35mm Camera backs/doors.

[yashica1943]

Having just acquired a Lordomat and an early Braun Paxette and having owned a Kiev for a few months and they do not have 'doors' it made me wonder which 35mm camera was the first to have a hinged opening back, as in the majority of cameras since the 1950's.

I know that Leica and Contax (as per Kiev) used a back that was released from the base and slid off downwards. I also know that a lot of roll film cameras had hinged doors in the 1930's (Zeiss etc.) But the 35mm camera?

I am not too knowledgeable about any small cameras pre 1950, it would be interesting to know when production 35mm cameras first started using a hinged door. It seems such an obvious a way to load it!
 I do know that Leica used their own cassette system (& possibly Agfa as well?) But those would work with a hinged opening anyway.

[Stephen]

Prior to the early 1950's most makes of 35mm did not have hinged backs. The opening back was more difficult to seal, whereas the slide on back has natural tight sealed edges. The change came with Japanese designs, whose designers favoured the hinged back, even pre-war.

Voigtlander used hinged backs pre-war, and it was common on 127 cameras. Many features on German cameras were patented or associated with particular makes, the patents lost after the war. There are exceptions. but most German was drop back or bottom load, most Japanese hinged backs. On early reflexes, Exakta had hinges, and backs were removable as well.
Zeiss, and Zeiss, influenced designs went for a removable back.
Leica took normal Kodak cartridges, it just had a different leader to attach the film to the spool. Zeiss could take the own brand daylight loading spooled 35 film as well as Kodak. Regula King cameras from Germany after the war had hinged backs. Adox had removable backs. Edixa had fixed, with a hatch in the back.

The only other pre-war film system was Agfa Rapid, cassette to cassette, and the closely related Memo film from the US. Most Rapid cameras have a hinged back.

Stephen.