C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Exakta Twin TL (1968) is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera produced in Dresden under the VEB Pentacon manufacturing umbrella, carrying the Ihagee-Exakta brand name that had once dominated the world SLR market. By the late 1960s the Exakta bayonet had been superseded commercially by M42 and Pentax K mounts; the Twin TL made the pragmatic switch to M42 while retaining the Exakta name for its market value.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The Exakta name brought into the M42 era — the Twin TL combined the prestige of the Exakta marque with dual-mode TTL CdS metering and the universally compatible M42 screw mount, bridging Ihagee's heritage and the practical demands of the 1970s.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24×36 mm) |
| Mount | M42 screw (42×1mm) |
| Years | 1968–1976 |
| Shutter | Cloth focal-plane: 1s – 1/1000s + B |
| Flash sync | 1/125s (X-sync) |
| Meter | CdS TTL, stopped-down + open-aperture modes |
| Exposure | Manual (meter-guided) |
| Viewfinder | Pentaprism, ~92% coverage, 0.9× |
| Focus | Manual, split-prism + microprism |
| Battery | PX625 / SR44 |
The Exakta brand had been the world's leading SLR manufacturer in the 1930s and 1950s, with the Exakta Varex family setting the standard for interchangeable-finder, interchangeable-lens SLR cameras. However, the postwar division of Germany left Ihagee within East Germany, and the brand's commercial fortunes declined as Japanese manufacturers — Pentax, Nikon, Olympus — surpassed it in innovation and volume during the 1960s.
The Exakta RTL 1000 (1969) and Twin TL represent the final attempts to sustain the Exakta SLR line in the M42 era. Where the RTL 1000 retained some styling cues from the classic Exakta form, the Twin TL adopted a more conventional boxy profile closer to the Praktica L-series design language. Production continued through the mid-1970s, though in declining volumes.
The twin-mode metering was a genuine engineering achievement at the time, predating the widespread adoption of open-aperture TTL metering in Japanese cameras. By the early 1970s, however, Japanese camera makers had moved to integrated open-aperture systems as standard, and the Exakta Twin TL's competitive advantage had evaporated.
The Exakta Twin TL is significant as one of the final expressions of the Ihagee-Exakta engineering tradition — a capable, well-built M42 SLR from a historically important manufacturer. For collectors, it occupies a unique position: Exakta branding on a contemporary M42 body. For users, the twin-mode metering and M42 compatibility provide access to the full range of Zeiss Jena, Meyer-Optik, and Pentax Takumar glass.
Accepts all M42 (42×1mm) screw-mount lenses. With open-aperture coupling lenses: Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50/1.8, Flektogon 35/2.4 auto versions. Stopped-down mode with all other M42 glass: Pentax Takumar series, Helios 44-series, Meyer Oreston, Schneider Componon. Accessories: cable release (threaded socket), PC flash sync, ever-ready case.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Ihagee Exakta Twin TL
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