In 1961 the East German regime planned to change the Ihagee Kamerawerk AG into a "VEB", i.e. like all the Communist companies, "Volkseigerer Betrieb".
So the name had to be changed, and it was proposed to call Ihagee by a new name, ELBE-CAMERA-GMBH. With this name and

status, it was felt that they also needed new cameras with new names and a new look. The Exakta Varex IIa was therefore to have a new (and ugly) look and was to be called the ELBINA SUPER.
The Exa II should have been replaced by the Elbina II and the Exa I of 1961 by the Elbina I. It was interesting that these two Elbinas from the 1961 (the leaflet was printed in May 1961) already had the new styling of the later Exa I of 1963 and Exa IIa of 1962/63! There were some difference, of course, like the viewfinder release button of the Elbina I, and the rewind knob and safety lever of the Elbina II.
So the transformation of Ihagee into a VEB was planned, it seems, without any thought being given to the marketability of the new lines. The western distributors, such as Kannegiesser and Heynderickx, rejected the plan because they tought that it would not be successful.
The plan was therefore abandoned, and the production of the Varex IIa, the Exa I of 1961 and the Exa II continued. The leaflets of the Elbina I and II (10.000 had been printed) and the booklet "Elbina Photo-notizen", some of which had already been distributed to dealers, were retrieved and destroyed.
Fortunately, they missed the two specimens that I have now in my collection!




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