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Exakta VX / Varex VX

The Ihagee Kamerawerk company of Dresden, Germany was no stranger to creating "firsts."  The company created the first Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras, the first flash socket triggered by the shutter mechanism, and the first wind-on film lever.  So when Ihagee re-commenced production after World War II, the photographic public waited to see what would come of the newly re-opened camera company.  The result was the Exakta VX in 1950.

On its face, the VX may look cumbersome and even complex, but picking up and using the camera helps reveal the hidden treasures in its design.  Made out of a special aluminum alloy, the Exakta VX body has an especially good weight and feel to it.  The front of the camera slopes backwards towards the back door that is hinged on the right hand side.  Somewhat counter-intuitively, the 35mm film travels from right to left, which explains the film winding lever on the left-hand side of the top case.  With the shutter release button placed on the left hand side of the front cover, the entire firing and winding process can be completed by the photographer's left hand.

One of the greatest traits of these cameras was that it may be customized with either a waist-level finder or a pentaprism finder.  Either of these give the photographer a good view of the user-interchangeable focusing screen. 

Ihagee outsourced lens manufacturing to several optics company including:  Carl Zeiss Jena, Meyer-Optik Görlitz, Schneider-Kreuznach, and E.Ludwig.  The plethora of high-quality lenses that can be used on the entire Exakta line make it extremely easy to produce a wide variety of images all from the same camera body.

Perhaps the oddest feature of the Exakta VX is a small blade that can be used to trim the film when using an optional light-tight canister for the take-up spool.  By pulling down on the pin located at the bottom of the camera, the film can be trimmed off so that the canister may be removed without having to rewind the film. 

With its standard waist-level finder, the Exakta VX looks, feels, and fires like no other camera.  If you want to see one in action, watch the fictitious photographer L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies in Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic "Rear Window."  If the odd little camera is good enough company when you're recovering from a broken leg, it's definitely good enough company to take on your next adventure.

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