Notes

For those who restore vintage cameras, the Exa is a refreshing break from overly complex systems. Because there are no fragile cloth shutter curtains to dry rot or develop pinholes (a massive problem on other East German SLRs of the era, like the Contax D), the original Exa is incredibly robust.

If you find one today, the most common issue is simply that the metal flap shutter mechanism is sluggish due to 70-year-old hardened grease, which usually just requires a basic cleaning of the escapement to get it firing perfectly again.