Pentax SP 1000 review

The Spotmatics were the first autoexposure SLR - or, at least, the first successful autoexposure SLR. They built on Pentax's earlier success with the manual SLRs. Despite the name, the exposure system was not a spot system but was a centre weighted system. 

The Sp1000 (and SP500, which was introduced at the same time) built on the design of the original Spotmatic. For anyone who is used to SLR cameras from the 1960s and 70s there are no surprises here, partly because this camera helped to define the genre.

So - a general description. The camera measures 143 by 92 by 88 mm and weighs 610 g (body alone). This is heavy by modern standards - particularly compared to Pentax's later K-mount ME series. I have no objection to weight in a camera if only because weight helps with stability and results in less camera shake.

The layout of the camera is pretty much standard. On the left is a fold-away rewind crank. Around this is an aide memoire for the type of film in use. This gives the options of Empty, Panchro(matic), daylight colour and tungsten colour. The Empty setting is particularly useful as I often have more than one film camera on the go and on occasion open a camera only to find a part-used film inside.  Panchro refers to black-and-white film (which is usually panchromatic). The two colour options are for outside and inside use respectively and refer to the white balance of the film.

In the centre of the top plate is the lump of the pentaprism with the viewfinder behind. Traditionally, this is where the accessory shoe is put but the SP1000 has no accessory shoe as standard. Those who needed one could buy one as an optional extra which fitted into a groove around the viewfinder surround.

To the right of the pentaprism is the speed selector. For shutter speeds this simply turns to click-stops and it is quite possible to move directly from 1/1000 to B. 1/60 is marked with a red X to indicate that this is the electronic flash synch speed. The shutter speed dial also doubles as the film speed dial. to alter the film speed, it is necessary to lift the dial and turn. Film speeds are from 20 ASA to 1600 ASA. No DIN scale is available but the selector moves in 1/3 stop click-stops each of which is equal to one degree DIN. (For my younger readers, ASA = ISO [very nearly!])

To the right of the selector dial is the film advance lever. This is metal and is slightly curved to allow the user's thumb to access it. I prefer this to Pentax's later style of a plastic tipped lever that stands proud of the body.

The centre of the film advance contains the frame counter. This automatically resets to -2 when the back is opened. When you advance the new film to get rid of the fogged portion on loading, the counter will point to zero.

Between the selector dial and film advance and slightly forward of them is the shutter release button. This is threaded for a standard cable release.

The front of the camera has three items (the back is entirely clean). These are the meter switch and two PC (Prontor-Compur) flash connectors. The meter switch switches on the TTL (Through The Lens) meter and stops down the diaphragm. This is basically a shutter priority system.  The user sets the required shutter speed and then turns the aperture ring until the needle in the viewfinder is centred. When you switch off the meter (and you need to remember to or you will rapidly flatten the battery) the diaphragm should then open again to allow you to finesse the composition. On my specimen, this does not happen, I assume from the lack of use as it will eventually open itself. The diaphragm stop-down system operated by the shutter release works fine as this is a completely separate system.

The two PC flash connectors are marked for FP and X. FP is for fast flash bulbs and will synch at any shutter speed. X is for electronic flash and will only synch at 1/60 or slower.

Pentax ME Super and automatic

This is a very compact SLR from Pentax, Japan.  By the time of the K-mount cameras, the company had changed its name from Asahi to Pentax.  Originally, the Pentax name belonged to the East German Zeiss Ikon as a contraction of PENtaprism conTAX.  This camera is a development of the Spotmatic series.

Pentax ME Super front view showing K-mount bayonet

lens: Sirius automatic
focal length: 28mm
apertures:  n/a
focus range:  0.2m to infinity
lens fitting:  K mount bayonet
shutter:  vertical metal focal plane
speeds: 4 seconds to 1/1000 seconds
flash:  hot shoe plus PC connector
film size:  35mm

The camera has an automatic exposure system that has aperture priority, the user setting the the required aperture and the camera selecting the shutter speed.  There is also a fully manual setting, the shutter speed being set by + and - buttons.

