The Exa: An Affordable SLR for the Masses, Part 1
An “Exakta” pared to the bare essentials it’s an elegant reliable classic
By Jason Schneider
Whatever else you may say about the Exakta and its idiosyncratic design, by the early ‘50s it was the first and only full system 35mm SLR out there, and it was the darling of scientists, pros, and serious photo enthusiasts. Not surprisingly, it was also breathtakingly expensive, fetching prices in the $300-$450 range depending on which lens was included, roughly equivalent to $3-5K in 2021 dollars. With a fine eye toward serving the masses like good socialists while enhancing the bottom line like the crypto capitalists they actually were, the Ihagee factory in Dresden, now officially an independent state-owned enterprise, brought forth the original Exa (sometimes referred to as the Model 0) in 1951. Marketed as a simple mass market point and shoot for novices and amateurs the Exakta’s little sister was widely advertised by the Exakta Camera Co. in Bronxville, NY during the mid ‘50s at the bargain price of $119.50 complete with coated, external auto diaphragm 50mm f/3.5 Zeiss Jena Tessar lens. That works out to $1,178 in 2021 dollars, hardly cheap, but a lot more affordable than an Exakta.
Early German Exa ad for the original Exa 0
Flashback! It turns out that the adorably spartan little Exa wasn’t Ihagee’s first snapshot SLR with modest specs. That honor goes to the Ihagee Paff of 1921, essentially a wooden bodied, leatherette covered, fixed focus box camera with a front-hinged top that opens up as a focusing hood, revealing a ground glass screen that provides parallax free, laterally reversed, through the lens viewing. By 1930 the Paff was available in 2 types, the Plan Paff that took glass plates or 4.5 x 6 cm film packs, and the Roll Paff which had a clip-on magazine that took 117 roll film (essentially 120 on a spool with narrower flanges) and yielded twelve 6 x 6 images per roll. Both models offered a choice of a non-focusing meniscus achromat or Meyer Anastigmat Trioplan f/6.8 lens, the latter providing a choice of f/6.8, f/12.5, and f/25 apertures set via sliding metal strip with 3 holes cut into it. and secured by spring loaded detents. If you pushed the aperture strip all the way in, it functioned as a built-in lens cap, and prevented the shutter from firing.
Ihagee Paff of 1921: This is the roll film version. Note mirror cocking lever on front.
The Paff’s stone simple shutter mechanism bears a startling resemblance to the one in the Exa that debuted 30 years later. To move the mirror downward into viewing position you press a lever on the front of the camera downward against fairly strong spring pressure until it clicks into place. Then you select the shutter speed (Instantaneous or B) using a little lever next to the side-mounted shutter release. When you press the release to take the picture the mirror rises and a plate attached below the mirror swings upward along with it to expose the film; then a separate second plate rises vertically from the bottom, below the lens opening, to complete the exposure. This rudimentary system is reliable and very quiet, but it does make a distinctive “plop” sound, hence the name “Paff,” which means “plop” in German! For the record the Paff series was produced from 1921-1932 and some models provided a 6x9cm format. All are primo collectibles.
Ihagee Paff Box Camera SLR: This is the plate and film pack version. All Paff models from 1921-1932 had shutters that are similar in concept to those in most Exa models.
The Exa Epic
There are a number of complex identification systems used to differentiate the minor cosmetic and functional differences among the various Exa models, but to avoid venturing too far into the weeds let’s just say that the original Exa that debuted in 1951 was produced with minor variations until 1962 when the Exa I with a larger heavier rounded body shape and a shutter speed dial in place of the traditional Exa shutter speed lever was introduced.
Original Exa 0, 2nd version, with 50mm f/3.5 Zeiss Tessar lens, waist level finder.
All 7 versions of the original Exa bear a close resemblance to the classic trapezoidal bodied Exakta V or VX, but in scaled down form with a narrower side-to-side dimension. All have standard Exakta bayonet lens mounts and left-handed shutter releases that maintain full functionality with auto diaphragm Exakta mount lenses, and all have interchangeable prisms, waist-level viewfinders and other top-mounted accessories that are compatible with (and almost always identical to) those used on Exaktas of the same era. In addition, all Exas in this series employ small, milled film wind and rewind knobs, manually zeroed frame counters, and all provide only 4 timed shutter speeds plus B, all set with a top-mounted vertical lever inboard of the rewind knob.
