Exakta Varex 11a

The ultimate Exakta Varex?

Yes, we are back on track, after out little detour into the world of the British Ensign Camera from Houghton's, or at least a little sample of them, we are back in the G.D.R of the 1950's once again!

Of all the various Exakta models, to my mind the Varex 11a must be the ultimate Exakta, in fact of its period, maybe the ultimate S.L.R.

I mean just look at them, in both waist level and prism forms, they must be the most beautiful S.L.R on earth! These were engineering, when the average 1950's man in the street was thinking about German cameras and how good they were, these must be what he had in mind!

Having a look on the internet, there are loads of posts telling you the history of the Varex and how to operate them, so I'm not going to go there too much, it's all been done before, I'm going to look at them from a different viewpoint! To me the Exakta Varex was the ultimate design and the IIa was Ihagees finest hour. I'm going to be controversial here, if they had been built in the West, then these cameras would have been far more expensive than the Leica when new, and the same now as a vintage camera today.

When looking through ancient adverts in photographic magazines from the 1930's to the 1960's, then time and time again new top spec Varex's were more expensive than the equivalent Leica. Why, well they were of a higher spec, the engineering was more complex and must have cost far more to produce than a Leica of the same period.

From strictly a man hours, or should I say women hours point of view, it must have taken many more hours to produce a Varex than a Leica and I think only low wages in East Germany and the fact that the East German Government allegedly subsidised them heavily when being sold to the West to bring in U.S dollars and Pounds Sterling kept them affordable at all. This was a quality camera with a shutter streets ahead of the screw thread Leica, the whole camera was in a different league. It's like comparing Manchester United with Accrington Stanley!

Let us look at if from a users point of view, the screw thread Leica was a pain in the bum to load, by the time you cut the film and got it slid into position, the Varex user was halfway through his new roll of film! I know, slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean. Then there is the viewfinder, tiny squinty little thing that you could see very little through, okay things improved with the IIIg but really we had to wait for the M before we could see anything through a Leica, whilst on the Varex the design was right from day one, 20 or so years before they made a Leica we could actually be able to see through!

Okay I'm exaggerating a bit and being a bit facetious, I do like the Leica and indeed have one, but I have a serious point here, more than one in fact. The Varex was a more technical design, the shutter with its slow speeds and time delays was a serious feat of what really was the watch makers art. It took the electronically timed shutters from Japan in the 1970's to better the late 1930's shutter design and knock it off it's perch. The viewfinder system, with its removeable units so that you could swap from waist level to prism, the changeable ground glasses that you could swap over to your preference or just for a specific purpose. So flexible, so many uses.

Let us also for a moment look at lenses, the choice of good quality Exakta lenses from all the top manufacturer's of the day is second to none. Leitz produced some fantastic lenses, but the choice was limited. If you had the cash then the choice of lens for your Varex was vast and the quality matched or surpassed what Leica could give you. Whatever way you look at it, in the day the Varex came out on top.

What about today then, what is the situation now in 2025. You are wanting a top quality classic camera from the1950's to use today on a regular basis to produce first class results on film. A reasonable thought today, film is becoming popular again, many people are returning to it or looking at if for the first time as they want a change from the digital image. So the situation could be the same in 2025 as it was in 1955. But what would you pick today?

Well, the classic Leica is a bit like the wine industry and the tasting of wine. The wine industry is all built on bullshit, snobbery, and hype, just like the Leica. So today you would pay far more for a good classic Leica, than a good classic Varex, but not necessarily because it is the better camera! But the hype wins every time. Just as in 1955 if the Varex had been built in West Germany things might have been different, the Varex could have been easily top dog. It was by far the better camera. But because it has this sort of stigma attached to it of low quality, due to being built behind the Iron Curtain the Leica reigns supreme. Lets look at Prakticas of the late 1950's early 1960's for a moment, just to back up my point, are they a bad camera, no they are not, but you can pick up a working Classic Praktica for peanuts today, just because of negative hype, oh they were from behind the Iron Curtain..........!

The Leica might win in practical terms today in 2025 purely on the repair situation. Okay you have bought your Varex for a fraction of the cost of a Leica, you even got one with a Carl Zeiss Biotar which cost you bit more, but still cheap, but now you need the shutter servicing, it is wheezing a bit, there a few pin holes in the blinds and it is time to get it looked at. But where the hell do you go? The nice chap at Newton and Ellis in Liverpool has packed away his tools for the last time, shut up shop and retired. So where do you go? The Leica is a relatively simple camera, lots of people can and do repair and service them, some very well, some badly, but pick the right place and if your Leica goes tits up, yes you can get it it repaired. So, your Varex sounds like a Camel with asthma that has just crossed the Sahara, Now where do you go?

The answer is I don't know, in fact have no idea, none at all. The Varex unlike the Leica has a very complex shutter, most camera repairers do not have the skills or the parts to repair them, so today modern man wanting to pick the best classic camera to use would be better off with a Leica. But not because it is the better camera, it's not, but if anything goes wrong it can be fixed, the Varex, well maybe it can't? And, if it can, where and at what cost. There is one firm in Gorlitz East Germany that can, but they were not accepting repairs from non E.U countries the last I heard.....

What would I do ? Still buy the Varex and use it till it stops then nip over to Gorlitz and take it to them by hand. Go back a few months later and pick it up, take a few films with the newly repaired Varex in Gorlitz, as it is a very nice picturesque town, have a few beers then come home. Would it be worth all the effort and expense, yes it is that much of a better camera!

I hope you liked this post, yes, it is a bit tongue in cheek, but there is a serious point to it as well. I guess I will have mortally offended all my readers that own a Leica, but I will take that risk!

Long live the Varex, and on a serious note, if you do know of anyone in the U.K. that does do a top class repair job on the Exakta Varex please let me and all the readers know, you will find my e-mail in the bottom left corner of this page.

Take care,

Phil