The top plate is rather cluttered.  Starting on the left there is a combined rewind crank, film rewind crank, film speed setting (marked ASA) and exposure compensation.  The rewind crank is standard for the age of camera.  It folds out and is nearly too small for large hands.  Around this is a slightly knurled ring to set exposure compensation in one stop steps: +2 stops to -2 stops. Lifting the slightly knurled ring allows you to set the speed of the film for the light meter.  This runs from 12 ASA to 1600 ASA. That range is pretty much standard for automatic exposure cameras.  This is adjustable in one third stops which equates to a single degree DIN - there is no DIN scale available: even the Germans had gone over to ASA only by this time, at least on export models.

In the centre of the top plate, on top of the pentaprism, is an accessory shoe with contacts for flash. This has the central contact that has become standard, and a smaller offset contact that is specific to Pentax flashguns.  This second contract allows elementary communication between camera and flashgun and lets the flashgun set the shutter speed to 1/125 seconds (the synchronisation speed) without the user doing anything.  With other flashguns it is necessary to set the shutter speed to 1/125 manually. There is a red cross embossed in the base of the accessory shoe to indicate that it is suitable for electronic flash.

In addition to the hot shoe connections there is also a PC (Prontor-Compur) socket.  This has two uses. First, it allows you to use a simple flashgun with no hot-shoe connection.  The second use is to allow the photographer to use off-camera flashguns.  This is of particular use in a studio where the photographer might have two or three flashguns all triggered from the camera.

Next to the accessory shoe on the right are a couple of buttons.  These are not marked - the markings by them refer to the mode dial.  These two buttons are used to set the shutter speed in manual mode - one button increases shutter speed, the other decreases it.

Beside the buttons is the mode dial.  This has five settings - Lock, Auto, Manual, 1/125x and B.  to turn this mode dial, you need to press down a very small white button on the dial pointer.  This is not impossible but I find it very hard to do.

The Lock position locks the shutter release button.  There are two reasons why using this is important. First, it prevents you taking accidental photographs while handling the camera.  The second reason is that partially pressing the shutter release activates the metering system and slight accidental pressure will run the batteries down.

Auto is the expected way of using this camera.  In this mode, the user sets the required aperture on the lens and the camera will decide on the shutter speed.  Cameras of this age do not have any electronic connection between the body and lens, communication being by two small levers.  In Auto mode, the camera selects the exact shutter speed needed for a good exposure, not just they nearest standard speed. The shutter speed selected is indicated by a LED on the left side of teh viewfinder.  The speed indicated will be the nearest standard speed even if the actual speed is slightly more or less.  These indicator LEDs are in different colours.  Green means OK, yellow means a slow speed and a tripod is advised and red means no good.

Manual mode allows for manual operation of the camera (a bit of a give away in the name there!). Here, the user must select both aperture and shutter speed.  Shutter speeds are restricted to the standard speeds in one stop steps.

1/125x is for using non-Pentax flash guns.  Shutter speed is 1/125 and the user must calculate the aperture from the flashgun's guide number and the distance to the subject.  The reason electronic flashguns need a specific synch. speed with focal plane shutters is that the shutter exposes the film by a moving slit.  Shutter speed is determined by the width of the slit.  The flash from an electronic flash is very brief (1/10 000 seconds or so compared to 1/10 seconds for a flash bulb) and the width of the slit needs to be the width of the negative.  If you use electronic flash at a higher shutter speed, only a narrow portion of the negative will be exposed.

The last mode, B, is an extension on manual mode where the photographer must time the shutter himself - the automatic system only going as long as four seconds.

In the centre of the the mode dial is the shutter release button.  This is threaded for a standard cable release.  As already mentioned, partially pressing this button will activate the metering system.

To the far right of the top plate is the film advance lever.  This has a closed position with the lever parked over the top plate and a rest position where the lever sticks out at about thirty degrees.  The lever moves through about 130 degrees to advance the film one frame.  By the tip of this lever when in the parked position, there is a small window.  When you take a picture this turns to black.  When you wind on the film, this changes to red.  This is supposed to tell you if the camera is ready to use or no.  I find it easier to gently turn the film advance.  If it will not move, the camera is ready.  In front of the film advance is the frame counter.  Opening the camera resets this to -2 (indicated by a red dot).  On loading a film, you need to wind on the fogged start of the film which is two frames. Once you have done this, the counter will be at zero.

On the front right of the camera is a delayed action lever.  To use this, you turn it through 90 degrees to set it and then to activate it you nudge it upwards.  You then have ten seconds to get yourself in the frame.

