Post by martin on Sept 15, 2015 4:17:39 GMT -5
Hallo Hannes,
my Arex has the serial # 3498 stamped inside the take-up chamber.
I got it from a charity sale at one of the churches nearby. Many churches do that kind of flea market here, especially in autumn. I got it along with a Minolta AF 100-200 4.5 zoom lens and an Agfa Rapid which I bought merely for the cassette.
It is likely that the camera originally came from the "Urfahraner Jahrmarkt" which is held in the beginning of May and in in the beginning of October. Besides the fun fair and the beer tents they have stalls where all the usual stuff is sold. Magic cleaning rugs, China Oil, stain removers, snake oil - everything you find in shopping TV channels nowadays. But of course there were also more serious vendors. More or less local businesses selling all kinds of technical articles like lawn mowers, concrete mixers, attic trap doors with ladders (the ones you pull down with a hook on a pole) and of course also small technical items. So the camera might have come from there as it is and was and interesting location from a seller's point of view.
Before I get too much O/T: I'm convinced that the camera was meant for a two cassette system. A regular 135 on the providing side and a reloadable one on the take up side. The PDF of the Patent points in that direction. It says somewhere that, lacking the need to rewind, it is possible to remove exposed film mid roll as their will be enough film left to mount it in a cassette again (Gegenkassette). We are talking mid 1950ies and self loading was (and still is) the cheapest way. People normally had their films processed at a local shop/photograpehr which did it in house. So you even got your cassette back. This fits very well with the idea of being economic. People did not throw away half a roll of unexposed film just to get their prints sooner. So it was either wait another three months or have the eight pics from the silver wedding of Uncle Fritz and Aunt Maria developed right away and still have some film left for the First Holy Communion of little Gretl in early summer.
So a two cassette system is the only thing that makes sense to me.
Take care and best regards
Martin in Linz/Austria
my Arex has the serial # 3498 stamped inside the take-up chamber.
I got it from a charity sale at one of the churches nearby. Many churches do that kind of flea market here, especially in autumn. I got it along with a Minolta AF 100-200 4.5 zoom lens and an Agfa Rapid which I bought merely for the cassette.
It is likely that the camera originally came from the "Urfahraner Jahrmarkt" which is held in the beginning of May and in in the beginning of October. Besides the fun fair and the beer tents they have stalls where all the usual stuff is sold. Magic cleaning rugs, China Oil, stain removers, snake oil - everything you find in shopping TV channels nowadays. But of course there were also more serious vendors. More or less local businesses selling all kinds of technical articles like lawn mowers, concrete mixers, attic trap doors with ladders (the ones you pull down with a hook on a pole) and of course also small technical items. So the camera might have come from there as it is and was and interesting location from a seller's point of view.
Before I get too much O/T: I'm convinced that the camera was meant for a two cassette system. A regular 135 on the providing side and a reloadable one on the take up side. The PDF of the Patent points in that direction. It says somewhere that, lacking the need to rewind, it is possible to remove exposed film mid roll as their will be enough film left to mount it in a cassette again (Gegenkassette). We are talking mid 1950ies and self loading was (and still is) the cheapest way. People normally had their films processed at a local shop/photograpehr which did it in house. So you even got your cassette back. This fits very well with the idea of being economic. People did not throw away half a roll of unexposed film just to get their prints sooner. So it was either wait another three months or have the eight pics from the silver wedding of Uncle Fritz and Aunt Maria developed right away and still have some film left for the First Holy Communion of little Gretl in early summer.
So a two cassette system is the only thing that makes sense to me.
Take care and best regards
Martin in Linz/Austria