The Exa shutter: Elegant simplicity, limited speeds
All Exas except for the Exa II, IIa, IIb, and 500, which have conventional focal plane shutters, incorporate the signature Exa shutter where the mirror itself acts as the first shutter curtain as it swings up, and a curved metal blade in a housing below the mirror then closes to terminate the exposure. This is sometimes called a mirror shutter or a barrel shutter and like most contemporary focal plane shutters, it’s all metal and scans the film vertically. As you might imagine, this unique design has unique assets and liabilities.
Components of the Exa shutter: Mirror unit on right acts as first shutter curtain; curved metal blade on left pivots in place below mirror unit, and closes to complete the exposure.
First the bad news. Because of its simple mechanical design and the mass of the moving components, the timing cycle of raising the mirror and closing of the curved metal blade can only be varied over a limited range. The result: cameras employing this shutter only provide 4 timed shutter speeds plus B---officially 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, and 1/250 sec on the very first model, with the top speed reduced to a more realistic 1/150 sec on the next 6 models, and then upped slightly to 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, and 1/175 sec starting with the Exa I (aka model 2.) This shutter works just fine with wide-angle and normal lenses, but produces “partial vignetting” with telephotos, visible as dark bands across the top and bottom of the frame. The banding effect is minimal to moderate at 100mm but becomes more pronounced as the focal length of the lens in use increases. Finally, the lack of fast and slow shutter speeds limits the Exa’s action stopping ability and attenuates its range of exposure adjustments in very bright and very low light.
Now the good news: The iconic Exa “mirror shutter” is very quiet, especially at its slowest speeds, very reliable, and its vibration level is very low, facilitating discreet picture taking and shake-free handheld shooting. Also, unlike many early postwar Exaktas, which used inferior fabric for their cloth shutter curtains, the all-metal Exa shutter is not subject to the dreaded “pinhole” effect that renders so many vintage Exaktas impossible to repair without spending more than the camera is worth. Finally, the unique Exa shutter is very much an integral part of the little Exa’s charming personality.
Exakta 0 variants
Here’s a brief summary of the 7 distinct Exakta 0 variants listed on the excellent and comprehensive website of Andrzwj Wrotniak, who is, among his many other achievements, one of the world’s leading experts on Exakta/Exa lore. To see his complete Exa exegesis, go to http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/exakta/exa-serial.html
Exa 0 Version 6 variant with embossed Exa logo may be the prettiest Exa of all. It's shown with 50mm f/3.5 Meyer Primotar lens with external auto diaphragm.
The very first Exa of 1951 is identifiable by its “old” Vacublitz-style flash contacts and its (optimistic) top shutter speed of 1/250 sec. The second version, produced in slight cosmetic variations, looks the same but has a top shutter speed of 1/150 sec. Version 3 has two black flash sync sockets of the modern concentric type, and a hinged shutter release protector. Version 4 is quite interesting because it’s engraved “System Exa Rheinmetall Sömmerda” instead of “Exa Ihagee Dresden.” indicating that they were made in another factory in Thuringia due to a production capacity crunch. Otherwise, they’re very similar to Version 3. These fairly uncommon Exas are very pretty, quite collectible generally fetch higher prices. Version 5 sports the Exa Ihagee Dresden logo and has chrome flash sync sockets. Version 6 has a removable back hinge spindle, allowing the back to be detached. A variant of version 6 has “Exa” embossed rather than engraved on the front plate and may be the prettiest classic Exa of all. Finally, version 7 of 1960-62 has a rectangular nameplate with “Exa” in metallic white on a black painted background—boldly modern, but also a lot less distinctive.
Exa I with my 50mm f/2.9 Meyer Trioplan lens and new style waist level finder.
The Exa I and Ia
Both the Exa I of 1962-1964 and the Exa Ia of 1964-1977 feature an entirely new body with rounded contours that’s somewhat larger and heavier than the original Exa body, incorporate shutter speed dials with speeds of 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/175 sec plus B in place of the vintage shutter speed setting levers, and have Exakta compatible interchangeable finders but no front mounted finder-release tabs. Version 2 of the Exa I added neck strap lugs, and the long-running Exa 1a added a short-stroke film-wind lever with the shutter speed dial atop the film-wind axis. The last version of the Exa Ia had a covered shutter speed dial with a cutout to display the speed in use. As you might expect there were a number of different name plates and top plate engravings used over the course of its 13-year production run. Both the Exa I and the Exa Ia are handsome, well made, reliable cameras, and competent picture takers, but they lack the consummate elegance and traditional fine finishing details of the original Exa O series. The good news: they’re readily available at enticing prices.
Exa Ia with wind lever, and new style prism finder. It's fitted with a 50mm f/2.8 Meyer Domiplan lens, a mediocre triplet.
