The last of the Exas

<p>This is Exa 1C. This was the last model of the Exa’s final series made and marketed until the 1970s. It was popular in Eastern Europe. The Exa 1 [knob wind] and the Exa 1A were made by Ihagee or branded as such. They had the old Exakta mount. The Exa 1C has the M42 mount and was made by Certo. The Exa 1B also had the Bayonet mount mostly. But some late ones seem to have been fitted with the M42 mount.<br /><br />It has the same shutter that the original Exas did with a maximum exposure speed of 1/175 sec. The old Exas had a lever. This one has a dial around the rewind crank. The speeds seem to be continuous without any notches or stops, though the scale is marked on the dial. It has a smallish crank lever wind, as did the Exa 1A and Exa 1B. [The Exa 1 had a knob wind.] It also has a pusher mechanism to operate automatic aperture pins.<br /><br />The body shell is finished in attractive matte Black. It is made of very thin material. The feel is not as solid as that of the old smaller Exas. The shutter, the advance lever and the rewind make a lot of noise. It can take all the M42 lenses and most of the Exakta VX view finders. Some with flanges do not fit.<br /><br />I took this around this Sunday morning around the community and took some pictures here and there. I used the Industar [Eagle eye] 50-2 and the Ultrafine 100 film. In spite of the noisy shutter the vibration was not perceptible. I took almost all the shots at 1/60second.<br /><br /></p><div></div>

<p>Bought this from a German seller for about BP8.00, only the body. I had a spare view finder and the lens. I think this camera was sold fitted with the Meyer Oreston 50mm F/1.8 lens in Europe.</p><div></div>

<p>The shape is streamlined, elegant and handy, the same as what they sold as Exa 500 or Exakta 500. But it feels less sturdy.</p><div></div>

<p>The back comes off separately. It is held by a single key lock in the center of the bottom plate. It also has the thread/socket for the tripod.</p><div></div>

<p>Fresh stuff arrived in the morning. The trucker simply dumped them in front of the store and moved on. The store is more like a Kiosk; there is no storage space.</p><div></div>

<p>Sunday Commuters seem to prefer the tree shade to the Bus shelter.</p><div></div>

<p>Patience to wait is slowly developing; people used to jump signals often.</p><div></div>

<p>These are non-banking finance companies. They earn through loans to traders and individuals. Presently, they offer more loans against gold jewellery. The old fashioned "pawn-broker" in a new <em>avatar.</em></p><div></div>

<p>Volvo-Ford is here in a big way. They make buses, heavy vehicles under Volvo name and cars in Ford name, registered as separate companies, of course.</p><div></div>

<p>The mall is tuned mainly to the newly rich. Common folk do not use the place.</p><div></div>

<p>The lens gets sharp at f/8 and smaller apertures. Fully open, it is a bit on the softer side, possibly designed to make portraits or people pictures. I hope you like the Sunday walk. Thank you for viewing and your comments. sp</p>

Nice and informative walk, Subbarayan. Great shots and commentary that makes me feel like I am there. I was not

familiar with this Exa. Thanks for an enjoyable post.

<p>Enjoyed my Sunday walk with you very much. The arch is an interesting synthesis of old and new, isn't it?</p>

<p>Nice workup of the Exa. I don't have this later, all black version. Mine is the earlier M42 1b model.</p>

<p>It looks good with the Industar. I've used that lens as a stand-in for the old, flat Tessar on some of my early Prakticas. </p>

<p>Very interesting SP thanks for posting.<br>

As an ex electricity supply engineer I'm amazed and somewhat alarmed at the jumble of pole mounted high voltage electrical gubbins outside the "Mall and Gate"</p>

