repairing a Prakitca

I have a Praktica nova and I need to peek inside (the wind lever doesn't return anymore after

loading and sometimes the cocking isn't complete even f the lever turned all the way). It has the

old-style time settings wheel, with the double settings for slow and fast times.

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As a side note: is it normal that the second curtain is bumped vertically, as if it rests on a cylinder

with a too small diameter? I wonder wether the previous owner left the camera half-cocked or it is

just a design problem.

Prakticas are among the most unreliable cameras ever made. They were built from poor-quality materials with no quality control. Unless it has sentimental value, I would not bother fixing it. Spare parts can only be obtained from another camera.

Opening is pretty easy: the only trouble is the shutter speed screw: it is right-handed and needs a special tool. Even then beware: the aluminum is easy to ruin.<br>

Once the camera is open you will find a nice surprise: the quality is high. Gears and axes are well done. The body is die-cast and well machined. The savings were done in a trimmed design and trimmed feature set. The mechanism itself is simple and thus also slightly more difficult to reassemble correctly, but it is well executed.