The Kine Exakta
1936
Ihagee’s Kine Exakta was among the first 35mm single-lens reflexes: the photographer saw through the taking lens itself, so any lens could be focused and framed exactly.
How it began
Ihagee in Dresden made a reflex camera for 127 roll film, the Exakta, in 1933. In 1936 its designer Karl Nüchterlein adapted it for 35mm cine film: the Kine Exakta, one of the first 35mm single-lens reflexes. A Soviet camera, the Sport, has a claim to have come slightly earlier.
How it works
A mirror behind the lens reflects the image up to a ground glass, as in Zahn’s box. When the shutter is released the mirror flips up and the focal-plane shutter exposes the film. What you see is what the lens sees.
Why it mattered
Rangefinder cameras such as the Leica could not show exactly what long or close-up lenses would capture. Through-the-lens viewing solved that, and made the 35mm SLR useful for science, nature and close-up work.
Limits and what replaced it
The image on the screen was reversed left to right, and the mirror stayed up after each shot. The pentaprism and the instant-return mirror fixed both.
Today
Its successors were made into the 1970s; through-the-lens viewing became standard on cameras of every kind.