The AkA company was established after the II world war by two brothers; Max and Eugen Armbruster. Eugen knew how to design and make cameras from his previous positions with f.e. Gauthier, Berning and Voigtländer, and Max had the financial talent and the money. But it seems rather pointless to go into a long story about the AKA company and its history, because this story has been told by Martin Kohler in details on his website:

Apparate und Kamerabau Gmbh, Friedrichshafen 

Please also take the time to read Martin Kohlers pages on the Hindenburg cameras.

AKArette II type II (1950- 1954) VF
Serial nr.: 59766
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film
Optics: Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 1:3,5  50 mm bayonett mount
Shutter: Pronto "S" B + 1sec. => 1/300 sec. + selftimer
Accessories: Schneider-Kreuznach Tele-Xenar 1:3,8  75 mm
              :  Schneider-Kreuznach Xenagon 1:3,5  35 mm

The AKArette is both a beautifully designed and an interesting camera in my opinion. The body shape is almost identical to the very first versions, and why really change a good thing ?. The hinged back are in fact the rear 50% and half part of the camerabody, and spilts right through the viewfinder housing. This reveals that the entire camera housing is in fact a sandwich construction with an inner stabile iron housing and an outer nickelplated shell. This outer shell is in my opinion the only real weakpoint because the quality of the nickel plating are not very durable or resistant to wear, and most of the AKArettes and AKArelles I have seen have had worn down nickel plating, especially on the front plate. However the front plate is fine quality brass, so in time the appearance will only change to something different, but not to someting hideous. The twin viewfinder in this AKArette, and in some AKArelle's offers 2 views, 1 for the 50mm lens and 1 magnified view for the 75mm tele-lens. When changing the setting on the small lever on the frontplate, the unused viewfinder is being blocked, and a red dot appear in the front end of the viewfinder (can be seen above on photo). The AKArette of course have interchangeable lenses, allthough they are quite hard to find these days. Just a piece of advice: It is probably both easier and cheaper to look for a complete outfit with camera and lenses. Just buy the lot. The lenses can be used on all AKA models from AKArette to Arette BW.

AKArelle I type II (1954 – 1957)
Serial nr.: 129299
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film
Optics: Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 1:3,5  50 mm bayonett mount
Shutter: Pronto  B + 1sec. => 1/300 sec. + selftimer
Accessories: Schneider-Kreuznach Tele-Xenar 1:3,8  75 mm
              :  Schneider-Kreuznach Xenagon 1:3,5  35 mm
Click here for photo sample 1
Click here for photo sample 2

The AKArelle camera body is identical to the AKArette. However a rapid advance lever has been added, and the strap lugs have been moved to the front of the housing just as the flash sync socket which on the AKArelle protrudes through the front plate. Apart from the advance lever the most significant modification is to be found in the viewfinder. The twin viewfinder, and the changing lever on the front are gone. Cleverly the second viewfinder window on the front are used to illuminate the new 50, 75 and 90mm brightlines in the single viewfinder. This viewfinder is however not to be found on all AKArelle models. The Model "0" still have the old twin viewfinder. Sadly, the quality of the nickel plating are not improved, but if you can live with some "patina", the AKArelle is truly a pleasant experience, and a sturdy, well built camera.  

AKA Arette BW  "SMV"  (1958) VF
Serial nr.: 262706
Format:  24 x 36 on 35 mm film
Optics: ISCO Color Isconar 1:2,8  50 mm
Shutter: Prontor  SVS + 1sec. => 1/300 sec. + selftimer
Accessories: Schneider-Kreuznach Tele-Xenar 1:3,8  75 mm
               :  Schneider-Kreuznach Xenagon 1:3,5  35 mm
Click here for sample photo !

The Arette BW was just recently added to my collection. The first thing that catches the eye are the engraving "SMV" with the royal crown on the front. This has of course nothing to do with AkA, but are an engraving made by the Royal Danish Navy. The initials "SMV" stands for "Soeminevaesenet" which roughly translates to "The Naval Mine Division". Funny enough I was myself at some point attached to this division during my years in the Navy. Now on to the camera itself. The Arette BW is by all standards a wonderfuld camera. Allthough it does not have a coupled rangefinder, it offers the possibility of interchangeable lenses as the only Arette model ever to have this feature. The lens mount is identical to the wellknown AKArette and AKArelle. The Arette BW is a quality rangefinder with a Gossen lightmeter, indicator dial for filmtype, nice viewfinder with brightlines for 50mm and 90mm, and in the bottom the rapid advance lever and the manual reset filmcounter. Please note the little stabilizer plate, that slides into the bottomplate !. The half-moon shaped shutter release button are placed on the front beside the lens barrel which actually feels very comfortable. I openly admit that I am absolutely crazy about the looks of the Arette. The Arette BW also came with a Schneider-Kreuznach Xenon 2,0 lens, and back in 1958 the retail price were 315,- DM equivalent to 163,- Euros !!.