<p>The old EXA is still capable of doing its job. An interesting and enjoyable walk you took us<br>

on.</p>

<p>I rather like the look of the all black Exa. Mine is the Exakta mount. I've wondered how "graduated" the speeds are with the swinging box. I find the Exa a pleasing ergonomic design. I was so pleased the waistfinder that come with mine. I thought wow what a bright finder. Later I realized the difference is the 2.8 lens. All my other waist finder are TLRs with typically 3,5 lenses. The Industar does a nice job. I too lked the arch work! Thanks for the walk !</p>

 

<p>Great looking black camera. Need to find one!</p>

<p>And a great write-up. Thanks, SP. </p>

<p>Both Exa 1b and 1c are really common and cheap on german fleabay. Off course, price is directly be linked to condition and lens and view finder ;-)<br />Remark, while looking for a view finder, usually it's cheaper to buy one mounted on a camera than looking for a solo one ;-)<br>

<br />I have and like very much both of these camera, totaly similar but the metal version (1b) looks older but also feels stronger. They are both fabulous small and light SLR. So small and light that it's ricky to use it mounted on big lens. Perfect for small handed people and also for lefthanded shooter. The shutter release been on the face just up-left (while holding the camera, from the face it's located up-right) of the lens.</p>

<p>Most of the Exakta-mount Exas, by the way, lacked the external mount flanges that were needed for the large Exakta lenses. The mount was interchangeable, however, and the Exa // had the regular mount.<br>

So I think that the problem of balance, etc., that Jean mentions was in the mind of the maker, so to speak. Of course, it doesn't enter in to the M42 mount.</p>

<p>I looked on eBay in the USA, and the prices asked for Exa 1c recently were actually a lot more than I paid a few years ago for members of the breed. Germany and much of Europe is difficult right now for US buyers on cheaper items, since postage has gone even higher than it used to be, even with the dollar higher right now.</p>

<p>Thanks <strong>Mike; </strong>I enjoy these walks. The cyclops view provides some interesting perspectives on the cityscape and the activities therein that I might have missed without the camera. Glad you liked them. <strong>Rod, </strong>I think that for all its simplicity the Exa was well designed and made. Its shutter, rather unique, is as good as any other. I wish they had improved on the basics of this camera rather than adding features. Of course, all the camera makers as well as other manufacturers [eg., car makers] started focusing on features to increase sales rather than improving the basics. <strong>John S, </strong>the electric maze is the result of Post WWII poverty in the supply of copper. So, they started producing Aluminium cables [ACSR]; they are all over the place and do not transmit in a steady flow. The current flows in gushes and there is voltage and frequency fluctuation. To counter that they now have a transformer in every street and every major building. When the voltage drops we call it "government Dim." <strong>CQ </strong>this camera is as good as any<strong>.</strong> I would recommend the "System Exa" made by Rhine Metall. It is very expensive, now. <strong>Jean M, </strong>I witnessed this camera flooded all over Eastern European cities. Quite cherished in the late 70's and 80's with its Oreston lens. <strong>JDM, </strong>I think the best time in the US to buy this and other Dresden equipment was the late 1960s and early 70s. The Certo Exas did not seem to make a big entry into the US. The Europen Postal services seem to be more expensive, now. Deautsch Post, though still has a "small packet" international rate [less than 2Kg] that is reasonable. But most traders seem to prefer their DHL elite Courier services. ORWO quoted me the DHL Courier rates, saying that is what they use usually. I cited the Deutsch Post website and asked them to post via the same. The difference was 6 to 1 in favour of the Post. Strangely the German Post Office seems to own both. sp.</p>

<p><strong>SP</strong>, somehow I overlooked this very interesting post. I've never seen an Exa of this model, and never realised that the manufacturing of Exa had passed to Certo, for this last model. Thanks for the enlightenment, and for another fascinating glimpse of your neighbourhood; the quality of this series seems consistently high.</p>

<p>The Exa 1C wasn't manufactured in the 1970s, but from 1985-87 and it was the last Exa to be built. And my one has a lever for film transport.</p>

<p><img src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/364/32212410406_6d733a5fb1_c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="649" /></p>