Two Cases for the Post War Exakta 66...
The bottoms are markedly different as well! The case on the right has no tripod screw and no snaps to remove the front of the case. What do these differences mean? Now I get to theorize...
By word of mouth, I've heard that the earliest 66's had a shutter release in the 'imagined' upper left location on a 66 body (as viewed in the pictures). I've never seen one of these cameras but the right hand case certainly leads to the conclusion that the camera should exist. However, why doesn't this case at least have a tripod screw? The camera will easily fall out! Parts of this case are of better construction than the 'normal' 66 case - notice the heavier stitching and trapezoidal nose of more recent design - yet the strap fixtures are of an earlier design.
If this case is the more recent of the two, did the factory have plans to revert the shutter release to it's supposed original location? If it is the earlier of the two, was Ihagee intending to keep the upper shutter release and include automatic lenses in the system? What do you think?
This is a situation where any Exakta collector can and will get 'stuck'. There isn't enough information available to allow one to state anything positively. Like all camera manufacturers, Ihagee contracted their leather cases from various specialists. I suspect they had certain "specifications". Why are the Euro and US cases so strikingly different and why haven't Europeans seen the American version and vice versa? I've received a couple of interesting responses with possibilities.. #1 - Ihagee had 'specifications' for their cases which were based on the earliest design of the postwar 66. They didn't change the specs on the European cases but did change them for the export cameras. #2 - Importers of Exakta cameras are responsible for the various case specifications. All specifications depended on the individual who ordered the cases. #3 - There were no specifications for the cases. You simply sent a camera to a leather manufacturer and asked them to make 500 cases. Sure - cases are boring to many, but it's a good example of how little is known about the Exakta world. ;-)
In February 2003, collector Ralph Wetzel wrote about one of his cases. He has a Euro-style case with the nose sewn on upside-down but the Ihagee logo embossed right-side up! We decided that it's an error by the case manufacturer. What a treat!
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