All cameras with focal plane shutters have flash sync only at speeds where the whole of the frame is uncovered at the same time by both the shutter curtains.  With the larger size of the medium format frame (compared with 35mm), this is limited to a speed in the range 1/30 – 1/90 sec, depending on the camera.

Those who have set out to criticise the Pentacon Six and the Exakta 66 have complained about the low flash sync speed.  Thus, it has been common through the years to see these cameras slated, while the Pentax 6 × 7 (which has a similar design and the same flash sync speed!) is praised.

A case in point is the December 1992 issue of the U.K. photographic magazine “Practical Photography”, which in its review of Medium Format cameras praised Schneider lenses but said of the Exakta 66:
 

The same article said of the Pentax 67:
 

All of this could have been said of the Pentacon Six, the Exakta 66 or the Kiev 6C, and most of it applies to the Kiev 60, where the only difference is that this camera only accepts 120 film.

The same review said under the heading “Kiev 60TTL”:
 

 – this in spite of the title, and the accompanying image, which showed the camera with the metering prism in place!

One cannot help wondering what motivated such biased reviews, and what effect they had on the sales of each camera.

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© TRA April 2002, February 2011