On the bottom plate are a number of items.  In line with the lens is a tripod boss.  This is the standard 1/4 inch Whitworth.  Next to this is a battery cover.  this takes two button batteries of 400 size.  The meter electronics have a bridge circuit which means the exact voltage from the batteries is not important so when using alkaline batteries you can continue to use them safely until they are entirely flat.

At the opposite end of the base plate is what looks like another battery cover.  Under this is a mechanical connector for a motor-wind unit.  There are also three electrical contacts in a line which I assume are also for the motor-wind unit.

On the back is one of the most useful innovations in photography - a holder for the end-flap of the film carton.  Using this, you always have a reminder of the type of film in the camera.

Also on the back is a strange indicator.  this consists of a small window with black and red stripes in it. When the film moves - either advancing or rewinding - these stripes wobble.  The benefit is twofold - it tells you the film is inserted correctly and is advancing and it also tells you the film is rewinding.  When rewinding film, when these stripes stop wobbling you cans top rewinding.

The lens I am using with this camera is a Sirius 28mm macro lens.  Although Sirius call it a macro lens it is not really as the best reproduction ratio is 1:4 - macro is usually taken as being 1:1.

The lens focusses down to 0.2m (8 inches for my older readers) which is why Sirius call it a macro lens.  Looking on the Interweb, this lens does not have a good reputation but I shall make up my own mind when the test film is finished.  The claimed fault is that the lens is very soft.

Any softness apart, this lens is a delight to use.  Both the aperture ring and focusing ring are easy to find by feel - the aperture ring has wide ribs and the focussing ring has a coarse rubber knurling.

Focussing is through very nearly a complete circle giving very precise control over focussing.  this compares well with my modern Canon EOS lenses that only move through 80 to 90 degrees.

This lens is a prime lens and is multicoated.  The focussing scale is in both metres and feet which will benefit some although I am entirely metric.  The lens is made for a more modern K-mount standard than the camera.  The lens contains electronics (I can clearly see a resistor through the mount end) and has two electrical contacts in the bayonet.  The camera mount is plain machined, chrome-plated brass. However, this lens fits well and works well with this camera - the more modern K-mount is clearly backwards compatible with the original K-mount.

Praktica MTL5B helios 44M

This is my second Praktica (the other one being a Praktica TL3).  It is in good condition - including the battery compartment - and came with a number of extras.  These were a Vivitar 2x teleconverter (M42 thread so usable with my other M42 thread cameras), a Praktica flash, a Leningrad light meter and a cheap but quite good carry bag.

Praktica MTL 5B

lens:  Helios-44M

focal length:   58 mm

apertures:  2 - 16

focus range:  0.55m to infinity

lens fitting:  M42 thread

shutter:  horizontal cloth focal plane

speeds:  1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000

flash:  Hot shoe, no PC connector

film size: 35 mm

This is a fairly standard late 70s to mid-80s SLR camera.  It is squarish and heavy with minimal use of plastics.  It is 150mm by 95mm by 55mm, not counting the lens.  The controls are standard for the time and where you would expect to find them.  The film advance is on the top right of the camera and is a lever which moves about a quarter of a turn.  At this late date, advancing the film also cocks the shutter.  Next to the film advance is the combined shutter speed selector and film speed setting control.  Shutter speeds are noted above and are all any photographer could realistically want.  Film speed can be set from 12 DIN/12 ASA to 33 DIN/1600 ASA.  The setting can be changed in one DIN increments (one third of a stop).

The camera came with a Soviet Helios-44M lens which is not original.  The Helios-44 lenses have a very good reputation - they are good copies of the Carl Zeiss Biotar lens - and this one is in very good, clean condition.  It is an automatic version of the lens - I also have a manual Helios-44 lens which came with my Zenit E - with a switch  to change between manual diaphragm and automatic diaphragm.  The aperture can be changed in half stops which is an improvement on my other Helios-44 lens.

