Exakta Viewfinders

The original Kine-Exakta and the subsequent Exakta II was fitted with a fixed hooded waist level viewfinder. In viewing the image on the focusing screen everything was reversed. To track the image of a horse on the focusing screen moving right to left, the photographer had to move the camera from left to right. This was uncomfortable at best.

To alleviate the situation, Carl Zeiss Jena in 1949, produced an auxiliary prism for Ihagee that mounted atop the opened hooded finder of the Kine-Exakta and Exakta II to provide a corrected right to left image. This weighty add-on prism made the camera top-heavy and was rather clumsy to use. It was painted black and carried the Carl Zeiss Jena logo. Two versions are shown in the photo.

 
 

In 1950, with the introduction of the Exakta Varex (V), the fixed waist level viewfinder used on the Kine-Exakta and Kine-Exakta II was replaced with an interchangeable one much the same in appearance as the one on the Kine-Exakta II.

 
     

In the following years, a succession of various viewfinders was made for the Exakta.

The first section, Hooded Finders, will display the various models that were manufactured with a short paragraph on each covering their identification and features. The second section, Prism Finders, will cover the various eye-level prisms that were manufactured for the Exakta by Ihagee and several other manufacturers. The third section, Specialized Finders, will cover finders developed for macrophotography and stereo photography. The fourth section, Finder Accessories will cover add-on eyecups, accessory shoes, eyepiece magnifiers, etc.

Click on the hyperlinks below to proceed:

Hooded Finders

Prism Finders

Specialized Finders

Finder Accessories

 

 

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