The Exa: An Affordable SLR for the Masses, Part 2
The long and winding evolution of the Exakta’s baby sister
By Jason Schneider
Late version of the original Exa that preceded the Exa I
We concluded Part 1 of the Exa saga with the Exa I of 1962-1964, and the long-running Exa Ia of 1964-1977. Bothwere built on an entirely new body with rounded contours that was slightly larger and not quite as elegant as the original Exa series introduced in 1951. Both models incorporated conventional 1/30-1/175 sec plus B shutter speed dials in place of the original Exa’s distinctive “shutter speed setting stick,” and both accepted standard Exakta finders but had no finder release tabs (just like the Exakta VX IIb). The Exa Ia added a short-stroke film wind lever with a coaxial shutter dial.
Exa I with 50mm f/2.9 Meritar lens, a mediocre triplet.
You’d expect the Exa Ib, produced in 4 versions from 1977-1985, to be a slightly warmed over Exa Ia, but nothing is ever predictable in Exa-land and it’s anything but. Indeed, it represented such a radical departure that some collectors and historians don’t even consider it part of the Exakta/Exa line. The original Exa ib looks exactly the same as an Exa Ia except that is has a top-mounted rewind crank instead of a knob. But in this case, it’s what’s in front that counts, namely a Praktca/Pentax M42 screw mount complete with an internal aperture stop down mechanism for auto-diaphragm M42 lenses! Sadly, between 1983 and 1985, the Exa Ib was steadily “plasticized”, first by using a black plastic front panel instead of a chrome one, then doing the same for the top plate, and finally incorporating a black plastic back and bottom. For the record, the Exa Ic of 1987 is virtually identical to the last version of the Ib except that it sports a Ic nameplate.
Exa Ib half frame police model looks like a standard Ib with Praktica/Pentax M42 screw mount, but...
Remove pentaprism and you can see 18 x 24mm mask on the underside, and...
Remove the back to reveal the 18 x 24mm film aperture that establishes the half frame format.
The screw mount Exas would merely be a footnote in history were it not for the fact that the factory fabricated a half-frame version for the Stasi, the notorious East German secret police. The model shown looks like a garden variety chrome Exa Ib from the outside but when you examine the underside of the prism finder you can see that it’s masked for the 18x24 mm format, and removing the camera back reveals an 18x24mm film aperture! I’m not sure what they did about the frame counter, but the one on the camera shown looks like a standard issue 36-exposure counter, so maybe they just changed the internal gearing, and you ran the counter through 2 complete cycles.
The half frame Exa was also sold to other police, military, and civilian organizations on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and it was offered in both chrome and black versions. There were also some half framers with Exa Ic nameplates. How many half frame Exas were made over the entire production run is anybody’s guess, but the number is probably in the hundreds, so any half frame Exa Ib or Ic qualifies as a rare bird and a collector’s prize.
Now let’s back up about 17 years to next “real” bayonet-mount Exa, the Exa II of 1960-1969. It bears a close resemblance the Exa I except that it has a fixed (non-interchangeable) prism finder, a less rounded body, and (like the Exa Ia) a film wind lever with coaxial shutter speed dial. However, that dial now provides shutter speed settings from ½ to 1/250 sec, in the modern geometric sequence. How can this be? Swing open the new hinged back and you’re greeted by a conventional horizontal cloth focal plane shutter instead of the distinctive “mirror shutter” of previous Exas! The 1963 version of the Exa II, dubbed the Exa IIa reverted to the more rounded body shape and removable back of the Exa I, added a rewind knob, deleted the neck strap eyelets, and added a shutter lock button on the back. The final 1963-1964 version of the Exa IIa added neck strap lugs and replaced the back-mounted shutter lock button with a lever.
Exa II sporting 50mm f/3.5 Meyer Primotar with external auto diaphragm.
Exa IIIa with 50mm f/2.8 Meyer Domiplan, a mediocre triplet that is said to have attractive bokeh.
The last two classic Exa models, both closely based on the Exa IIa, had cloth focal plane shutters, fixed eyelevel prisms, shutter speed dials, wind levers, and rewind cranks—just like any modern 35mm SLR. The Exa IIb of 1964-1966 and the Exa 500 (aka Exakta 500 or VX 200) both incorporated instant-return mirrors, and the latter had a top shutter speed of 1/500 sec.
Exa IIb with 50mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar.
Exa 500 with 50mm f/2.8 Schacht Travenar R, a good quality Tessar type lens with external auto diaphragm.
In tracing the amazing evolution of the classic Exa from 1951-1969, it’s evident that the elemental Exa slowly became more and more like the Exakta, which may have enhanced its appeal to serious enthusiasts, but came with a loss of its distinctive character as a simple, basic SLR aimed at the aspiring masses. The Exa saga is the unlikely story of how a worthy Spartan SLR literally evolved itself out of existence. Of course the Exakta itself wasn’t too far behind—the Exakta VX 500, the last ”authentic” Exakta based on the landmark Kine Exakta of 1936, officially bit the dust a few years later in 1972.
