Exa, good looking but difficult

The Exa is a good looking camera with an unusual shape, characteristic of the Exakta - Exa line.

But its operation is very difficult. The shutter speeds are limited, 1/25 to 1/150, and can easily be set by a linear level. Focusing is very difficult. The waist level viewfinder is small with no indications or aids to set the focus. There is a magnifying glass for a better view of the screen but the camera needs to be raised at head level thus altering the composition. Even with the magnifying glass it is difficult to focus. 

The standard L.Meritar lens is fiddly to set the aperture and the focus ring is very close to the camera and difficult to put hands on. The Meyer Optik Trioplan 100mm/2.8 however is bigger and easier to use.

The shutter is of guillotine type, the mirror is part of the shutter, by arming the mirror gets in front of the lens and only then the viewfinder shows the lens view. My camera had a problem arming, the mirror got into position but fired immediately. I put a roll of film and had only few shots taken.
After I finished the roll I repaired the mirror locking device and now the camera works fine.

Some samples from the first film
This is with the Ludwig Meritar 50mm/f2.9 lens

and these with the fantastic Meyer Optik Trioplan 100mm/f2.8