Books about Ihagee and Exakta

Several interesting books have been written about the Ihagee factory, its history and its products, in particular of course the Exakta. Unfortunately, most of these books are out of print and out of stock, and won't be reprinted. They are only to be found second hand, but not very often. Only two (and a half) are available, one in English as a file on this site, one partly, in English for Exakta Circle members only, and one in Polish as a real paper book. Besides that, you can get the full Steenbergen biography in Dutch and mini biographies in several languages.

 

1 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.

 

2 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 if Ihagee products, but all the more surprising. The whole book is bilingual: English and deutsch.

 

3 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. 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. McKeown’s Price Guide, both the 12th edition and the coming 13th, uses the new version system.

 

4 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

 

5 Ihagee, the Men and the Cameras by Peter Longden.

To download this book, click here.

This is the only book that describes – very comprehensive – not only the Exaktas but all Ihagee products: bellows and wooden cameras, enlargers, flash equipment, etc. 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.

 

6. EXAKTA, krótka historia doskonałości (Short History of Perfection) by Paweł Fila and Jerzy Szajta. In Polish. To be found here.

This book describes all Exakta models, from Ihagee and elsewhere, and accessories in over 400 pages.