The shutter release is an angled button on the right face of the camera.  My finger falls fairly naturally on this and it is comfortable to use.  Right by this button is a plastic lever which actuates the TTL metering system.  In use, you put your finger on the shutter release and instead of pushing down, you push towards yourself.  The diaphragm closes and the needle in the right side of the viewfinder moves.  You then adjust either the shutter speed or aperture to get the needle lined up with the notch in the middle (this is basically a match-needle type of meter).  It is designed as a shutter priority system, the idea being that you set the shutter speed with the camera away from your eye and then move the camera to eye level and adjust the aperture ring with your left hand while pressing the meter lever with your right hand.  Used this way, it is fairly easy to use.  If, like me, you prefer aperture priority metering, you need to set the aperture first and then adjust the shutter speed while looking through the viewfinder.  It is just about possible to do this but it is very awkward to do.  I am finding myself moving the camera down to adjust the shutter speed which makes the whole operation slower and less fluid.  The meter is powered by a 1.33V button battery.  originally, this would have been a mercury cell which is now not available.  I am using a same sized silver button of 1.5V which will cause a slight mis-reading of the meter but of less than a stop so this will not be a problem with negative film.  With reversal (slide) film this might be a problem.

Focusing this camera is a delight.  The focusing screen carries the usual plain ground glass screen with a micro-prism circle and a split-image centre.  However, the split-image part on this camera is diagonal. With a standard horizontal split-image centre, it is necessary to find a strong vertical to focus on.  With this camera either a strong vertical or a strong horizontal will work as will a strong diagonal.  When I was using this camera to photograph a bush earlier today, there were no verticals, horizontals or diagonals I could focus on. I used the micro-prism circle which also worked well.  For those who have never used a micro-prism focusing screen, what you do is focus until the micro-prisms disappear.  The further from focus you are, the more prominent the micro-prisms are.  Once you can not make out the micro-prisms (or until they are as indistinct as you can make them) the image is in focus.

Below the shutter release there is a self-timer (Vorlaufwerk in German) which works by turning the small lever through 180 degrees and then pressing the centre button to actuate the shutter instead on using the shutter release button.  This does work on my camera but not well.  It is very hesitant and stops for significant times but the mechanism is clockwork and has probably not been used for the thirty years since the camera was new.

The left side of the camera is bare apart from the rewind crank.  This is the normal small folding crank  that became usual during the 1960s.  It is released by pressing a button on the base of the camera.

The other external features are a frame counter beside the film advance lever which is reset by opening the back of the camera.  This counts up from one.  I prefer the Voigtlander system from the 1950s where the frame counter counted down to tell you how many frames are left but this did not become the industry standard.  There is also an accessory shoe which is a hot shoe in flash terms.  There is no PC connector (these had become pass? by the time this camera was made) so flash must by on-camera flash or the photographer must buy a third-party flash attachment to allow studio flash.  The tripod boss is not on the base plate but moved forward onto the underneath of the lens mount.  This will give better balance when using longer lenses and is something I have not seen on more upmarket cameras although it makes a lot of sense.

The outside of the camera is 'silver' plastic top and bottom plate and a padded leatherette which is very nice to hold.  This is a big improvement on the standard leatherette on my Praktica TL3.

Inside is mostly standard film SLR layout.  The shutter is a metal vertical focal plane shutter.  Superficially, this is the same as on my Canon SLRs with several horizontal metal strips.  However, the fixing does not look as sophisticated as the Canon's shutter.  It does, however, work well and offers shutter speeds up to 1/1000 and flash synchronisation at 1/125.

This camera has automatic film loading.  You pull the film leader out to the green mark on the right and wind on.  One of two metal loops will then pull the film onto the sprockets and around the spool.  This works very well although the manual mentions that with particularly curly film it might be necessary to manually move the metal loop over the film.

Light seals are foam by the hinge of the back and black 'string' along the top and bottom of the recess the back fits into.  These pieces of string look rather amateurish but have the advantage that they will not deteriorate like foam always does.  On this camera the string light seals as as good as new while the foam light seal by the hinge is reduced to a sticky mess and needs to be replaced.

Fujiama Emi K 35 attractive

Emi K 35

The Emi K 35 was made by the Oshiro Optical Works in Japan in 1956.  It is quite an attractive and well made little camera but basic in the facilities it offers.
lens:  Fujiyama Eminent Color
focal length:  50 mm
apertures: 2.8 to 16
focus range: 3 feet to infinity
lens fitting: fixed
shutter:  own make
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/300
flash: PC connector, X synch
film size: 35 mm

The camera is heavy, being made from die cast metal (presumably aluminium alloy) including the hinged back.  It measures 125 mm by 70 mm by 80 mm tall.  The main body is covered in black leatherette and the top and bottom plates are satin stainless steel.

