Ihagee Exakta VP Review SLR – Antiques

The very first & innovative, portable single lens reflex camera with 127 Roll film : 1936

So this is my first post for the Antique blog posts I plan on writing about. Also look to boost the antique tag to grow on Steemit, as well gathering more collectors to blog on this subject.

*Ihagee Exakta VP *

I’m an avid collector of antiques, this being my first antique as a matter of fact. The one that started it all. So on that note, I figured I could honor it in a similar blog-like way. I do hope I can gather enough followers and upvotes to continue blogging on this subject and reviewing more antiques to not only speak of the technological aspect of it but also it's history. I strongly believe every technological advancement was a stepping stone to lead up contemporary technology and I'm very passionate to invest, understand and write about this subject

Handed down to me, it was originally my great grandfather’s camera. His work involved foreign trade so he was constantly traveling & acquired this camera on a trip to Europe in the 30’s. He was interested in documenting moments seeing he traveled quite a lot for the time and wanted to keep memoirs of places he got the opportunity to visit. That led him to buying this camera, the very first portable vest pocket camera (VP acronym)

Ihagee Exakta with the viewfinder open along with remote cable button

Now I have no idea what kind of vests were used in this day and age, but not only is it fairly large for a pocket but it weighs anywhere between 1-2kgs. I really can’t imagine it being very comfortable to have in a vest pocket, especially with the leather equipment attached to it. Once I got the camera I started investigating about it at local camera shops & antique shops in the hopes to learn about the camera. One thing I recall was that the VP reference came about due to the 127 Film that was used during the time. This size film was commonly named vest pocket film among photographers.
Nonetheless, this camera has a very interesting history and it’s especially very innovative for its time. Of course, Single lens reflex (SLR) cameras were already established at the time in their standard boxed form or strut folding camera, one innovative factor was the design which evolved rapidly with this model in comparison to standard camera models of the time. The design consists of a single piece shell of cast aluminum, which incorporates a fully functioning and assembled mechanism consisting of the mirror box for the viewfinder, a focal plane shutter setting, a release button, timing functions, etc.

Original manual for the Exakta VP : http://www.exakta.org/ibvp2/ibvp2screen.pdf

Now the camera was made by Ihagee in Dresden, Germany and named Exakta intending its precision. Ihagee set out to produce what they called “A true system camera” which resulted in one the first cameras to manufacture a large amount of accessories and lenses to make the camera a true work of art and set out to conquer excellence. More innovative factors are its interchangeable lenses, focal plane shutter and its transport lever.

The Exaktas take 4x6 5cm exposures. The aspect ratio being 1:1 625 which comes very close to the “Golden Ratio” 1:1.618, considered “beautiful” or near perfect by art historians.

I haven't had the opportunity to shoot with it especially since I can't develop the film myself but I'm very eager to learn and acquire all the needed equipment to do so. Hope I can share my analog view with you all in a near future. Fortunately it was very well taken care of generation to generation so I don't think I'll need to do much maintenance or repair to use it.

Current resale value based on collectors reviews range from U$D 350-800 for the camera alone

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