camera designer Karl Nüchterlein, courtesy of Theme (photography daily)
Toronto. You have likely used his designs or innovations, especially if you took photographs last century with smaller roll film cameras (127 and 35mm) or used an SLR.
A young Dutchman, Johan Steenbergen, moved to Dresden in 1912 where he established a camera factory which he named Ihagee (IHG), the abbreviation for the German expression, “Industrie- und Handelsgesellschaft”.
In 1923, a talented camera designer of the name Karl Nüchterlein joined Ihagee. Karl designed the VP Exakta using 127 roll film in 1933, followed three years later in 1936 by the Kine Exakta using 35mm film. These were the first small SLR designs. The Exaktas were different in the fact they were designed for the left handed folk – key controls were on the top left, not top right!
While the cameras were of an interchangeable lens design, compromises had to be made to clear the necessary mirror mechanism. Normal lenses were 55-58mm, and any lens with a shorter focal length had to be specially designed to keep the rear lens elements clear of the mirror at infinity focus. A means to focus the lens at full aperture, then stop down for shooting was important.
Karl made other innovations at Ihagee, in addition to the first 127 and 35mm SLR cameras, including, the camera film winder lever, and a flash socket that was shutter activated.
WW2 was devastating for Ihagee with the deadly bombing of Dresden and the post war decision to put Dresden in the Russian zone. The Exakta survived for years after the war – my first interchangeable lens 35mm was an Exakta VXIIa, at the time more expensive than a Leica. When I bought the VXIIa around 1959, the shorter focal length lenses were often a ‘retro focus’ design with horrendous geometric distortion (both barrel and pin cushion).
Years later I realized the majority of my exposures were with a wide-angle lens, not the 50mm lens or a telephoto.