The shutter release button is next to a raised part of the top plate and with my large hands it is a bit awkward to get my finger on it.  Film advance is by a lever.  in my camera, the spring that returns the film advance lever to its rest position is broken so it is necessary to put it back in place manually.  however, the lever still advances the film and cocks the shutter, so this camera is quite usable.  

The viewfinder is small, but no smaller than Voigtlander were offering at the same time.  There are no frame lines in the viewfinder, so I assume the total image is what will be recorded on the film.  on taking the camera apart to look at the broken film advance spring, I saw a square cut-out in the front of the top plate that is normally masked by the 'Emi K' logo on the front of the camera.  This suggests that a rangefinder was considered at some point in the design - either to be offered on another model or abandoned for this model.

One the left of the top plate is the film rewind which is a small crank (very small!) which is fairly difficult to use.  This crank pulls up to release the cassette for removal.  The only other thing on the top plate is an accessory shoe - a 'cold' shoe in flash terms.  For flash, there is a PC connector at the bottom of the shutter housing.

The lens is a Fujiyama Eminent Color lens.  There is a red 'C' on the lens bezel which I am sure indicates that the lens is coated (just about normal for 1956).  The whole shutter housing/lens assembly seems to be well designed and well made but feels a bit plasticky compared to Prontor shutters.  Actually, the shutter housing is plastic which is not actually a bad thing so long as it is used thoughtfully.

The inside is as you would expect - a recess for the film cassette, machined guides for the film, a sprocket wheel to advance the film and a fixed take-up spool.  I am very much in favour of fixed take-up spools.  Zeiss Ikon and Ihagee both used removable spools and I spend too much of my time on my hands and knees retrieving the spool when using those cameras.  The camera back has the expected pressure plate (generously sized) and 'Zeiss bumps' in the leatherette.  'Zeiss bumps' are formed when the rivets holding components together react chemically with the metals used.  The back is aluminium alloy and I suspect the rivets are steel.

The base of the camera has a central tripod boss - 1/4 inch Whitworth.  There are no strap lugs on this camera - the manufacturers will have expected the user to use the 'ever-ready' case that will have been supplied with the camera.

Ikonta 520 novar

This is a medium format camera (i.e. takes 120 film) from Zeiss Ikon.  It is a half-frame camera - 6 x 4.5 cm negative - which is half of a standard 120 frame of 6 x 9 cm.

Ikonta 520, front view

lens: Novar
focal length:  75mm
apertures: f6.3 to f32
focus range: 4'6" to infinity (that is the scale, actually about 4 feet)
lens fitting: fixed
shutter: Derval
speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, B, T
flash: n/a
film size: 120

The body is made from cast aluminium.  This body casting is shared between the Ikonta 520, Bob 510 and Nettar 515. It is quite hard to understand why Zeiss Ikon shared the body between three different camera lines instead of calling them all Ikonta (the oldest name) seeing as Bob, Ikonta and Nettar all come with a range of lenses and shutters and can be considered to be one range in effect if not in name.

So, this Ikonta.  The lens is a Novar which is a triplet and performs surprisingly well once stopped down to f8 or smaller.  Ikontas were also available with Tessars at a higher price and wider aperture Novars.  The Novar on this camera is quite a slow lens with a maximum aperture of f6.3.  The focussing is front cell only, rather than the whole lens moving (giving not quite so good image quality) and the focussing scale is in feet indicating that the camera is an official import into the UK.

The shutter is an everset Derval (everset means it does not need cocking before firing as a Klio or Compur would).  This is a fairly crude (and so cheap) shutter with two blades only and only offers three speeds: 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100.  With a slow lens like this camera has, faster shutter speeds would have been superfluous, particularly with the slow, by modern standards, films available in the 1930s.

Detail of rim-set shutter adjuster on Derval shutter

The shutter is a dial set shutter which means that the speed adjustment is by a dial set above the shutter housing.  More modern shutters have a rim set adjuster which is a ring around the shutter housing.  This shutter does not have a V (=Vorlaufwerk) setting for delayed action and as is usual with cameras made before the late 1940s, there is no flash connection or synchronisation.

As I mentioned, the maximum aperture is rather small at f6.3 but the minimum aperture is surprisingly small - f32 - so the range of exposures possible is still respectably large.

A standard photograph with this camera (as with the Bob 510 and Nettar 515) is in portrait format and in this orientation the shutter release is underneath the camera and is uncomfortable to use.  To take landscape pictures, the camera must be used on its side and the shutter release is on the side and easy to use.

