Never give up - The EXA
A couple of years ago I came across an EXA at a car boot sale in a box full of tat for £8. After a few minutes of deliberation it was mine! Once it was home and cleaned I found the shutter was firing at the same speed whatever the setting, so with nothing to loose I dismantled it and went about figuring out the problem. Firstly let me just point out I am not particularly technically minded but will have a go!
Ihagee EXA (version 6)
Dismantled Ihagee EXA
Luckily it is a simple camera so the problem was identified and rectified with a bit of bending of metal parts, and the camera reassembled - and with great surprise all shutter speeds were working! Without further ado I loaded a roll of 35mm film and went out. It wasn’t until 24 exposures were reached that another problem became alarmingly apparent… the camera just kept shooting! As it turned out I hadn’t caught the film on the take-up spool properly so the film had not advanced at all!
So not to be defeated, it was reloaded paying particular attention to the rewind knob when advancing - it was leaded correctly this time. The film was exposed, but again something didn’t appear right nearing the end of the film. Sure enough when the scans came back only the first few frames exposed correctly before the take-up spool starting slipping and exposing many images on top of each other!
Ihagee EXA - Fuji Superia X-Tra 400
After some more fiddling without success I chose the sensible option of buying a new working body and starting again! The new one came with a Meyer-Optik Domiplan lens that really doesn’t suit the aesthetic of the camera, so that was sold on to recoup some of the cost. The Ludwig Meritar really suits it.
Ihagee EXA - Meyer Optik Domiplan 50mm f2.8
Now I could fully enjoy the EXA with it’s lovely little waist level finder and beautiful character. It is such a charming little camera that was (eventually) a joy to use.
Ihagee EXA - Ilford HP5
Ihagee EXA - Ilford HP5
The moral of the story - never give up! I really liked the EXA from the start, but couldn’t love it until used properly. Now it is one of the ‘keepers’ in the collection. It has more character than the beautiful 1C, and I found more enjoyable to use than the superior Varex.