An “Exakta” pared to the bare essentials it’s an elegant reliable classic
By Jason Schneider
Whatever else you may say about the Exakta and its idiosyncratic design, by the early ‘50s it was the first and only full system 35mm SLR out there, and it was the darling of scientists, pros, and serious photo enthusiasts. Not surprisingly, it was also breathtakingly expensive, fetching prices in the $300-$450 range depending on which lens was included, roughly equivalent to $3-5K in 2021 dollars. With a fine eye toward serving the masses like good socialists while enhancing the bottom line like the crypto capitalists they actually were, the Ihagee factory in Dresden, now officially an independent state-owned enterprise, brought forth the original Exa (sometimes referred to as the Model 0) in 1951. Marketed as a simple mass market point and shoot for novices and amateurs the Exakta’s little sister was widely advertised by the Exakta Camera Co. in Bronxville, NY during the mid ‘50s at the bargain price of $119.50 complete with coated, external auto diaphragm 50mm f/3.5 Zeiss Jena Tessar lens. That works out to $1,178 in 2021 dollars, hardly cheap, but a lot more affordable than an Exakta.
Early German Exa ad for the original Exa 0
Flashback! It turns out that the adorably spartan little Exa wasn’t Ihagee’s first snapshot SLR with modest specs. That honor goes to the Ihagee Paff of 1921, essentially a wooden bodied, leatherette covered, fixed focus box camera with a front-hinged top that opens up as a focusing hood, revealing a ground glass screen that provides parallax free, laterally reversed, through the lens viewing. By 1930 the Paff was available in 2 types, the Plan Paff that took glass plates or 4.5 x 6 cm film packs, and the Roll Paff which had a clip-on magazine that took 117 roll film (essentially 120 on a spool with narrower flanges) and yielded twelve 6 x 6 images per roll. Both models offered a choice of a non-focusing meniscus achromat or Meyer Anastigmat Trioplan f/6.8 lens, the latter providing a choice of f/6.8, f/12.5, and f/25 apertures set via sliding metal strip with 3 holes cut into it. and secured by spring loaded detents. If you pushed the aperture strip all the way in, it functioned as a built-in lens cap, and prevented the shutter from firing.
Ihagee Paff of 1921: This is the roll film version. Note mirror cocking lever on front.
The Paff’s stone simple shutter mechanism bears a startling resemblance to the one in the Exa that debuted 30 years later. To move the mirror downward into viewing position you press a lever on the front of the camera downward against fairly strong spring pressure until it clicks into place. Then you select the shutter speed (Instantaneous or B) using a little lever next to the side-mounted shutter release. When you press the release to take the picture the mirror rises and a plate attached below the mirror swings upward along with it to expose the film; then a separate second plate rises vertically from the bottom, below the lens opening, to complete the exposure. This rudimentary system is reliable and very quiet, but it does make a distinctive “plop” sound, hence the name “Paff,” which means “plop” in German! For the record the Paff series was produced from 1921-1932 and some models provided a 6x9cm format. All are primo collectibles.
Ihagee Paff Box Camera SLR: This is the plate and film pack version. All Paff models from 1921-1932 had shutters that are similar in concept to those in most Exa models.
The Exa Epic
There are a number of complex identification systems used to differentiate the minor cosmetic and functional differences among the various Exa models, but to avoid venturing too far into the weeds let’s just say that the original Exa that debuted in 1951 was produced with minor variations until 1962 when the Exa I with a larger heavier rounded body shape and a shutter speed dial in place of the traditional Exa shutter speed lever was introduced.
Original Exa 0, 2nd version, with 50mm f/3.5 Zeiss Tessar lens, waist level finder.
All 7 versions of the original Exa bear a close resemblance to the classic trapezoidal bodied Exakta V or VX, but in scaled down form with a narrower side-to-side dimension. All have standard Exakta bayonet lens mounts and left-handed shutter releases that maintain full functionality with auto diaphragm Exakta mount lenses, and all have interchangeable prisms, waist-level viewfinders and other top-mounted accessories that are compatible with (and almost always identical to) those used on Exaktas of the same era. In addition, all Exas in this series employ small, milled film wind and rewind knobs, manually zeroed frame counters, and all provide only 4 timed shutter speeds plus B, all set with a top-mounted vertical lever inboard of the rewind knob.