Exa 500 exakta

This is my fourth Ihagee camera and my third Exa.  The original Exa was a cut-down low-cost version of the Exakta and then the Exa line developed in its own right.

The Exa 500 is the end of the line for Exa cameras  and was developed after Ihagee was subsumed into VEB Pentacon, the state camera manufacturer.  The lineage from the Exakta is apparent in the shape.  This camera still has the rhomboidal shape introduced with the original 127 format Exakta in 1933.  It also still has the shutter release on the left, although the film advance is now on the right.  Another change is the fixed pentaprism viewfinder, so I cannot use the delightful waist level finder with this camera.

The immediate predecessor of this camera was the Exa II.  The body of the Exa IIa and this Exa 500 are identical although there are some internal differences.

The Exa 500 has a vertical cloth focal plane shutter which travels from bottom to top.  This shutter provides speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 seconds plus B.  This means it is twice as fast as the Exa II.  There are two flash settings: 1/60 for electronic flash and 1/15 for flash bulbs. This camera follows the Exa standard and flash synch is achieved by aligning a dot on the speed dial with either a zigzag icon or a bulb icon.  On the front of the body is a single PC connector.

This camera also has a shutter lock beside the viewfinder - cover the red dot to shoot, uncover to store the camera.  The only other real change between the Exa II and the Exa 500 is that the Exa 500 has an instant return mirror so the viewfinder does not go blank when you fire a shot.

Like other Exakta/Exa cameras, the film take-up spool is removable and can be replaced with an empty film cassette.  Doing this obviates the need to rewind the film but it does cost you one frame of film.  There is no internal knife to cut the film like the Exaktas have so this must be done after opening the back.  The only real advantage of this is the possibility of developing half a roll of film but I cannot imaging that many people have ever bothered.

The film advance is on the right as is normal in non-Ihagee cameras.  It has quite a short stroke of just over 90 degrees (compared to the Exakta Varex II where the advance travels about 300 degrees).

The back of these cameras come away from the camera body in one piece with the base.  This is supposed to make it easier to load film but I find this method harder.

Exa cameras were supplied with a variety of lenses depending on how much the customer wanted to pay.  This camera has a Meyer-Optik Domiplan.  this is a triplet design so not as good as the Tessar option, but the Domiplan performs well enough when stopped down.  The lens is a semi-automatic lens - the diaphragm closes when the shutter release is pressed but stays open for composition and focussing.

The Domiplan achieves this automation by a hinged lug that protrudes over the shutter release - the photographer presses this lug which in turn presses the shutter release.

This mechanism in the Domiplan lens has a weak link that is prone to seizing but this particular lens performs ok.  My other Domiplan lens needed the mechanism cleaning with naptha before it would work satisfactorily.

This camera would also work with my Exa fit Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar (we need to specify Carl Zeiss Jena in contradiction to Carl Zeiss Opton, the new (at the time) Carl Zeiss operation in West Germany.  East German Carl Zeiss Jena lenses are generally better than Carl Zeiss Opton lenses).

In use, this camera is much as you would expect.  The shutter speed selector is rather loose and I was not sure I was actually selecting any speed, but I tried exposures at various shutter speeds and they have all come out well exposed so the shutter speed selector must be doing its job.

There is a red flag in the viewfinder to tell you that you need to advance the film before taking the next shot.  in previous Exa cameras this was not necessary as the mirror would only return to the viewing position when you had wound on.  In this model, the mirror is an instant return mirror and it would seem that the makers thought users might get confused with such sophistication.

Exakta Varex IIb heavy

This is one of Ihagee's 'serious' cameras.  It is very similar to the two Exas I already own but has more facilities and is built to a higher standard.  It is the usual Exakta/Exa rhomboidal shape.  On my two Exa cameras, the back and base come away as one to allow film loading.  The Varex IIb is more traditional with a hinged back.  This back, however, is also removable if you want.

Exakta Varex IIb as I bought it

lens: none
focal length:  n/a
apertures: n/a
focus range: n/a
lens fitting: Exakta double bayonet
shutter: horizontal cloth focal plane
speeds: 12 seconds to 1/1000 seconds
flash: three PC connectors, no accessory shoe
film size:  35mm

The camera is heavy, weighing 581g without lens or viewfinder.  It is left-handed.  The film advance is on the left as is the shutter release and one of the two (yes, two) shutter speed selectors.

