Pentaflex SL.

<p>The unpacking continues and there are a few cameras that I have never used, including this rather neat Pentaflex. Now I don't know a heap about the Pentaflex apart from the fact that it a Praktica in disguise...maybe SP or JDM will have a treasure trove of info for me.<br>

This seems to be a budget model as it doesn't have a meter of any slow speeds below1/30th, less to go wrong of course!<br>

It is, however, quite neat and simple...and I like that. The prism is permanently attached, but otherwise it is a typical Praktica. This one is in fine fettle, and even the viewfinder is bereft of the usual detritus that afflicts many of my older Prakticas.<br>

I bought this together with a Praktica 1V, which was the camera I was after as it had a Meyer Oreston lens attached. The Pentaflex came with a very nice Mamiya Sekor 5mm 1.7....a great lens, but it was the Oreston that I was keen to try. So I packed the Pentaflex and the 1.8 50mm Oreston on a recent trip to our nations' capitol.<br>

First the obligatory porn.</p><div></div>

<p>First pic.</p><div></div>

<p>No.2</p>

<p>Second.</p>

<p>Something amiss there, won't load the last one. Try again</p><div></div>

<p>No.3</p><div></div>

<p>No.4</p><div></div>

<p>More of the Dam.</p><div></div>

<p>No.6</p><div></div>

<p>No.7</p><div></div>

<p>No.8</p><div></div>

<p>Last one, it pays to make them Jpegs!</p><div></div>

<p>The Oreston was quite a surprise, nice rendering and quite sharp. I didn't try it wide open here, but at middling apertures it is a great little performer. Film was Tri-X in Pyrocat, Epsom V700 scans.</p>

<p>Lovely pictures <strong>Tony</strong>! The Oreston, in my experience is almost as good as the CZJena Pancolar in performance. The last picture shows superb rendering, almost 3-D. The Pentaflex, Pentor, Porst and Revue seem to be brands of Praktica made on contract for West German marketing companies by Pentacon, Dresden. In some models they changed the colour of the shell or top shape of the prism and the like. Porst & Revue also sold Soviet FEDs and some other cameras under their brand name. They changed even the name of the lenses, Oreston and Domiplan to suit their brands. Hanimex seems to be the only company that stood by the Praktica brand, by simply adding Hanimex as a prefix to Praktica. Thanks for the post. sp</p>

<p>Woderful photos, Tony. I came across an Oreston lens a couple of years ago and absolutely<br>

love it. It seems to be a close focusing lens (about 9in.) and I use it for taking pictures of<br>

wild flowers in the spring. In fact the lens spends more time on my Pentax Spotmatic than<br>

does the Super-Takumar 1.4/50. I have heard comments that some Orestons are better than<br>

others though.</p>

<p>Rod</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks SP for that background info...I knew you would come through! Interesting to hear that Ron, and I did not expect too much from the Meyer lens but was pleasantly surprised. The much maligned Domiplan does also have a history of variability, most find it ordinary, but some really praise it.<br>

Also SP, I do have a Pancolor somewhere, it will be interesting to compare the two.</p>

<p>Shhh... <strong>SP</strong> and I have known about the Oreston for ages, but we've tried to keep it a secret. I can't think of a lens which has attracted more uninformed criticism, over the years, and I use my copies regularly. I trialed it recently against a friend's Zeiss Makro-Planar ZE 50mm f/2, and I really couldn't see $1950 worth of difference. There's a sample shot from the Oreston series, here:</p>

<p>

<p>Lovely series of photographs, <strong>Tony</strong>; it's hard to find a favourite but I particularly like #'s 3&4. The Pentaflex SL is a bit of an oddity, but we Praktica people accept it as one of the family. Thanks for a fine post.</p>

<p>I'm late to this thread, but definitely second the praise of the images made with the camera.</p>

<p>Good on you.</p>

<p>Great pictures. Very moody lone tree. I especially like that one. Happy New Year everyone.</p>

<p>Enjoyable and informative post. And nice results. Thanks for posting.</p>

<p>#7 is outstanding. A wall hanger. The camera is just a tool. The eye of the photographer is what produces great images. Love your work. Happy New Year. Bob Rene</p>

<p>Thanks Bob and all for the comments. I will say no more about the Oreston Rick, our little secret. Oh, and Bob, you are quite correct about the camera just being a tool, but like all good tools, some seem to have a personality,and some just make you feel good when using them.<br>

