Exakta International Convention in Weston, Missouri - Oct. 16, 2005
I really enjoyed our Exakta convention in Weston, Missouri (about 1/2 hour North of Kansas City).  One thing that struck me most was how it reminded me of the old camera shows and meetings of the early 1970's.  No commercialism and dealers.  It was meeting others with a similar interest, hearing speakers on topics of interest to Exakta collectors and quite a bit of free time just to get to know other people.  There were some great displays of Exakta equipment - mainly by Mark and Miles (I don't like to include last names on a public site like this - most Topica people will know who I mean).  Mark had a great variation of Exakta models to see, and Miles brought some of his rare items, including a war version of the Square Exakta - I believe he said there are only 2 known to be in existence with this marking.  There were only 9 of us.  We wish there could have been more, but perhaps that would have diluted down how much we got to know each other - so it is good and bad.  When questioned about Exakta Circle Conventions in the UK, our visitor from the Exakta Circle commented that they usually have more people at their UK conventions - usually more than twice as many -  but the programs are not usually as intense and informative.