Exa 1a, front view |
lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar
focal length: 50mm
Exa 1a, top view |
focus range: 0.5 m to infinity
lens fitting: Exakta bayonet
shutter: Exakta mirror shutter
speeds: 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/175
flash: PC connector, bulb or electronic synch
film size: 35 mm
The Exa 1a was introduced in 1964 and was produced until 1977. In some markets it was called Elbaflex 175, Exakta 100 or VX 100. The Exa II range were made concurrently with the EXA I range. The camera can be dated by the origin engraved on the top plate. This ranged from 'Ihagee Dresden' to 'aus Dresden', the Pentacon tower, to 'Dresden' to no engraving. Mine has 'aus Dresden'. The back of the camera has 'MADE IN GDR' stamped in the leatherette as well as '1' in a triangle. The '1' in a triangle is a quality mark indicating the finished product is of the first quality. (There were briefly two Ihagees - the original Dresden Ihagee in East Germany and a new Ihagee formed by the pre-war owner in West Germany - this camera was made in East Germany.)
This is an idiosyncratic camera in some ways. The camera is rather wide front to back (150 mm) in the middle and narrows at each end with the typical Exakta trapezoidal shape. The shutter release is on the left side on the front and presses in rather than down. The shutter release continues through a lug on the lens which shuts down the iris diaphragm just before the shutter is released. The shutter it self is idiosyncratic - it is neither an leaf shutter in the lens nor a focal plane shutter next top the film. Rather, the mirror acts as the shutter in a way that I do not quite understand - but see here for details. The viewfinder and pentaprism are removable, the focussing screen replaceable and the whole thing can be replaced with a waist-level finder.
Ihagee did not make lenses so the Exa 1a was supplied with various lenses. My Exa 1a has a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar (as opposed to a Carl Zeiss Opton Tessar from West Germany) dating from 1970. It is a f2.8 50mm lens with an Ihagee bayonet fitting. Any Exakta or Exa lens should fit although I am told that long lenses (i.e. 100 mm) will cause vignetting. There is an idiosyncratic aspect to teh Ihagee bayonet - it is, in fact, two bayonets - one inside the mouth (for most lenses) and one outside the mouth for larger lenses. The lens focusses from 0.5 m to infinity and has apertures from f2.8 to f22 available in 1/2 stop click positions. As mentioned above, the shutter release acts through a lug on the lens and stops the lens down as it releases the shutter.
Shutter speeds are 1/30, 1/60, 1/125 and 1/175 (+ B). Because of the way the mirror is used as the shutter, faster shutter speeds are not possible. On the shutter speed dial there is a red dot for synchronising the shutter for flash. For electronic flash this is 1/60 seconds and for bulb flash it is 1/30 seconds but the actual setting is against a lightning icon for electronic flash and against a bulb icon for bulb flash. There is a lever to the left of the viewfinder that will lock the shutter to prevent accidental exposures - a feature I wish more cameras would have.
There is no accessory shoe for a flash gun but grooves around the viewfinder eyepiece suggest that an optional shoe might have been available. This does not matter to me - I never use flash - except I usually put a film type reminder in the accessory shoe to remind me that there is a film loaded and which type it is.
The film advance lever is rather small but moves the film on with one movement. In the centre of the film advance is the frame counter A wheel under the the film advance sets a reminder for the type of film in use - DIN, ASA, negative or reversal.
The viewfinder gives a 1:1 view of the scene and with the focussing screen supplied is clear and bright. As is usual with a new old camera, near the end of my test film I am beginning to use the camera automatically. I also have a waist-level viewfinder for this camera.