The Pentaflex is one of those cameras that I would have turned my nose up back in the seventies, but it turned out to be quite nice to use.</p>

 

<p><strong>Tony, </strong>I found this link below; it gives a summary of most of the export versions of the Praktica family. sp.</p>

<ol id="yui_3_10_0_1_1420080068611_73" start="17">

<li id="yui_3_10_0_1_1420080068611_87" >

 

 

<h3 id="yui_3_10_0_1_1420080068611_84"><a id="link-8" href="http://ri.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2oKmNHIs6RUg3oAOQfnHgx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBzZDZoNmV2BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMjQEY29sbwNzZzMEdnRpZAM-/RV=2/RE=1420108872/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.dresdner-kameras.de%2fpraktica%2fpraktica-export%2fpraktica-export_english%2fpraktica-export_english.html/RK=0/RS=CQwzX8uXof0L0pkSIqlLnvRtoJA-" target="_blank"><strong>Praktica</strong>-Export_english - www.dresdner-kameras.de - die ...</a></h3>

 

www.dresdner-kameras.de/<strong>praktica</strong>/<strong>praktica</strong>-export/... <a href="http://ri.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2oKmNHIs6RUg3oAOgfnHgx./RV=2/RE=1420108872/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2f106.10.171.80%2fsearch%2fsrpcache%3fp%3dwho%2bmade%2bpentor%252C%2bPentaflex%2bcameras%253F%26type%3dvst_ir_14_48_ie%26param1%3d1%26param2%3dcd%253D2XzuyEtN2Y1L1Qzu0F0CyByDtCyCzz0E0CzzyE0CyBtB0FtDtN0D0Tzu0StCtDyCtAtN1L2XzutAtFyCtFyCtFtDtN1L1CzutCyEtBzytDyD1V1TtN1L1G1B1V1N2Y1L1Qzu2StAtC0Azy0EyCtBtAtG0CtDtB0EtGtAyBtByDtGzytCtCzytGyEzy0DzyyCtD0Fzz0ByCtCyC2QtN1M1F1B2Z1V1N2Y1L1Qzu2S0DtCtC0Czz0F0F0FtGzyyBzzyDtGyEyEtA0DtG0A0Ezy0BtGzyzz0E0FtD0EzzzytA0A0EtA2Q%2526cr%253D1219412028%2526ir%253D142905_a%2526elng%253Den%2526elcl%253D%2526a%253Dvst_ir_14_48_ie%2526f%253D1%2526cat%253Dweb%2526ulng%253Den-US%25252Cen%25253Bq%25253D0.5%2526sid%253Df808b0f06a3d85c7ed02c172f081e320%2526stype%253Dvst_ir_14_48_ie%2526sesid%253D964dc1ba415489e0dc85d3ae34ac8f6f%2526csr%253D0%2526ipblock%253D0%2526b%253DFirefox%2526bv%253D34.0%2526os%253DWindows%252BXP%2526cc%253Din%2526ip%253D117.192.198.98%2526pa%253Dvosteran%26hsimp%3dyhs-fullyhosted_003%26hspart%3dironsource%26ei%3dUTF-8%26u%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fcc.bingj.com%2fcache.aspx%3fq%3dwho%2bmade%2bpentor%252c%2bPentaflex%2bcameras%253f%26d%3d4804257339280791%26mkt%3den-IN%26setlang%3den-IN%26w%3dQPawJQ6mpQ6IuVLMx0yXvXoZ-TUSzubZ%26icp%3d1%26.intl%3din%26sig%3dD5WofS84Hu2x_gxPiVPOwg--/RK=0/RS=Gg0NWvFRVjmhfb1ayfdF70Pxl1I-" target="_blank">Cached</a>

Versions of <strong>Praktica</strong> <strong>Cameras</strong> for export and from different countries” (Heinz ... <strong>made</strong> a <strong>Praktica</strong> Super TL 1000 into a <strong>Praktica</strong> TL 3 or ... <strong>PRAKTICA</strong> <strong>PENTOR</strong> 3 LTL.

 

</li>

</ol>

<p><strong>JDM, Rick, </strong>You may also like this link above, as you are both Praktica Collectors and have good documentation. Best New Year Wishes. sp.</p>

<p>I so very much liked your response to the compliment regarding tools and their use. I too, wish to complement your results. Excellent all of them. Thank you SP for your astute information. Though I don'T own Praktikas I do have Exakta and M42 and I have never come into this lens. I am interested to see, if you find the Pancolar, a comparison of the two as you mentioned.</p>