The road to your modern Nikon F5 or Canon EOS 1n was not a quick or easy one. In the early 1950's, the proud East German firm of Exakta held most of the 35 SLR market. Alas, it had a rather dim groundglass finder. Worse, it suffered from blackout after each exposure, until the film was advanced and brought the mirror down. Thus was born the upside down Exakta , complete with NO finder blackout and bottom right hand lever advance.
Wonders never cease.
For some unknown reason, Novoflex' brilliance did not translate to record breaking sales in the marketplace. Today the Novoflex Exakta viewfinder is not that easy to find. Copyright 1998 Stephen Gandy. All rights reserved. Information in this document is subject to change without notice.