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Post by olddocfox on Sept 2, 2015 8:37:34 GMT -5
Ihagee Kamerawerk Steenbergen & Co. of Dresden, Germany produced an amazing number of industry firsts from its founding in 1912, through two World Wars and the Cold War. The company showed unusual resilience - it was confiscated by the Nazis in 1941, bombed flat by the Allies on February 13, 1945, and "gently guided" as a war prize by the occupying Soviets. This 1956 Exakta VX illustrates much of the genius and some of the idiosyncrasies of Ihagee's 35 mm flagship. Click on the link below the photograph to read a little history and review a slightly strange camera in detail.  
Click here to read my PDF document.
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Post by Peltigera on Sept 2, 2015 14:20:20 GMT -5
I like my Exakta and Exa cameras. I rather like the left hand shutter release - it takes me a frame or two to get my fingers trained if I haven't used them for a while. I also like the waist level finders.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 2, 2015 14:30:39 GMT -5
Despite its idiosyncrasies and eccentricities it was easy to quickly adapt to this remarkable camera. I am right handed. I used mine for ten years until I saw a Minolta SR2's brilliant viewfinder. I still have my VX IIa and all its accessories. All are in working and near pristine condition. I don't have the heart to part with them.  Mickey |
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SidW
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Post by SidW on Sept 2, 2015 17:40:06 GMT -5
You wind and release with your left hand, focus and stop down with the right. I also held the camera with the right hand under the lens, balancing and steadying the weight. So two busy hands. I also loved the WLF, looking down, and never migrated to a prism finder. In fact, I've always had an angle finder for any other SLR or DSLR since. What was tricky was the L-R reversed finder image and a moving subject.
Ihagee was never actually owned by the 3rd Reich or the DDR, it was in administration, a fate that happened to every company with owners overseas. That's why it never became a VEB under the DDR.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 2, 2015 18:32:03 GMT -5
SidW, This simple cardboard device made using the waist level finder a little easier.  Mickey |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 2, 2015 19:12:52 GMT -5
I was excited. My very first wide angle lens had arrived in the mail. An eBay purchase. A Simco with a splendid leather case. When I got my first roll back from the photofinisher I realized I had purchased history's worst lens. But all was not lost. Stacked on top of the Ihagee Magnear which was placed atop the waist level finder I had an excellent macro viewfinder for extension tube or bellows photography.  The lens in this photo is not the Simco. It is an Enna. Mickey |
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Post by Rachel on Sept 3, 2015 3:45:59 GMT -5
My Exakta Varex VX with CZJ Tessar 50mm f2.8 3679916  |
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Post by julio1fer on Sept 3, 2015 21:02:27 GMT -5
I like my VX IIb. All those little controls and tricks are a nerd's paradise. However, I still cannot figure how to use the very slow shutter speeds. Not that I really use them!  A real system camera and not too hard to repair. The best lenses are very expensive, though. |
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Sept 3, 2015 22:42:17 GMT -5
I like my VX IIb. All those little controls and tricks are a nerd's paradise. However, I still cannot figure how to use the very slow shutter speeds. Not that I really use them!
Something that is not used very much today as it drains batteries. TIME EXPOSURES. Mickey |
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Post by belgiumreporter on Sept 4, 2015 3:04:26 GMT -5
Well since everybody is showing their exacta's i thought there wouldn't be any harm in showing mine. It's a late VX 1000 The one that isn't considered as a "real" exacta by purists. It is in my collection for two reasons, 1 because it's a 35mm slr with interchangeable viewfinders and 2 because of nostalgia, at age 14 an exacta varex (not this VX1000) with a 1.9 50mm was my first slr camera.I guess this is what started my obsession with interchangable viewfinder cameras, i love these "building block" type of cameras that can be build, taken apart and customised to your needs as a photographer.  |
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Sept 4, 2015 15:58:53 GMT -5
I think Ihagee put the very low speeds on there out of a sense of completeness for laboratory uses, it gives repeatability to time exposures. They considered themselves a complete system camera, able to adapt to any requirement.
They never made lenses, only the mechanical parts, and that might have been the failing in the end, as Japanese rivals did the complete package, with the latest optics.
Nothing wrong with European optics, just the very high cost in comparison. Ihagee just had no commercial targets after the Communist take over, and stagnated in design.
People treasure them for the quirks and adaptability, and serviceability even after appearing dead, they are difficult to wear out. Never a snapshot camera, always serious, and perfect for the demanding photographer.
Stephen
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Post by rickoleson on Sept 4, 2015 17:15:46 GMT -5
The slow speeds are pretty weird - you have to wind them up for each shot, but (if I recall correctly) select the speed before winding up the knob. Then set the regular shutter speed dial on B or T (your choice, both work) to get the selected slow speed. Oh yeah: the speed range that goes to 12 seconds (in black, I think) is the slow speeds .... the ones in (I think) red, which go up to 6 seconds, are the self timer. Or something. I have to go get my camera out and play with it to remember exactly.
What's a term for a complete outfit of Exakta gear? A left handed complement.
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Sept 4, 2015 18:15:43 GMT -5
Exakta's long shutter times are actually very simple mechanically, the equivalent of a timer added to a cable release, it merely uses the b position with the timer delaying the release of the second curtain. Leica's design integrated it into the timing of all the speeds in to end. The "complexity" comes from adding the self timer to the same knobs, confusing! The mechanism is a plain clockwork that can have adjustable release points for both functions.
The main shutter will still work if the low speed mechanism is removed from the camera, it is simply not integrated into the design, but added as an afterthought.
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hansz
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Post by hansz on Sept 5, 2015 5:29:26 GMT -5
Main reason for having Exakta cameras are the Carl Zeiss lenses, of course (well, according to my contorted (?) view of the photographic world...) Shown are a Varex IIb and a VX1000 and 2x Tessar 2,8/50 (export version), Pancolar 1,8/50, Flektogon 2,8/35 (a terrific lens), Biometar 2,8/80 (export), and a Sonnar 4/135 (export). Also usable on the digital EOS cameras - if you remember to close the diaphragm in time (he sighs).  IMG_2039a by Hans de Groot, on Flickr Hans |
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SidW
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Post by SidW on Sept 5, 2015 17:45:57 GMT -5
This simple cardboard device made using the waist level finder a little easier. Thanks Mickey. A shade like that would make it easier to use the screen on the back of a digital camera. Or why not a black cloth over your head, then photography would go full circle back to the 19th century. |
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