Some Books about Ihagee and Exakta
Many interesting books have been written over the years about the Ihagee factory, its history and its products, in particular of course the Exakta. Unfortunately, most of these books are out of print or out of stock, and won't be reprinted. They are only to be found second-hand, but not very often. Only three are available, two on this web site, and one in Polish as a real paper book.
Spiegelreflexkameras aus Dresden
(Mirror reflex cameras from Dresden) by Richard Hummel.
Not available but see Hummel translation.
Richard Hummel has been head of the R&D department of Ihagee. After his retirement he got the assignment to collect what was to find, cameras and information, and write a book about it. The hardware collection is in storage at the Technical Museum (die Technischen Sammlungen) in Dresden. The book, as the title suggests, describes a lot more than Ihagee and its products.
Hummel translation
Our former member Michael Spencer has translated the parts that relate to Ihagee. The publisher of the original book allows us to provide copies of this translation to Exakta Circle Members only. We call this A4 book the Hummel Translation.
Exakta Obscurities, Seltsames und Seltenes by Gary Cullen with Klaus Rademaker. Not available.
This book, as the title suggests, describes rare, unusual and special items. It is not a systematic description of Ihagee products, but all the more surprising and interesting for that. The whole book is bilingual: English and Deutsch. Description HERE and illustrated list of contents HERE
Exakta Collection by Clément Aguila & Michel Rouah. In French.
This book is by far the most impressive and comprehensive description of every VP Exakta, Kine-Exakta, Exakta 66, Exakta Varex, Exakta RTL 1000 and Exa model, accessories and lenses. It also describes the various “Exakta” cameras sold by Ihagee West and later companies. Not available.
Earlier
version of this book
NB
This book has a predecessor, “Exakta Cameras 1933-1978” by the same authors,
that is occasionally available. We recommend ignoring this book (although it
is published in English and is still widely available). In its time (1987) it
was the best, but now we know that it contains many errors and omissions, that
have been corrected in Exakta Collection. The version system, introduced in
this old book, has been changed considerably by the authors.
Johan
Steenbergen, the lachende diplomaat
(the laughing Diplomat) by E.H. Halbertsma.
Available, see here.
This is the full biography of Johan Steenbergen, founder and director of Ihagee Kamerawerk Steeenbergen & Co and its predecessor. It is written in Dutch, but three summaries have been made: in Dutch, in English and in German. They can be read/downloaded from:
Dutch/Nederlands English German/Deutsch
Ihagee,
the Men and the Cameras by Peter Longden.
To download this book, click here.
This is the only book that describes – very comprehensively – not only the Exaktas but all Ihagee products: bellows and wooden cameras, enlargers, flash equipment, etc. It also contains much information about Ihagee itself and the people who worked at and for the factory. A unique achievement from the Historian of the Exakta Circle.
EXAKTA,
krótka historia doskonalosci
(Short History of Perfection) by Pawel Fila
and Jerzy Szajta. In Polish.
This book describes all Exakta models, from Ihagee and elsewhere, and accessories
in over 400 pages.
A description in English is on Pawel Fila's website HERE
and a review in Polish with page images may be found HERE
Practical Photography with the Kine Exakta (1937 Edition) by Gerhard Isert, translated into English by Philip Smethurst.
This book was written as a guide to the, then, new Kine Exakta and includes not only a guide to the camera but general advice on photography. The original of the book was donated by Jim Focht and was scanned by Mark Stuecheli. Many thanks to both for making this interesting book available. To download click here