To anyone familiar with cameras, the term ‘Reflex Box' sounds like an oxymoron. Generally speaking, reflex and box occupy opposite ends of the spectrum of camera types. Box cameras are ultra-simple, very cheap and aimed at the mass market; reflex cameras usually cost a lot, have plenty of different settings, and are the weapon of choice for enthusiasts or professional photographers.
The Reflex Box was made in 1933 by the German firm Kamera-Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch, a bit of a mouthful, usually shortened simply to ‘KW'. From one angle it looks just like a bog-standard box camera, but turn it on its side, open the shaded hood, and you have a single lens reflex, similar in appearance to the larger format SLRs of the day.
Contemporary advertisements show the Reflex…