The Exa shutter: Elegant simplicity, limited speeds
All Exas except for the Exa II, IIa, IIb, and 500, which have conventional focal plane shutters, incorporate the signature Exa shutter where the mirror itself acts as the first shutter curtain as it swings up, and a curved metal blade in a housing below the mirror then closes to terminate the exposure. This is sometimes called a mirror shutter or a barrel shutter and like most contemporary focal plane shutters, it’s all metal and scans the film vertically. As you might imagine, this unique design has unique assets and liabilities.
Components of the Exa shutter: Mirror unit on right acts as first shutter curtain; curved metal blade on left pivots in place below mirror unit, and closes to complete the exposure.
First the bad news. Because of its simple mechanical design and the mass of the moving components, the timing cycle of raising the mirror and closing of the curved metal blade can only be varied over a limited range. The result: cameras employing this shutter only provide 4 timed shutter speeds plus B---officially 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, and 1/250 sec on the very first model, with the top speed reduced to a more realistic 1/150 sec on the next 6 models, and then upped slightly to 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, and 1/175 sec starting with the Exa I (aka model 2.) This shutter works just fine with wide-angle and normal lenses, but produces “partial vignetting” with telephotos, visible as dark bands across the top and bottom of the frame. The banding effect is minimal to moderate at 100mm but becomes more pronounced as the focal length of the lens in use increases. Finally, the lack of fast and slow shutter speeds limits the Exa’s action stopping ability and attenuates its range of exposure adjustments in very bright and very low light.
Now the good news: The iconic Exa “mirror shutter” is very quiet, especially at its slowest speeds, very reliable, and its vibration level is very low, facilitating discreet picture taking and shake-free handheld shooting. Also, unlike many early postwar Exaktas, which used inferior fabric for their cloth shutter curtains, the all-metal Exa shutter is not subject to the dreaded “pinhole” effect that renders so many vintage Exaktas impossible to repair without spending more than the camera is worth. Finally, the unique Exa shutter is very much an integral part of the little Exa’s charming personality.
Exakta 0 variants
Here’s a brief summary of the 7 distinct Exakta 0 variants listed on the excellent and comprehensive website of Andrzwj Wrotniak, who is, among his many other achievements, one of the world’s leading experts on Exakta/Exa lore. To see his complete Exa exegesis, go to http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/exakta/exa-serial.html
Exa 0 Version 6 variant with embossed Exa logo may be the prettiest Exa of all. It's shown with 50mm f/3.5 Meyer Primotar lens with external auto diaphragm.
The very first Exa of 1951 is identifiable by its “old” Vacublitz-style flash contacts and its (optimistic) top shutter speed of 1/250 sec. The second version, produced in slight cosmetic variations, looks the same but has a top shutter speed of 1/150 sec. Version 3 has two black flash sync sockets of the modern concentric type, and a hinged shutter release protector. Version 4 is quite interesting because it’s engraved “System Exa Rheinmetall Sömmerda” instead of “Exa Ihagee Dresden.” indicating that they were made in another factory in Thuringia due to a production capacity crunch. Otherwise, they’re very similar to Version 3. These fairly uncommon Exas are very pretty, quite collectible generally fetch higher prices. Version 5 sports the Exa Ihagee Dresden logo and has chrome flash sync sockets. Version 6 has a removable back hinge spindle, allowing the back to be detached. A variant of version 6 has “Exa” embossed rather than engraved on the front plate and may be the prettiest classic Exa of all. Finally, version 7 of 1960-62 has a rectangular nameplate with “Exa” in metallic white on a black painted background—boldly modern, but also a lot less distinctive.
Exa I with my 50mm f/2.9 Meyer Trioplan lens and new style waist level finder.
The Exa I and Ia
Both the Exa I of 1962-1964 and the Exa Ia of 1964-1977 feature an entirely new body with rounded contours that’s somewhat larger and heavier than the original Exa body, incorporate shutter speed dials with speeds of 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/175 sec plus B in place of the vintage shutter speed setting levers, and have Exakta compatible interchangeable finders but no front mounted finder-release tabs. Version 2 of the Exa I added neck strap lugs, and the long-running Exa 1a added a short-stroke film-wind lever with the shutter speed dial atop the film-wind axis. The last version of the Exa Ia had a covered shutter speed dial with a cutout to display the speed in use. As you might expect there were a number of different name plates and top plate engravings used over the course of its 13-year production run. Both the Exa I and the Exa Ia are handsome, well made, reliable cameras, and competent picture takers, but they lack the consummate elegance and traditional fine finishing details of the original Exa O series. The good news: they’re readily available at enticing prices.
Exa Ia with wind lever, and new style prism finder. It's fitted with a 50mm f/2.8 Meyer Domiplan lens, a mediocre triplet.
