*Ihagee
*Varex
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Exa
Dresden - Germany
If you are a manufacturer it is
often not a good idea to launch an inferior low cost product which actually
competes with your own high end products. However when it comes to the
Exakta and it's littlesister the Exa, this is not the case. In fact it was
quite clever !. The truth is, that the Exakta Varex were a very, very
expensive camera in those days, and espacially on the East German home
market. By designing a radically different and much more simple camera,
which still had some resemblence with the original high end model, Ihagee
did in fact succeed in launcing a low to medium level camera, which became a
success in it's own rite. The Exa's are simple cameras, but they are
also very versatile and useable cameras. Either they will accept all Exakta
bayonett mount lenses and accessories with the bayonett mount (with very few
exceptions), or they use the M42 mount. The build quality dropped in time,
but nevertheless all models are very useable if you are just aware of the
limitations these Exa's have, which primarely are the shutter speeds. Most
of the Exa's have a very simple "guillotine-type" shutter, which combines the
shutter and the mirror into one unit. In fact the mirror are the
shutter. This principle limits the shutter
speeds to 1/175 sec., but if mounted with a reasonable lens this leaves
plenty of possibilities all the same. You'll also have to find some way to
mount a flash on a bracket or handgrip as there is no accessory/flash shoe
on the Exa's.
The Exa's are, in their own
way, also very fun to use. They are so very basic but also very
reliable. Except for the Exa IIb they all offer the possibility of not only
changing lenses, but also a choice of different viewfinders They all share
the same "Ihagee-chubby" rounded bodies which actually feels very nice
indeed. If you are just concious about the technical limitations that the
Exa's have, but combine them with really good lenses, there are no reason
why you should not be able to shoot some awesome photos with the Exa's, and
it's the kind of camera that you might want to choose for the canoo-trip,
the mountain-hike or any other occasion to which you wouldn't bring you
Varex, and due to the simple construction it will even function at low
temperatures.
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Exa "0"
(1956-59) SLR
Serial no.: 521652
Format:
24 x 36 on 35mm film (135)
Optics:
Carl Zeiss Tessar 1:2,8 50 mm (manual aperture preset)
Exakta bayonet
Shutter: Simple B + 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/150 sec.
Mics.: Interchangeable viewfinder
The original Exa, often referred to as the Exa "0", are a quite
different camera than the later Exa's. But i guess that shows on the
photo above. It's in fact very good build quality, and it's a bit
smaller than the later models. I tend to look at the Exa 0 as the
"original" Varex littlesister, and i'm sure you won't be disappointed if
you decide to get one for you collection. Unfortunately the folding
viewfinder shown above are not the correct one but a later model. For
some strange reason I have never got around to finding the correct one.
The Exa 0 has the same locking latch that covers the release button as
the Varex. Speed setting are done on a vertical lever on the top plate,
theres a manual reset framecounter and the back cover are hinged with a
pin that can be removed if you want to remove the back cover completely.
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Exa Ia
(1965-1977) SLR
Serial no.: 528900
Format:
24 x 36 on 35mm film (135)
Optics:
Shown with Meyer Görlitz Primagon 1:4,5 35mm Exakta bayonet
Shutter: Simple B + 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/175 sec.
Mics.: Interchangeable viewfinder
This is probably the most welknown rounded Exa body that are used for
all Exa models from around 1962. The shutter speed setting dial are
under the rewind knob, and film transport are by rapid advance lever.
Like on all Exa models, the shutter release button are on the camera
front, left of the lens, and it can be locked with a small lever on the
back of the top cover. The camera back are secured by a nut, and by
turning it counter clockwise the entire camera back slides off. |
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Exa Ib
(1977-1983) SLR
Serial no.: 628254
Format:
24 x 36 on 35mm film (135)
Optics:
Tessar 1:2,8 50 mm (auto aperture)
M42 thread mount
Shutter: Simple B + 1/30, 1/60, 1/125,, 1/175 sec.
Mics.: Internal aperture release + interchangeable viewfinder
The Exa I b are
identical with Ia except for the M42 lens mount and the internal aperture
release, and the design of the rapid advance lever.
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Exa II b
(1964-1966) SLR
Serial no.: 241587
Format:
24 x 36 on 35mm film (135)
Optics:
Carl Zeiss Tessar 1:2,8 50 mm, Exakta bayonet
Shutter: Vertical focal plane cloth B + 1/2 sec. => 1/250 sec.
Misc.: Instant return mirror, non-interchangeable viewfinder
Actually I think
the Exa IIb are the least interesting model. Allthough you have the
possibility of using all kinds of lenses with the Exakta bayonet mount, you
don't have a possibility of changing viewfinder, and the vertical cloth
focal plane shutter are often out of wack and the curtains tend to "curl". A
fold out rewind crank has been added, but no, I dont like the II b very
much.
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Exa Ic
(1985-1987) SLR
Serial no.: C 052806
Format:
24 x 36 on 35mm film (135)
Optics:
Carl Zeiss Tessar 1:2,8 50 mm (auto aperture)
M42 thread
Shutter: Simple B + 1/30, 1/60, 1/125,, 1/175 sec.
Mics.: Internal aperture release. interchangeable viewfinder
I don't thinkt
that the appearance of the Exa Ic are as bad as some people claim. Actually
it resembles a more modern camera a little bit. The main difference between
the Ic and the earlier models are, that both top cover, front lens plate
and bottom cover are made of plastic (polypropylene I think). The funny
thing is, that the plastic type doesn't seem so "cheap" and fragile as on
modern cameras. The prefix "C" to the serial number indicates, that the Ic
are manufactured by Certo in Dresden.
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