scott
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Post by scott on Jul 2, 2010 12:47:28 GMT -5
I recently acquired an old Exa "Ihagee Dresden" for a few bucks. No model number, but I'm assuming it is the first. Waist level finder, and coated Trioplan.
It appears to be in OK condition on the outside, but the shutter and film advance are going to need considerable help. Probably hasn't been used in a half century or so. I'm hoping someone can point me to some repair information. Exploded diagrams and the like would be helpful.
I have never seen this type of shutter. There's no cloth or curtain (as in a Leica or a Contax), and no concentric metal blades (as in most TLRs) . It appears that a curved metal plate follows after the mirror in an arc, after the time delay you set with the shutter speed lever.
I'm wondering-- is this shutter design similar to the shutters in the Pilot and Great Wall 6x6 SLR cameras?
But the shutter release does not release the shutter. I can release the mirror and shutter from the lens side, and can bring the mirror back down by turning the advance knob.
Anybody have some tips? When I have a free evening, I'll open my toolbox and have a go at it.
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Jul 2, 2010 16:37:41 GMT -5
Hi Scott,
You've got hold of one of the original Exas. You can't find the shutter because the mirror is the shutter.
Do you read German?
I ask because I've got an Ihagee factory repair manual (Reparaturanweisung) which covers all the Exas from model I to IIb but it's in German. It runs to about 40 pages.
These were the course notes given to technicians from Ihagee agents who went to the factory for a training course. They are not particularly well illustrated but the text is extremely detailed, even down to the sizes of screws used.
I've got the pages scanned in but they come to about 57Mb. However, if you can read technical German, or know someone who can, I'll drop them into Quark or Indesign or something similar and print them out on my big printer duplexed to make 20 double-sided pages.
On 80gsm paper this won't be very heavy and won't break the bank for postage. If you think they will help, send me a PM with your snail-mail address and I'll get them off to you. Give me a few days to get them done as we've got builders coming in this week to put in new windows and things will be covered over with dust sheets till the mess is cleared up.
PeterW
PS As an alternative, If you've got a fast broadband connection (mine's 50 meg) I can email just the pages (10 or 11 of them) that deal with the Exa/Exa I. They come to about 12 or 13 Mb. Let me know which you would like. PW
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2010 16:58:28 GMT -5
Your Exa may be functioning properly. As Peter said, the mirror is the shutter. If the mirror is flipping the shutter is probably working. The return thr mirror to viewing position you must wind the shutter. No instant return mirror here.
Wayne
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scott
Senior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by scott on Jul 2, 2010 18:07:37 GMT -5
Hi Peter and Wayne, Thanks, Peter, I'll take you up on you offer, if you're sure it not a great deal of trouble on your part. If you could share the data relevant only to my Exa model, I'm sure it will be helpful. E-mailing it would be the easist, I think. I sent you a gmail. It's great to have access to experts, like this, isn't it? And no, I never studied German, and I don't understand spoken German at all. Swedish is my second language. and I suppose Swedish (like English) is categorized as a Germanic language, but I don't think Swedish actually SOUNDS like German at all. However, Swedish does kind of LOOK like German. I find that I can often guess my way through German text, based on the similarities. Interesting thing, is that the technical, scientific and mechanical vocabulary of the industrial age that was borrowed from outside Sweden was taken more from German, than from any other language. Of course, new technical and specialized vocabulary borrowed from abroad during the last 60 years or so (including for psychology, pop culture, etc.) has come mostly from English. I suppose a similar thing took place in many other of the smaller European countries. Wayne, near as I can figure, the shutter aperture in this design is the space between the bottom of the mirror (as it goes up) and the top of the curved metal plate, as it follows after the mirror. At the end of its travel, that plate fits into a notch that runs the length of the mirror casing. The speeds are B, 25, 50, 100, and 150. More questions: if I ever wanted to put a prism finder on it, would a finder from a Varex or Exakta fit the Exa? Also, what is the standard name for this kind of bayonet lens mount? "Exa mount"? Or "Exacta"? Or are they the same? --scott
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Jul 3, 2010 14:11:09 GMT -5
Scott,
You should have the Exa pages sitting on your computer by now. Let me know if they came through OK.
With regard to the lens mount, the standard name is Exakta bayonet mount. All Exakta mount lenses will fit on the Exas.
As you've no doubt gathered, the mechanism for automatic aperture stop-down is in the lens, not in the camera. Not all Exakta-fit lenses have this feature, particularly some long-focus ones by third-party makers, but most do. It's a simple lever on cheaper lenses, but a rather nice plunger on the better lenses.
Back in the 1950s when Ihagee introduced the Exa it was intended as a cheap camera which Exakta owners could use to take holiday colour slides of the family using their Exakta lenses. They kept the Exakta loaded with black and white for "serious" photography!
The Exa proved so popular that it grew up into a "serious" camera in its own right. No doubt being able to use top quality Exakta-fit lenses had something to do with it.
PeterW
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2010 14:46:10 GMT -5
At least some of the Exacta prisms will fit the Exa--I have one that that came on my fathers Exacta VXIIA that does. But I prefer the waist level. My first SLR was the Exa I --paid $39.95 for it brand new. It is capable of making excellent photos. My aunt was an amateur butterfly expert. She used an Exa 1 to photograph every type of butterfly found in this region using Kodachrome. She used the slides to give lectures. When she died the state natural history museum contacted my uncle and asked if they could have the slide collection--they were better than anything the museum had.
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Post by julio1fer on Jul 3, 2010 17:53:24 GMT -5
captjack.exaktaphile.com/index.htmI have an Exa Ib, with a similar rotating-half-cylinder-plus-mirror shutter. It goes down to a blazing 1/175 s. However, that model uses M42 lenses. It is a nice fatty camera!
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