This camera came without a lens and has both (yes, both) the Exakta bayonet mounts so this camera will take any Exakta fit lens.  Strictly, this is a Varex IIa type bayonet as it has slots at the inner bayonet flanges (not sure why).

The reason for having two bayonet mounts on one camera is that the original mount restricted the width of attached lenses.  When Ihagee developed telephoto lenses, there was too much vignetting of the image to be usable.  the new bayonet mount has a wider diameter and so allows wider lenses to be fitted.  (note: I am using the word 'wider' in a mechanical sense, not in its other, optical, sense.)

The shutter release is beside the lens mount to allow the use of automatic lenses.  In the Exakta system, the lens has a secondary shutter release which fits over the camera's shutter release.  When you press the lens' secondary release, the lens diaphragm closes and the primary release is pressed, actuating the shutter.

The shutter is a horizontal cloth focal plane shutter.  On this particular specimen, the shutter is faulty.  The mechanism sounds dry (there is a faint but clear squeal when the shutter actuates), the second curtain is significantly wrinkled and, at the slower speeds, the second curtain doesn't quite close.  At 1/1000, it works fine.

This is the only camera I have seen that has two speed selectors.  On the left is a small conventional selector that covers speeds from 1/30 to 1/1000 plus B and T.  This works in a fairly conventional manner - lift, turn to the required speed and release.

slow speed selector

fast speed selector

On the right of the camera is another speed selector which covers speeds from 1/8 to 12 seconds.  These figures are in black.  This selector also provides a delay of up to six seconds (using the figures in red).  When using the delay, you also get mirror lock up so reduced vibration can be achieved when using the macro attachment - a facility that no other of my SLRs has until my Canon EOS of 1995.  In the centre of the slow speed selector there is a film speed reminder dial.  As this camera is totally manual, this dial does nothing except remind you what film you have loaded into the camera.

Another quirky thing about Exakta cameras is the film advance lever.  This moves through over 300 degrees which is more than you can do in one motion.  I am actually finding this ok but I start the motion with my left thumb for the first half of the travel and then my left index finger takes over.  Around the film advance lever there is a frame counter.  This counts up from zero - so tells you how many frames you have shot.  It is also quirky as the frame count changes when you press the shutter release rather than when you advance the film.

Exakta cameras have exchangeable viewfinders.  When I bought this camera, there was no viewfinder with it, just a rectangular hole in the top plate.  I have two viewfinders for my Exa cameras and these fit this camera so I have a choice of an eye-level finder and a waist level finder.

Moving to the front of the camera, there is little to note.  As I have mentioned, there is a double bayonet mount and a shutter release.  There are also three (yes, three) PC connectors for a flash gun.  Ihagee seem to have tried to be as idiosyncratic as possible with there cameras.  Rather than go down the route used by Prontor and Compur (hence PC) and have a switch to select between bulb and electronic flash, Ihagee have provided separate connectors , one for electronic flash and two for flash bulbs.

In fact, the three PC connectors can be used in various ways to allow different shutter speeds.  Using the X connector and a shutter speed of 1/60 allows use of electronic flash.  Using the FP (Focal Plane) connector allows shutter speeds up to 1/1000 seconds which is an incredibly fast shutter speed for flash.  The manual gives guide numbers for different bulbs and shutter speeds - the fast speeds being achieved because the flashbulbs suitable for the FP connector have a flash duration of around 1/40 second and so are burning throughout the expossure.  The F (Fast) connector allows small fast flashbulbs to be used with a shutter speed of 1/30.  The X (Electronic) connector can also be used with a shutter speed of 1/8 with any flashbulb.  I am not sure how much advantage is given to the photographer with the above choices, but I almost never use flash and have never used flashbulbs, so I am likely to be missing the point.

Underneath the camera are four knobs.  The smallest of these unscrews to allow the use of an internal knife to cut the film when an empty cassette is used in place of the take-up spool.  Next to this is the rewind knob with a small folding crank.  At the other end of the camera is a knob which is pull away from the camera to release the catch on the back.  Between these two knobs is the tripod boss which is the standard 1/4 Whitworth tread.

The outside of the back has two small chrome rectangles and one large chrome rectangle.  These are the fitting for internal components, the small rectangles help to keep the film flat and the large rectangle is part of the fitting of the pressure plate.