Leidolf Lordox 24x36
by Karen Nakamura
The Leidolf logo looks very similar to another famous camera company that used to manufacture in the Wetlzar area of Germany... one whose name also begins with Lei....
The reality is that the Wetzlar area is one where a lot of camera manufacturing was centered, including Leitz/Leica. The Minox was produced there for a while too. The quality of cameras produced in the region is generally high but...
The Leidolf company produced mainly inexpensive cameras over its corporate lifetime between the 1950s and 1960s.
The Lordox 24x36 that I have is a simple point-and-shoot scale focusing camera. Outwardly, it appears styled after a Leica III, but of course with no rangefinder, and no interchangeable lens. It's somewhat blocky and almost looks like a Soviet camera. You focus by scale focusing, or by using an attached rangefinder, such as above.
My favorite Leidolf is the first one, the Leidox. The viewfinder has very nice curved lines. By 1954, the Leidolf company produced the Lordomat, which was their rangefinder series. It looks like a spitting image of a Leica M3 but used their own proprietary M40.5 x 0.5 mm thread mount lenses.
I'm selling the Lordox pictured (serial #32xxx). It comes with the very nice leather ever-ready case (but not the Widor Universal Rangefinder, which is separate).The body is in very good plus(VG+) shape with only minor paint wear in some non-visible areas. The lens is clean. The camera is in good working condition with only the 1 sec. shutter speed slightly dragging. Asking price: $80 + s/h.
Doesn't that logo look familiar?
The official name of the camera is the Lordox 24x36. The "24x36" refers to the negative size, of course. Why bother to make this part of the official name of the camera? Because at the time, there was still much contention over how large to make the negative: 18x24 (half size); 24x30 (early Nikons); 24x32; and finally 24x36.
The camera's shutter is not energized by winding the camera. You must cock the shutter by yourself. The camera's double-exposure interlock is activated by the film spool. If you want to dry fire the camera without film loaded, you must take the back off and rotate the sprocket wheel after each shot to reset the interlock.
The 'M' setting on the camera is for the self-timer.
OK, the other quirk is trying to figure out how to open the camera back. The bottom of the camera is plain, with just a tripod screw. Hmm. Pull up on the rewinder knob? No such luck. As it turns out, you open the camera by rotating the two strap lugs forward 90°. The whole back comes off.
| Camera Name | Lordox 24x36 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Leidolf |
| Place of Manufacture | Wetzlar, Germany |
| Date of Manufacture | 1952 |
| Focusing System | None |
| Lens | Leidolf Wetzlar Lordon Triplon 50mm f/2.8 |
| Shutter | Prontor
S-V (leaf in-lens shutter) |
| Metering System | None |
| Flash | External
cold shoe |
| Film type | Type 135 film (35mm standard) |
| Battery type | None |
| Dimensions and weight |
|
| Retail price |
|
Lordox...