Dedicated to the diehard Exakta and Exa fans that recognize Japanese made SLRs are just a passing fad ...
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Very cool. Thanks Stephen!
Vince Lupo
Nobody's Mentor
A few of my favourite Exaktas that I’ve owned over the years...
ex1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
kine1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Exakta VX1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
exakta1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
E1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
vx1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
I don’t presently own one, but who knows, maybe I’ll take the plunge again someday.
ex1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
kine1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Exakta VX1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
exakta1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
E1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
vx1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
I don’t presently own one, but who knows, maybe I’ll take the plunge again someday.
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
Exakta cameras are very neat...most are frustrating to use but they got a nice cool factor.
Any chance for a Praktica dedicated forum?
Any chance for a Praktica dedicated forum?
CharlesDAMorgan
Mentor
Don't have an Exa but I do have a Topcon Super D and an Exakta Varex IIb, the latter just back from an overhaul. A thing of wonder!
tonyzoc
Newbie
Some of my Exaktas...
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
peterm1
Mentor
I have a small selection of Exacta lenses and wish to try to enlarge that collection over time as the opportunity arises. One of the sheer joys of using mirrorless cameras is the ability to adapt and use a whole slew of old lenses of various sorts. Lenses in the Exacta mount used to be quite common and relatively inexpensive but I think that has changed as the reality has hit home of how good some of them are.
I would say this Schneider Munchen Auto Quinaron 35mm f2.8 is perhaps my favorite right now. I would really like to also get the 50mm version but it's quite significantly more pricey than this 35mm one. Not sure why as the 35mm is no slouch in the image making department and no matter how good the 50mm is I doubt this could be much below it in image performance.
I also have this 135mm f4 Triotar which I bought in rough condition but with good optics, for a "snip" and refurbished it. Its also an excellent lens though a little too physically long to be a handy lens.
And finally (for now) another one I really enjoy using is this Schneider tele Xenar 105mm f3.5 which as it turns out is every bit as good a portrait lens as its focal length suggests, rendering especially lovely "rounded" yet sharp images.
I would say this Schneider Munchen Auto Quinaron 35mm f2.8 is perhaps my favorite right now. I would really like to also get the 50mm version but it's quite significantly more pricey than this 35mm one. Not sure why as the 35mm is no slouch in the image making department and no matter how good the 50mm is I doubt this could be much below it in image performance.
I also have this 135mm f4 Triotar which I bought in rough condition but with good optics, for a "snip" and refurbished it. Its also an excellent lens though a little too physically long to be a handy lens.
And finally (for now) another one I really enjoy using is this Schneider tele Xenar 105mm f3.5 which as it turns out is every bit as good a portrait lens as its focal length suggests, rendering especially lovely "rounded" yet sharp images.
Vince Lupo
Nobody's Mentor
Some of my Exaktas...
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
Nice collection! Question for you — do you use the VP at all and, if so, how does it compare to the 35mm versions? I’ve always loved the look of the VP’s but have never owned one.
neal3k
Well-known
My first SLR was given to me by my father-in-law, a pathologist who had no deed for it after he bought a simpler specimen camera from Kodak. This was about 1967.
23 Exakta Vx by Neal Wellons, on Flickr
23 Exakta Vx by Neal Wellons, on Flickr
peterm1
Mentor
This German page has a few examples of Schneider lenses of the era - which were typically available in both M42 and Exakta mount of course . It is in German but if you do not speak the language and if you use MS Edge browser it can translate for you. It includes some optical diagrams too.
https://photobutmore.de/exakta/schneider/
https://photobutmore.de/exakta/schneider/
markjwyatt
Well-known
My new old (nold) Exakta VX. It came with a 58mm f2 Biotar and a 5omm f2.8 Domiplan. I do enjoy shooting it (especially with the Biotar).
Exakta Varex (VX) with Carl Zeiss Jena 58mm f2 Biotar by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr
Exakta Varex (VX) with Carl Zeiss Jena 58mm f2 Biotar by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr
peterm1
Mentor
Folks might enjoy looking at some of Steinheil's beauties for Exakta here:
http://exaktaphile.net/captjack/Steinheil page.htm
And here at the main site for more info on the system
http://exaktaphile.net/captjack/
http://exaktaphile.net/captjack/Steinheil page.htm
And here at the main site for more info on the system
http://exaktaphile.net/captjack/
markjwyatt
Well-known
I think Dearborn Camera sold off all Capt. Jack's collection (maybe they are still selling it). I was in the area (~2 yrs ago) and looked at an item or two (non-Exakta at that time).
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
This seems to be an elusive thread or forum for me, which is why I haven't seen it until now.
So, sorry for the low resolution photos. I don't have any social media type accounts so I have to upload to here, necessitating small photos.
What I have are three VXII's, a VXIIa, and an Exakta 500. I have used all of these recently, including use of the slow and delayed speeds. They are still in very good working order. The VXIIa was capping at 1/1000 when I bought it.
So, sorry for the low resolution photos. I don't have any social media type accounts so I have to upload to here, necessitating small photos.
What I have are three VXII's, a VXIIa, and an Exakta 500. I have used all of these recently, including use of the slow and delayed speeds. They are still in very good working order. The VXIIa was capping at 1/1000 when I bought it.
Attachments
gaheris
Established
Topcor glasses are top, top stuff. I wish I can collect them all!
peterm1
Mentor
If you want to post bigger photos the trick is to open a free account at somewhere like Imgur which is pretty good (there are some others). It even provides HTML to post an image directly into sites like RFF. It is free as I said at least within certain limits (which I have not yet come up against). This makes it very easy - just upload (by a simple drag and drop mechanism) your photo file into an Imgur window and when that process has completed uploading, the image is available in Imgur as a hotlink for RFF. Just look for the heading "Linked BBCode (message boards)" then copy and paste the resulting HTML into your RFF post. It is more simple to do than to explain.
Derek Leath
dl__images Instagram
Derek Leath
dl__images Instagram
Canyongazer
Canyongazer
Charles, I have shot with but never owned the Topcon Super D.
They decided to compete with the Nikon F and in some respects, they did.
The thing is built like a bank vault!
They decided to compete with the Nikon F and in some respects, they did.
The thing is built like a bank vault!
tonyzoc
Newbie
while the VP is fully functional and the shutter curtains light tight, I've never used it with film. It takes 127 film which is harder to come by and develop. If I made the effort I could get some film or do the 120 to 127 conversion hack, and pick up an adjustable developing tank... maybe someday.
As for function... it very much identical to an early Kine Exakta... same shutter speeds and operation. The film wind is a clutch drive that takes about 2 1/2 cranks to wind the frame and cock the shutter. The lens is uncoated and WL viewfinder a bit dim.