Exakta VX IIa & IIb / Varex IIa & IIb
The Exakta Varex IIa, built between 1957-mid 1960s, was one of a long line of cameras made by Ihagee Kamerawerk, in East Germany. The Varex IIa has some notable quirks, including having controls oriented to favor the left hand. For example, both the shutter release and film advance lever are located on the left side of the camera. This is a noteworthy quirk if you are either left-handed or left-eyed. If you identify with the latter, most right-handed film advance levers will poke you in your right eye while you are looking through the finder; not the most ideal posturing for making images.
The Varex IIa continues to use the Exa/Exakta bayonet lens mount, ensuring all previous lenses are compatible with this model. Like many other Exakta cameras, the Varex IIa has an interchangeable prism that could be swapped out for either a metered prism or a waist level finder.
Between 1963-1967, Ihagee also produced the VX IIb which was functionally identical to the IIa but had some minor cosmetic differences.
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