Photographica Pages

An online guide to collectable cameras and related stuff

Ihagee Exakta 66 (Prewar)

The pre-war Exakta 66 followed the lines that were so successful, first in the Vest Pocket Exaktas, and later in the Kine-Exaktas. The camera looks like a Vest Pocket model on steroids. It is larger than the Vest Pocket, and is finished in chrome, with the trademark trapezoidal shape pleasingly rounded off. The film advance is by a lever on the bottom. The shutter release is where you would expect it on an Exakta, and the lens release looks like the one used on the 35mm models. The folding waist level finder locks the shutter from accidental firing when it is closed.

Although it was a well designed camera, the timing of it's introduction was bad. It was introduced in 1938, just a Germany was going to war. It was never made in large numbers. The serial number range allocated for the camera was 550,000 to 555,000.