Exacta 500

I don't have one but did, and I'm not looking for one but I wanted to see if anyone has one or has anyone even heard of the Exacta 500 model camera.

Curt

There was never an Exacta 500.

However there was the Exakta Varex 500, VX 500 in the US, a budget version of the Varex (VX 1000 the last true Ihagee Exacta manufactured,

There was also the less desirable Exa 500 the smaller chunkier low end Exakta model and finally there was a Japanese Petri made Exakta TL500, with an Exaktar lens.

So depends which one The more desirable is the Varex (VX) 500

They are all here, I have a Varex IIb which is the model before the Varex 1000 & 500.



Ian

I bought a used Exakta 500 with a Carl Zeiss Jenna 50/2.8 Tessar some years ago for $10. It was a heavy all mechanical meterless SLR of approximately mid 1960s to early 1970s manufacture.

The shutter speed used a non-detented dial that rotated continuously in either direction. It was clearly a low-priced beginner’s camera. It was equipped with a count-down frame counter.

The shutter speed was marked with a "bulb" symbol at 1/15 sec for flashbulb use and a lightning bolt at 1/60 second for electronic flash use.

I donated the camera and lens to Lorifrommontana about February of 2010 for use in her teaching Girl Scouts the basics of film photography and darkroom work.

The name stamped into the front of the prism housing is "EXAKTA 500" and it was marked "Made in Dresden." Possibly they were marked differently depending upon the market they’re intended for.

You're describing the Exa 500, rather than the Exakta Varex/VX 500, quite a different camera in all respects.

However the Exa 500 was engraved differently and sold as an Exakta 500 in the US. Ihagee had trade name problems in the US with Varex but by thelate 1960's many cameras from various manufacturers were aqnd still are branded differently in the US market to stop Grey imports back to Euripe & Japan.

So your Exakta (Exa) 500 is another option. I have an Exa IIb and it's an awful camera, awkward & poorly built, it needs a CLA/repair and a new mirror. I looked at the Exa 500 when I was buying my first SLR while at school I wish now I'd bought a Varex 1000 but the best I could afford was a Zenit E

The Tessar's were never stunning but OK the Domiplan was quite poor, however some of the best 35mm negs I've printed were shot with a Varex 1000 and Zeiss 50mm Pancolor, 35mm Flektagon and a 135mm Sonnar lenses.

Ian

Ian C said:

I bought a used Exakta 500 with a Carl Zeiss Jenna 50/2.8 Tessar some years ago for $10. It was a heavy all mechanical meterless SLR of approximately mid 1960s to early 1970s manufacture.

The shutter speed used a non-detented dial that rotated continuously in either direction. It was clearly a low-priced beginner’s camera. It was equipped with a count-down frame counter.

The shutter speed was marked with a "bulb" symbol at 1/15 sec for flashbulb use and a lightning bolt at 1/60 second for electronic flash use.

I donated the camera and lens to Lorifrommontana about February of 2010 for use in her teaching Girl Scouts the basics of film photography and darkroom work.

The name stamped into the front of the prism housing is "EXAKTA 500" and it was marked "Made in Dresden." Possibly they were marked differently depending upon the market they’re intended for.

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I looked at the 500, both Exa and Exakta models, when I was in the market for my 1st SLR. Neither one appealed to me so I bought an earlier Exakta V. Then a year later I bought a VX. A little later I bought another VX. I still have and use the VX's. I sold the V to a collector in Germany last year for a nice sum.