Exakta 66 (vertical)
See also the earlier horizontal Exakta 6×6 and the West German Exakta 66 of 1986.
1955 advertisement for the Exakta 66 scanned by Nesster (Image rights) |
The Exakta 66 vertical model is an SLR camera for 6×6 cm pictures on 120 film, launched at the September 1952 Leipzig Autumn Fair by Ihagee of Dresden, East Germany[1]. It was made for a few years from 1953 (McKeown dates it to 1953-4,[2] and an article in a 1953 edition of Exakta magazine states that the camera would probably be available before the end of that year;[3] the camera was certainly still available in 1958.[4] It replaced the earlier, horizontally-oriented Exakta 6×6 of 1939 and its short-lived successor prototype of 1951, which was withdrawn because of production problems.[2] It is completely different in design from that camera. The film is loaded in interchangeable backs, and runs vertically, with the supply spool at the bottom.[5]
The camera has a cloth focal-plane shutter with a very wide range for the period — 12 seconds to 1/1000th plus 'B' and 'T'. The speed is set with separate fast and slow speed dials on the right hand side of the body. The upper dial sets speeds from 1/25 - 1/1000 second, 'B' and 'T'; the lower dial has separate scales for 1 - 12 seconds, and for 1/5 - 6 seconds (this second slow speed scale is for use with the self-timer).[5] The shutter release is a button on the bottom right corner of the front. It is threaded for a cable release.
The shutter is synchronised for flash, with a PC socket on the left shoulder of the body. The synchronisation delay is adjustable for bulb and electronic flash, with a dial on the left side of the body. There is no accessory shoe, but the camera has two ¼-inch tripod bushes, to which a flash holder might attach (a bulb flash is in the 1958 price list[4]). In addition to the tripod mounts, the camera also has a table-stand at the front, so that it will stand upright on a flat surface.
A range of high-quality interchangeable lenses was made for the camera. The standard lens is an 80 mm f/2.8 Tessar with preset aperture: McKeown states that lenses between 56 mm and 400 mm were made.[2] The lenses have helical focusing, and a bayonet mount. Some of the lenses are illustrated in a 1953 edition of 'Exakta' magazine,[3] and the article refers to Meyer f/3.5 Primotar lenses in 85, 165 and 180 mm, and f/5.5 Tele-Megors in 150, 180, 250 and 400 mm; a rather smaller range of lenses (and only long focal lengths) is in the 1958 price list.[4] As with other Exakta cameras, extension tubes and a bellows were available for close-up work.[4]
The viewfinder is interchangeable. The standard finder is a folding waist-level hood, with a loupe and the facility to fold the front panel to form a frame finder, familiar on TLR cameras. The user's manual refers to a pentaprism finder as 'in preparation':[5] however, the advertisement shown here does not mention this attractive accessory at all, and it is not in the 1958 price list.[4] No example has been seen with an Ihagee prism; one was sold at Christie's in 2003 with the prism from a Kowa camera fitted.[6] The focusing screen includes a magnifying lens (i.e. it is a condenser with a ground bottom surface), and this is also interchangeable with a 'special' one according to the manual (presumably allowing for alternative screens to be introduced later; perhaps ones incorporating a split-prism rangefinder spot).
Between the two speed dials is the film advance winder, which also tensions the shutter. Frame spacing is automatic, and there is a frame counter above the winding knob. There is a double-exposure prevention interlock, which has an override mechanism (this is stated in the advertisement shown here, and in the article about the camera in 'Exakta' magazine,[3] but it is not explained in the user's manual.[5]
Exakta 66 image by Danipuntocom (Image rights) |
Notes
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Links
- Examples sold in past auctions by Westlicht Photographica Auction in Vienna:
- Exakta 66 serial no. 600074, sold at the 21st auction, on 23 May 2012.
- Exakta 66 serial no. 600089, sold at the thirteenth auction, on 7 June 2008.
- Exakta 66 serial no 600243, sold at the nineteenth auction, on 28 May 2011.
- Exakta 66 serial no. 601002, with extension tubes, sold at the fifth auction, on 29 May 2004.
- The Ihagee page of Peter Lanczak's site features a picture and a repair manual for the vertical Exakta 6×6