The long and winding evolution of the Exakta’s baby sister
By Jason Schneider
Late version of the original Exa that preceded the Exa I
We concluded Part 1 of the Exa saga with the Exa I of 1962-1964, and the long-running Exa Ia of 1964-1977. Bothwere built on an entirely new body with rounded contours that was slightly larger and not quite as elegant as the original Exa series introduced in 1951. Both models incorporated conventional 1/30-1/175 sec plus B shutter speed dials in place of the original Exa’s distinctive “shutter speed setting stick,” and both accepted standard Exakta finders but had no finder release tabs (just like the Exakta VX IIb). The Exa Ia added a short-stroke film wind lever with a coaxial shutter dial.
Exa I with 50mm f/2.9 Meritar lens, a mediocre triplet.
You’d expect the Exa Ib, produced in 4 versions from 1977-1985, to be a slightly warmed over Exa Ia, but nothing is ever predictable in Exa-land and it’s anything but. Indeed, it represented such a radical departure that some collectors and historians don’t even consider it part of the Exakta/Exa line. The original Exa ib looks exactly the same as an Exa Ia except that is has a top-mounted rewind crank instead of a knob. But in this case, it’s what’s in front that counts, namely a Praktca/Pentax M42 screw mount complete with an internal aperture stop down mechanism for auto-diaphragm M42 lenses! Sadly, between 1983 and 1985, the Exa Ib was steadily “plasticized”, first by using a black plastic front panel instead of a chrome one, then doing the same for the top plate, and finally incorporating a black plastic back and bottom. For the record, the Exa Ic of 1987 is virtually identical to the last version of the Ib except that it sports a Ic nameplate.
Exa Ib half frame police model looks like a standard Ib with Praktica/Pentax M42 screw mount, but...
Remove pentaprism and you can see 18 x 24mm mask on the underside, and...
Remove the back to reveal the 18 x 24mm film aperture that establishes the half frame format.
The screw mount Exas would merely be a footnote in history were it not for the fact that the factory fabricated a half-frame version for the Stasi, the notorious East German secret police. The model shown looks like a garden variety chrome Exa Ib from the outside but when you examine the underside of the prism finder you can see that it’s masked for the 18x24 mm format, and removing the camera back reveals an 18x24mm film aperture! I’m not sure what they did about the frame counter, but the one on the camera shown looks like a standard issue 36-exposure counter, so maybe they just changed the internal gearing, and you ran the counter through 2 complete cycles.
The half frame Exa was also sold to other police, military, and civilian organizations on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and it was offered in both chrome and black versions. There were also some half framers with Exa Ic nameplates. How many half frame Exas were made over the entire production run is anybody’s guess, but the number is probably in the hundreds, so any half frame Exa Ib or Ic qualifies as a rare bird and a collector’s prize.
Now let’s back up about 17 years to next “real” bayonet-mount Exa, the Exa II of 1960-1969. It bears a close resemblance the Exa I except that it has a fixed (non-interchangeable) prism finder, a less rounded body, and (like the Exa Ia) a film wind lever with coaxial shutter speed dial. However, that dial now provides shutter speed settings from ½ to 1/250 sec, in the modern geometric sequence. How can this be? Swing open the new hinged back and you’re greeted by a conventional horizontal cloth focal plane shutter instead of the distinctive “mirror shutter” of previous Exas! The 1963 version of the Exa II, dubbed the Exa IIa reverted to the more rounded body shape and removable back of the Exa I, added a rewind knob, deleted the neck strap eyelets, and added a shutter lock button on the back. The final 1963-1964 version of the Exa IIa added neck strap lugs and replaced the back-mounted shutter lock button with a lever.
Exa II sporting 50mm f/3.5 Meyer Primotar with external auto diaphragm.
Exa IIIa with 50mm f/2.8 Meyer Domiplan, a mediocre triplet that is said to have attractive bokeh.
The last two classic Exa models, both closely based on the Exa IIa, had cloth focal plane shutters, fixed eyelevel prisms, shutter speed dials, wind levers, and rewind cranks—just like any modern 35mm SLR. The Exa IIb of 1964-1966 and the Exa 500 (aka Exakta 500 or VX 200) both incorporated instant-return mirrors, and the latter had a top shutter speed of 1/500 sec.
Exa IIb with 50mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar.
Exa 500 with 50mm f/2.8 Schacht Travenar R, a good quality Tessar type lens with external auto diaphragm.
In tracing the amazing evolution of the classic Exa from 1951-1969, it’s evident that the elemental Exa slowly became more and more like the Exakta, which may have enhanced its appeal to serious enthusiasts, but came with a loss of its distinctive character as a simple, basic SLR aimed at the aspiring masses. The Exa saga is the unlikely story of how a worthy Spartan SLR literally evolved itself out of existence. Of course the Exakta itself wasn’t too far behind—the Exakta VX 500, the last ”authentic” Exakta based on the landmark Kine Exakta of 1936, officially bit the dust a few years later in 1972.
