The 1951 Exakta VX: an Iconic German Camera Every Film Photographer Should Try at Least Once

 

 I was reading about upcoming new medium format cameras, all of them digital, and realised that the prominent message was that they are small, light and simple to use. And I thought about the 2-3 kg cameras that a few decades ago were the envy of professionals – the Hasselblads, Mamiyas and the occasional Kiev or Salyut for photographers who needed to do weight lifting exercises in their hotel rooms while on assignment!

And, I went to the back of my camera shelves to look for my 1951 Exakta VX to remind me how complicated, heavy and odd professional cameras once were.

I have a few Exakta cameras, and a select number of Carl Zeiss lenses. In the 1990s I used to travel with my trusty 1967 Nikon F, and a 1954 Canon L3 or Leica IIIF for backup. The most frequent medium format camera to join that lineup was a Minolta Autocord from the 1970s. In those days, professional cameras were all mechanical and their attraction was not weight or simplicity of use, but the quality of the lenses, all made of steel and amazing glass. Carl Zeiss lenses set the standard of excellence starting with the 1938 Leica camera, and continue today with their glorious past.

… The Exakta is a breed apart from all 35mm cameras made before and after the 1950s. First, they were the only professional cameras with a trapezoid shape body, which in fact aligns nicely with the human body when using a waist-level viewer. Then, the film winder lever was on the left, and so was the shutter button, but not atop the camera as all other 35mm cameras have since adopted, but on the front of the trapezoid body. And to add to the eccentricity of it all, the arm of the winder had to be rotated more than 180 degrees around making it impossible to have a camera strap! So, the photographer’s right hand was only to focus the lens and hold the weight of the camera, while the left hand fingers operated the winder lever and searched for the shutter button between shots. The reason was that focusing requires more dexterity than winding the film or pressing the shutter button, at least for right-handed users.

 

And these were only the peculiarity on the outside of the camera. To load film, one had to pull and rotate a wonderfully chromed knob which sat on a strong steel spring made to last at least a century. After opening the back, one had two choices: load the film on the right side of the camera because the winding lever is on the left, or, load two canisters (one where the film spool would be on the left and the other on the right) for an ingenious reason I will explain next.

So, here are two illustrations to the above:

A.    Loading film the “usual” way

Everyone who has used a film camera knows how to load film, except that with Exaktas, the film canister is placed on the right of the camera and the film strip travels from right to left, where the winding lever is placed.

But what is that sickle-shaped contraption to the left of the right canister?

B) Loading two canisters the “Exakta” way

And here comes the iconic Exacta film cutter! In this photo I pulled the cutter down to show the movement – the photographer would pull the small rod down and the sickle-shaped cutter head would slice the film strip.

And that is why one needed two film canisters.  Well, if a photographer took the shot she/he wanted at the very start of say, a 36 frame roll of film, then in order to develop that roll, it would be necessary to rewind the film back and thus lose 20 or so frames worth of film. But, given the film cutter Exakta engineers thought of, only the first few frames can be rewound into the right canister, the sickle-shaped blade would cut the film strip leaving plenty of unused film strip in the left canister (where the entire roll had to be rolled in by tightly obscuring the lens) to restart another shooting session. The whole process takes about 20 minutes, assuming the camera was in experienced hands. But film was expensive then, and has become expensive again in 2025!

About the photo atop the page

As I was walking, I saw a photographer taking portraiture shots of a couple. I was about 20 meters away, and did not have time to focus. So, I guessed (zone focused) and framed the shot. Technically, it is majorly imperfect, but the sun in her hair and the instant the couple stole a kiss were captured to tell a story. It was the true critical moment I wanted to capture.

Final thoughts

Exakta was a professional camera in the 1950s, and very expensive (it is said that it cost as much as three months’ salary of a German engineer.) The lenses, when sold in the US, were also expensive. I found a brochure of the prices:

Exaktas, given their capricious design perhaps, did not become popular in the US, except in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1954 movie “Rear Window” where Jimmy Stewart used the exact camera I have to spy on his neighbors out his apartment's rear window. To see that far, he used a humongous Kilfitt Fern-Kilar f/5.6 400mm lens that would easily qualify as a short telescope!

But, it is pure German engineering, and after 75 years, my Exakta works as a charm. The lenses, however often suffer from dried lubricants and the focusing can freeze. My Triotar was frozen, but I was able to re-lubricate it enough to be useful. However I did have difficulty in focusing quickly, something that is crucial in street photography.

Finally, while it is assumed that using a waist level focusing camera does not attract the attention of subjects, such an assumption may not be true when using a chrome body lens and an odd looking camera that shine under the desert sun! Here is the proof:

 

When a camera and lens look like this, it is not surprising that this lady tried to lower her hat, even when I was at least 30 meters in front of her….

 

April 6, 2025

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2025