Camera of week 10 – Exakta 66
This week i’ll write about German made Exakta 66 (vertical form). There is also horizontal form, pictures can be seen here - http://www.cameraquest.com/ek66kr.htm
Exacta 66 is vertically made SLR, it looks like bastard child of SLR and TLR. As suggests it uses 120 roll film and each frame is 6×6 square. Like Hasselblad, Pentacon six, Mamiya 6 most of TLR’s and some other fine cameras. Camera was made in West Germany from 1953 till at least 1958. Horizontal model i mention earlier was from a Pre-WW2 era. (1938-1939).
Exacta 66 has interchangeable back, but as camera is oriented vertically film runs vertically from bottom to top not from one side to other like almost any other cameras does. Camera has wide range of shutter speeds from 1/1000th of seconds to 12 sec + Time and Bulb modes. Speed is set with two dials at side of camera, one “slow” and “fast” dial. As with all civilized cameras, shutter button is threaded allowing to use shutter release cable. Interesting feature is small table stand, so it stay upright and doesn’t fall down.
There are many high quality lenses for this camera system covering focal lengths from 56mm to 400m. Standard lens being 80mm f/2.8 Tessar.Various extension tubes and bellows were availble for macro work. Viewfinder is similar to TLR’s and bigger format SLR’s – foldable waist level finder, which folds under hood. . Prism finder was rumored, but never saw daylight. There have been Exakta 66 sold with prism finder taken from Kowa Six. Lastly Exacta hasdouble exposure prevention mechanism which can be overridden, and a frame counter. Frame spacing is automatic with film advancement so you don’t have to worry about it.
Info from - http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Exakta_66_(vertical)
Prices: This right now most expensive camera i have written about. Buy it now Price for it is about $2000, which is quite right for average price they usually sell. One in A-B condition sold for $2,7K last year, while in B condition for $1,7K. There is also one on eBay right now - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Exakta-Ihagee-Dresden-66-Camera-with-Carl-Zeiss-Jena-Tessar-2-8-80-Attachments-/270931709354?pt=US_Vintage_Cameras&hash=item3f14c9cdaa#ht_500wt_1180 but don’t expect this to sell cheap. Also you can look at more pictures for camera at that listing. Lenses also don’t come cheap, here is Zeiss Biotar 100mm f/2 for $1,9K – http://www.ebay.de/itm/Zeiss-f-Exakta-66-1-2-10-cm-Biotar-heavy-version-/230758564851?pt=DE_Foto_Camcorder_Objektive&hash=item35ba4843f3#ht_2978wt_1731
More info about prices - http://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Ihagee/Exakta-66-(vertical)-(1948).html
Exakta 66 - Vertical form
Interesting.