Opinions Sought re: My Equipment

I'd be very grateful if someone who's familiar with Praktica

equipment could have a look at the list below and let me know if

it's OK gear. What I have:

 

Praktica BMS body

28mm f2.8 Prakticar/Pentacon lens

50mm f2.8 Prakticar/Pentacon lens

135mm f2.8 Car Zeiss Jena lens

55-200mm f4-5.6 Prakticar/Pentacon lens

 

OK, I know it's not in Nikon FM / Olympus OM / Canon F1 territory,

but for an entry level system, how does it look?

 

Thanks :-)

 

Dave.

Dave, In truth the brand name has NOTHING to do with good pictures. If

you are pleased with the results that you get then it is fine. If not,

and your positive it's the equipment, then look at other brands.

 

Remember .........it's the person operating the camera that is the critical issue. The equipment taking the pictures just do what you tell

it to. So relax and enjoy as best you can!!

If the body's not broken and you have all that gear, it will work and you should use it. I don't believe its the most modern, but most of what I use and am happy with is older.

 

If you're asking for advice about whether to buy it, well, if the body's not broken and newer nicer gear is out of reach, get it and use it and don't look back.

 

From a US perspective, the worst thing about east-bloc (or former east-bloc) gear is that we don't know it very well and its poorly supported here.

your uploaded photos show a different range of gear, how come?

The reason that I've not loaded any pictures taken with this kit is that it's been sat in a cupboard until I recently revived my interest in photography when I got a new Canon 10D. I though I'd dust it off and give it a run out too :-).

 

Cheers,

 

Dave.

The Pentacon lenses were generally very good.

Dave, the BMS is ok gear for someone who is a casual photographer. The later Prakticas were not the most robust bodies and tended to have problems either with their electronic boards or plastic controls.

 

The Prakitica BMS is the manual version of BC-1. All of the B series used a Praktica bayonet electric lenses and had electronically controlled shutters. Therefore, you'll need to carry a spare battery.

 

With the BC-1 you had choice of aperture priority auto or you could manually select the shutter speed. On the BMS, you select the shutter speed. Flash synch should be in the neighborhood of 1/90th of a second.

 

By the standards of its day and East Block cameras the 55-200mm was an acceptable lens. The 135mm Zeiss Jenna on the hand has all metal construction, a built-in hood and is a superb lens. The f/2.8 50mm is a compact lens of plastic construction that gets the job done and allows for a relative small camera bag. It's not the Zeiss Jena F/1.4 50mm which was truly a prime lens. The 28mm Prakitcar is o.k., but not stellar.

 

The B series lenses were all electronic, with electrical contacts on the lens mounts. Though they seem robust, they are not. They were made in the later days of the Soviet bloc and metal components were giving way to plastic construction.

 

Yes it is an acceptable entry camera system. One reason is one may often find an entire system for under $100 or they may be a hand me down. Be careful with the battery door and film crank. They are plastic. Also, remove the battery when the camera is not in use.

Don't get hung up on brand names and features, with nikon approx 50% of the price is because of their advertising and the money they spend to promote their product. Your camera will take just as good of pics.

The main thing in photography is the photographers eye. I studied yrs

and found that the more technical advanced my equipment and style , the worse my photos were. You cant replace what looks right to you with fancy equipment.

If you're looking for a way to fuel an inferiority complex you've found one way to do it.

 

I'd say just use the gear 'til it breaks. By then you'll be ready to think about other gear.

Back in the 90s I used a Praktica BMS with Pentacon 28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.8 and 135mm 2.8 lenses. I thought it was OK gear. I was re-learning photography after a break and the kit served me very well. I would not say the quality of lenses or camera was a limiting factor in the quality of the pictures that I made. I passed it all on to my daughter a few years ago but it's still going strong as far as I know.