.
Congratulations this is a great find.
 
Range-rover said:
Cool camera, di you take pictures with it yet?

Range
Click to expand...

Not yet - still trying to figure out all the idiosyncrasies and eccentricities of this camera - then we'll see if it runs as its supposed to do, with a dummy test film.

Thank folks, for the help so far. If anyone does have a link to a user manual, then that would be more than great.
 
I have an early post-war Edinex...unfortunately it doesn't have a nice lens like yours. The camera's are pretty neat though.
 
Edinex. Don't forget to extend the lens. Yours looks like an early nickel version, earliest were black. Nice compact camera though I have never used one. They are not that common. Later ones have a body release mechanism that is quite delicate because of the extending lens. The design reverts back to release on the shutter itself later on...before they become altogether more 'normal'.

I only know a little about them have been clearing my cupboards and have sold three in the last month.
 
Based on this photo of a camera I found on line, and which is labelled as a 1935 Wirgin Edinex camera, can anyone hazard a guess as to what year my recent 'Wirgin' find might have been made, allowing for the fact that the Wirgin company was sold to Edinex (prior to this date?), due to the planned move to the USA of the original Wirgin owners, and the Nazi persecutions of that era?

Any further helpful tips or facts would still be appreciated. Thank you!

wirgined1jpg-1.jpg


.....and my new acquisition

Wirgin1.jpg


(see Post#1 for more photos of my 'Wirgin').
 
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Yours is most likely post war, Edinex (O) designation (c35-50s) by McKeowan and I think 1935 is way too early for that other camera.

Wirgin went on and on as a business so I suggest it is the other way round, ie Edinex was bought and became a brand of Wirgin.

By the way, McKeowan also says the Edinex was identical to the Adox Adrette (made also by Wirgin)

My opinion only and I don't know how much I don't know...
 
Dralowid said:
Yours is most likely post war, Edinex (O) designation (c35-50s) by McKeowan and I think 1935 is way too early for that other camera.

Wirgin went on and on as a business so I suggest it is the other way round, ie Edinex was bought and became a brand of Wirgin.

By the way, McKeowan also says the Edinex was identical to the Adox Adrette (made also by Wirgin)
Click to expand...

Thank you so much Dralowid for the information you have supplied - I will try using the 'other' camera links you provided, to further my quest for a better understanding of what I have spent my money on.

BTW, who is 'McKeowan'? Do I need to find a copy of his/her book (?).

I very much agree on your comments re - the dating of this camera. I own a Leica 1 model A, from the late 1920's ( one of the very first production 35mm cameras, as you will know) and the Wirgin is arguably light years ahead of that Leica in certain aspects - mainly in regard to it's 'user friendliness','accessability' and eye appeal. 1935 would therefore seem a little too early for such rapid progress to have been made, although I do realise I am comparing apples to oranges here.

Until I get a better understanding of how this thing works, I do not intend to try running a film through it, even though the leaf shutter does seems to work - judging by sight and sound only. There may well be other components that are 'sticking' or that I am perhaps not using correctly. Unduly applied force at this stage, due to a partial lack of understanding of how something is actually designed to work, can become a serious problem down the road. :bang:

With the unfortunate lack of a 'user' guide of any kind, and only a rough guestimate on how certain bells and whistles are meant to work, and the sequence in which they need to be 'prodded or poked', I am afraid I am left with nothing more than a rather interesting paper weight, which just happens to sport a potentially decent lens - at least for now ...... :(

Perhaps a project best left for the Winter ...... ?
 
Well, loading film and setting the film counter should be very similar to a screwmount leica. maybe you should just give it a try - looks like a simple robust design, don't think you would break anything there, but well.

Adox sold the same camera as "Adrette I", so you have something else to google :). You can definitely buy a copy of the manual online.

On flickr I found this picture, taken with the camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8056279@N05/6226795214/
If you have a flickr account, why not sending him a pm and ask? He managed to take a photo with it, so he should know..
 
Google McKeowan's, it is a camera guide that comes out from time to time..

There was a time when it was the bible for old camera enthusiasts...old applies to both cameras and enthusiasts.

The camera itself is quite crude. Put a waste film in it and practice. The key will be whether the gearing to move the film from one frame to next is operable. You need to develop a routine to prevent double exposures.
 
JRminox said:
Wirgins that old are hard to come by.
Specially in good working condition. They kind of wilt with with age.
Congratulations this is a great find.
Click to expand...

I have a much younger Wirgin, from the 1950's. It was my father's, now my Wirgin. Haven't taken it out for a photo session in a long time!

Tom
 
tjh said:
I have a much younger Wirgin, from the 1950's. It was my father's, now my Wirgin. Haven't taken it out for a photo session in a long time!

Tom
Click to expand...

Wow that's neat Tom! Any chance you could post a photo of your Wirgin. I would love to see how much different - if at all - your camera is to mine. You probably know quite a bit about the camera too. Hmmm....

Have you had decent results with it in the past?
 
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