The Exakta Circle

�Sphere of activity
�We are a group of enthusiastic collectors from all over the world who share a common interest in the products of the Ihagee company. Originally set up in the early 1980s to gather what data could be found about Exakta cameras, the Circle has widened its sphere of activity with time so that we are now dedicated to the collection and use of, and research into all things Ihagee, but we have retained our historic name.
 
�Foundation and Rules
�The Circle was founded in the early 1980s by the late Marc Bramson and by Terry Calvert, who is still a member.
�The Rules of the Circle were last updated in Winter 2004, and are supplied to new members when they first join.
 
�Membership
�In October 2007 there were 84 UK members,25 European and 30 North American, Australasian and South African; 139 members in all. This was a slight increase on the previous year, and a trend which we hope will continue. Subscriptions are reviewed from year to year; a Membership Application and |Renewal form can be downloaded from this site.
 
�Meetings
�The Circle holds two formal meetings each year, one in the springtime and the Annual General Meeting about six months later. These meetings are held in the village of Steventon, near Oxford, to allow the majority of UK members to reach them without a long journey.
 Next meetings
The next meeting will take place on Sunday 24 October 2010, from around 10.00 to 16.00 hour.  The address is St Michael's Hall (next to St Michael's church), Church Lane, Steventon, Oxfordshire.

Journal
By far the most important method of remaining in contact with all our members is our quarterly journal, the Exakta Times. This carries articles of technical and historic interest, together with notices and reports of meetings and articles on members’ activities.
 

�Booklets
�Members can communicate with each other and with the Circle by using the booklets scheme. Booklets are simply small blank exercise books circulated amongst members by the booklets co-ordinator and his Assistant Co-ordinator in North America. Members write about their camera activities or problems, add photographs if relevant, and return the booklet to the co-ordinator. From time to time the Co-ordinator puts together a selection of the entries for publication in Exakta Times. Members can request a booklet from either co-ordinator if they have something on their mind: but please remember that the system is useless, and valuable information is lost, if booklets are not returned!
 
�
�This Website
�Besides pages of information of general interest about the Exakta Circle, one of which you are reading now, the website carries reports of meetings and competitions and a regular resume of the contents of Exakta Times.
 
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�Library
�A very large collection of reference material is held by the Librarian, who is always willing to consider members’ requests for copies of documents. Most of these documents are the personal property of the Librarian, and most of them are irreplaceable, so access to the original material is very restricted. There are hundreds of brochures, instruction manuals, articles and books, some available in more than one language.
�The Library also contains a Bibliography, listing so far as is known, everything printed about Ihagee and its products., including all the material in the Library and much more besides. The Bibliography was published by parts in Exakta Times starting with issue No. 53, Winter 2003 to No. 63, Summer 2006.

The committee of the Exakta Circle consists of the following members (April 2010):

vacant                 chairman                                              chairman@exaktacircle.org
Chris Fransella   secretary/acting chairman                    secretary@exaktacircle.org 
Derek Philps       treasurer                                               no e-mail
Peter Longden     ET editor and historian                       eteditor@exaktacircle.org
Mike Matthews   booklets coordinator UK                     bookletsuk@exaktacircle.org
Mark Stuecheli    booklets coordinator North America  bookletsusa@exaktacircle.org
Hugo Ruys           webmaster                                          webmaster@exaktacircle.org

Annual fees
Membership fees are very reasonable for 2010/11. In October 2007 the AGM decided to raise the annual contribution to £ 23 for UK members and £ 25 for overseas. This was to finance four extra pages in full colour in the Exakta Times. It's also possible to pay in Euros.
NB The less-colour option is no longer available in 2010/2011.

The Club Year goes from the 1st of April to end March. The strongly recommended way to pay for overseas members is PayPal.
Payment details for 2010/11 are now on the site in English, German and French.