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Help to ID Camera & Lens
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:16 pm    Post subject: Help to ID Camera & Lens Reply with quote
East german border patrol, 1979
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6347/grenza1.jpg




Last edited by Anderz on Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:32 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The camera is an Exakta - not sure of the exact model, but it's one of the Exa ones. More info on Exakta's 35m cameras may be found here Wink

As for the lens, I'd throw a totally uneducated guess at it either being a Pentacon or a Meyer of some description - but like I said, that's uneducated Embarassed

It's a great shot - would love to see more from this era if they were available - especially with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall coming up in some days time...


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's an Exa Ia indeed, but lens is unknown but it is fairly short and wide. A special issue of the 7,5cm f/1.5 Biotar?


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've looked at all my zebra Zeiss Jena and Meyer lenses and the closest match to the one in the pic is an Orestor 135 without the hood...?

The Orestor 135 is quite short and compact sans hood...

I looked at an Orestor 100 too but the front element diameter is not as great as the 135.

Only fly in the ointment here is that I can only see what appears to be the aperture ring in the pic and can't make out the focus ring, which would be zebra on the 135. The zebra Jena Sonnar 3.5/135 has only one zebra type ring and that is for focus but it doesn't look the same from the front as the lens shown here.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I reckon it's a Zeiss lens, one of those with either a leather focus-ring or the type with the raised diamonds on it. You can see the chrome aperture ring clearly enough, what's odd is the lack of the external release arm.

Could it be a Praktisix lens on some kind of adapter? Looks about the right size for a 120 Biometar, and there's an enlarged part behind the aperture ring. I can't recall if such an adapter was ever available in the UK.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
@ Stephen:

The camera could be an Exa 1b which had an M42 mount - this would explain the lack of the aperture button arm on the lens.

If the camera is an Exa 1a, the mount is bayonet and the lens is almost certainly a preset type.

I've looked at my Biometar 120s too and the front element diameter on the zebra copy doesn't look like the one on the image.

There were P6-Exakta and P6-M42 adapters available but these added to the length of the lens as you would expect. There was a native M42 Biometar 120 but it too was quite long.
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