Ihagee Exa issue: Film tearing

[westopher]

I recently received an Ihagee Exa — Version 1.4 according to Wrotniak's star notation. The camera is in outstanding physical condition, and seemed it was in operating condition too. It does work — but somewhere between the 6th and 12th exposure on every roll I've put through it, the teeth on the drive shaft become misaligned with the sprockets, it starts to tear, and the next advance, the film rips in two. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?

 

[westopher]

Problem solved for anyone finding this thread later...

I knew there had to be some sort of slip bushing or something, somewhere in this camera, but without a repair manual or anything else to go by, it was guesswork, and I'd missed it. If you remove the take-up spool, the slotted end of the shaft that the spool fits into is in fact the slip bushing. You have to remove a spring that provides tension to the spool, and under it is a screw. Remove that screw, the bushing comes out.

The bushing was gunked with old hardened lubricant. After a clean in naphtha and a relube, I put it back, and it slips exactly as it should, allowing the film take-up to operate properly.

 

[rknewcomb]

That is one reason I have and love the Exa cameras, easy to work on when they need it but they mostly they just work.
Thanks for posting the solution to the problem with your camera, I will be helpful later on.
Robert

 

[AgX]

So, the friktion brake was gunked up?
Making take-up spool and sprockets working against each other.

 

[westopher]

That is one reason I have and love the Exa cameras, easy to work on when they need it but they mostly they just work.
Thanks for posting the solution to the problem with your camera, I will be helpful later on.

(Arguably this thread now belongs in the repair forum...)

And yes, that sure seems to be the case. I had the camera somewhat apart just to give it a proper cleaning, and found it to be conceptually very straightforward. But you don't know what you don't know of course; was pleased to figure it out. Even with a top shutter speed of 1/150 and limitations on maximum lens focal length, it's a nice little shooter in a relatively compact package, and of course all those lovely vintage lenses for Exakta/Exa are a treat a well.

 

[westopher]

So, the friktion brake was gunked up?
Making take-up spool and sprockets working against each other.

Yes, precisely. Now I know what to look for should another Exa come my way!

 

[ciniframe]

Had one years ago. At 1/25 the drum shutter was near silent, by far the quietist reflex ever owned.

 

[westopher]

Had one years ago. At 1/25 the drum shutter was near silent, by far the quietist reflex ever owned.

It's eerily quiet, honestly. Really interesting and clever design IMHO.

 

[westopher]

One further comment from the original poster (me)... After finding and reviewing a German language parts list, the proper term for the part in question appears to be "friction bush(ing)" (Friktionsbuchse). The screw to remove it for cleaning and lubrication? That's hidden under what is simply and logically called the "spool holding spring" (Spulenhaltefeder).

 

[AgX]

From what materials is this friction coupling made of?

 

[rknewcomb]

Just so we are clear, we're talking about the earlier Exa cameras with the Exakta mount for lenses, not the later cameras that take the M42 lenses.

 

[AgX]

Those were completely different cameras, made by a different manufacturer, on a different continent, sold by a different firm.

 

[markjwyatt]

As to the Exa vs. Exakta- I wonder if East Germany had not come under communist rule, would Ihagee have developed the Exa, and if so in the way it did? What I am getting at is- is the Exa concept an East German initiative, or was Ihagee moving that direction before the takeover? I know that the communist government largely left Ihagee alone in the early years, but they may have still influenced the company.

 

[westopher]

From what materials is this friction coupling made of?

Brass, it appears...

 

[AgX]

Thus metal on metal?

I ask as we often discussed the funktion of these friction couplings in general, but never their built in detail, and exploded views in service manuals do not make one wiser either.
So far I never disassambled one...

 

[westopher]

As to the Exa vs. Exakta- I wonder if East Germany had not come under communist rule, would Ihagee have developed the Exa, and if so in the way it did? What I am getting at is- is the Exa concept an East German initiative, or was Ihagee moving that direction before the takeover?

The only place I could think of to look is Peter Langdon's book on Ihagee history, but he actually says very little about the Exa specifically. One gets the impression from reading it that as you said, they were largely left alone apart from the appointed administrators at the very top.

Who knows. It's an interesting little camera in any case, and despite the limited range of shutter speeds and inability to effectively use lens focal lengths longer than 120mm, it's fun to use and a great picture taker. Of course, most of that's due to the wide range of really decent vintage lenses for it.

 

[westopher]

Thus metal on metal?

I ask as we often discussed the funktion of these friction couplings in general, but never their built in detail, and exploded views in service manuals do not make one wiser either.
So far I never disassambled one...

Yes, metal on metal. I didn't think to take a clear photo when I had it apart, but yes, it's a very simple thing. On the underside of the part, there's a fixed spring to ensure that it will slip only in one direction. Simple design, and it appears to be identical in the full Exakta cameras (it is in my Varex and Varex IIa, anyway).

 

[AgX]

As to the Exa vs. Exakta- I wonder if East Germany had not come under communist rule, would Ihagee have developed the Exa, and if so in the way it did? What I am getting at is- is the Exa concept an East German initiative, or was Ihagee moving that direction before the takeover? I know that the communist government largely left Ihagee alone in the early years, but they may have still influenced the company.

I am interested in such questions. As why certain design ideas came up, why one design concept was trashed and the other not, why a certain model was a sales succes, the other not. We hardly discuss such...


One may argue that as long the respective engineers stayed, the same concepts would have emerged. But this overlooks that different CEOs may have set other priorities (markets, production costs, reaction to competitors).

Today there is criticism on some design developments that never made it into production and were wrong from the start, but took a lot of resources. I myself though find some most interesting and not wrong at all.
Anyway, with all criticism we should try to put us in the situation of CEOs and engineers back then.