Exakta RTL 1000

Zorkiphoto · Oct 27, 2015

Hello all

I managed to get what i think is a bit of a steal off eBay... two Exakta RTLs, with a 50mm and a 100mm lens for about £40. Both are in perfect working condition.

The Exakta looks an interesting camera - the last SLR to carry the Exakta name, though it was built by Pentacon... it seems to have boast some pretty classic Pentacon stylings.

Anyone used these? I'm heading back to my original home of NZ over Christmas for a month or so and thinking of taking these with 29, 50 and 100mm lenses as my SLR set-up... some 70's-style shooting in 2015.

Cheers

S

Ian Grant · Oct 27, 2015

There were quite a few Japanese made Exactas some were K mount. Also there was the West German Exacta 66 based on the Pentacon 6.

The RTL 1000 was essentially a variation of the Praktica VLC with an Exacta lens mount. £40 sounds about right in terms of price.

Ian

Zorkiphoto · Oct 27, 2015

Ian Grant said:
There were quite a few Japanese made Exactas some were K mount. Also there was the West German Exacta 66 based on the Pentacon 6.

The RTL 1000 was essentially a variation of the Praktica VLC with an Exacta lens mount. £40 sounds about right in terms of price.

Ian

Thanks Ian... yes, it seems very similar to the VLC...

£40 is actually for both cameras and the lenses, so a bit of a steal....

railwayman3 · Oct 27, 2015

I remember nearly buying one of these a few years ago. A nice-looking camera, and would have been a means of using some old (and high quality Zeiss) Exakta lenses which I owned at that time, inherited from my late Father. I'd have certainly been tempted now if I had seen that Ebay listing first !

summicron1 · Oct 27, 2015

I had one years and years ago when they first came out -- I discovered that the build quality was poor -- mine needed to be serviced after only a year or so of moderate use, and then it broke.

I switched to Leicas and never looked back, but the lens on the Exakta was first rate. If I could find another working RTL 1000 for very very cheap I would possibly buy it, just to fill out the collection.

Ian Grant · Oct 27, 2015

I made a big mistake many years ago buying a Prakticamat, I wish now I'd bought an Exacta Varex100. The earlier Exactas were far better than the RTL 100o and the CZJ lenses were optically superb, mechanically they could be awful, not stopping dwn consistently.

I see Exacta's for sale quite regularly at quite low prices, the RTL 1000 are the cheapest and least desirable, that's why I think the OP paid what they are really worth for 2 bodies and 2 lenses.

Having said that some of the best 35mm negatives I've ever printed were made with a Varex 1000 (VX 1000 in the US) and CZJ 35mm Flektagon, 50mm Pancolor and 135mm Sonnar.

Ian

Zorkiphoto · Oct 28, 2015

railwayman3 said:
I remember nearly buying one of these a few years ago. A nice-looking camera, and would have been a means of using some old (and high quality Zeiss) Exakta lenses which I owned at that time, inherited from my late Father. I'd have certainly been tempted now if I had seen that Ebay listing first !

Sorry you missed them ;-)

I'm pretty sure I'll take them to NZ if they're behaving so will be sure to post the review when I get round to it... looking forward to using them.

S

anfenglin · Oct 29, 2015

Ian Grant said:
I made a big mistake many years ago buying a Prakticamat, I wish now I'd bought an Exacta Varex100. The earlier Exactas were far better than the RTL 100o and the CZJ lenses were optically superb, mechanically they could be awful, not stopping dwn consistently.[...]

That's not the problem of the lenses mechanics, It's a problem with the grease that was used back then. Former East Germany was cut off from a lot of resources, they didn't have the same materials as the Japanese did. I repair and relube those lenses, Flektogons, Biotars and such, they all suffer the same problems. The grease has either stiffened or vanished, the lenses have fog in them and the aperture blades are stuck because of oil and grime.

Ian Grant · Oct 29, 2015

anfenglin said:
That's not the problem of the lenses mechanics, It's a problem with the grease that was used back then. Former East Germany was cut off from a lot of resources, they didn't have the same materials as the Japanese did. I repair and relube those lenses, Flektogons, Biotars and such, they all suffer the same problems. The grease has either stiffened or vanished, the lenses have fog in them and the aperture blades are stuck because of oil and grime.

Poor build quality was also an issue with some lenses. I had a Pancolor the lubrication was fine (it wasn't that old) and the aperture blades were erratic in the way they stopped down, so the f stop was inconsistent.

Ian

anfenglin · Oct 29, 2015

Hmm, I don't spend that much time with them, I see the defect and I fix it. I never owned them, apart from a Biometar for the Mamiya M645 I used to own. That was great.
Pancolar mostly suffer from stuck aperture blades.

Exakta RTL 1000

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