Exakta VXIIa bought the summer of 1958 while I was in Labrador
Toronto. The SLR concept is at least a century old now. The Graflex comes to mind. It was an ideal design for interchangeable lens cameras since one could view through the lens rather than needing a separate viewfinder for each focal length. When I went to Labrador in 1957, I remembered the big ads for the Exakta camera. Although Leica marketed the M series cameras in 1954, I had seen only the IIIf cameras with their little 5cm f/3.5 normal lens and their squinty viewfinder with the rangefinder next to it.
When three of us in Labrador bought good quality 35mm cameras in 1958, we all chose Exaktas with their big bright waist level viewer and the eye level pentaprism viewer. The Exakta body and an f/2 normal lens cost over $400 even with a big discount while Leicas were $100 or so less. Exaktas were made by Ihagee (IHG) in Dresden, then in East Germany. The designer was left handed so the Exakta winder and shutter release were swapped right to left. Continue reading
Toronto. A recent PHSC donation was made to the Museum of Inuit Art (MIA) to help it bring down south the results of youth photography in Canada’s far north. The north west of our country has spotty internet at best so the MIA decided to ship a selection of photographs to Toronto by air. The youths of our North West Territories took the photos mostly with Canon Rebel DSLRs plus the odd Nikon camera and Apple iPod Touch over three days. The MIA graciously hosted a monthly meeting and a talk by its Collections Manager Lauren Williams.
