Old Praktika? ID help required

[peter_williams2]

I found an old camera which has the building drawing type logo on the

back, embossed in the leatherette covering. I cannot find any info on

it online. Pics can be seen at:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v101/pw-pics/old-camera/

 

It has a non-instant return mirror, strange shutter speed selctor

arrangement, bottom mounted film advance lever, 42mm screw mount Carl

Zeiss Jena Tessar 2.8/50 lens, non-couple selenium exposure meter,

cloth focal plane shutter.

 

Can anyone tell me the model and perhaps point to an online source of

info and perhaps a manual?

[curt_saxton]

Hi Peter,

Closest thing I can find is a Praktica IV, which has non-instant return mirror, bottom wind, etc. The building symbol is used by KW which later went on to be Pentacon/Praktica. Hope this helps.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

The building symbol is the symbol of the tower of the former Ernemann plant which was part of the Zeiss Ikon syndicate since 1926 or so. KW was a different company. However, this logo was used soon after KW and Zeiss-Ikon were merged into the Pentacon company. This logo was also used for some time on cameras stamped 'VEB Zeiss-Ikon' (Z.I. nationalized company). But the true history and application of the tower logo is hard to figure out since there were several waves of nationalization, mergers, reorganization and renaming in the east german camera industry in the late 40s and early 50s.

[hortensia_b.]

I think it's a Praktica IV-B, a variation of the Praktica IV. Take a look at <a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/142_Praktica_IV_B_thick_white.htm"> this page</a>.

[terry_scott]

The building symbol is what became the Pentacon tower symbol - formerly a Zeiss Ikon or a KaWe and/or symbol, I believe.

 

I visited the factory in 1975 (with a party of dealers and journalists from Britain) and have photos of the place and the production line (Praktica LTLs at the time). A board on the front gate said, "Kombinat VEB Pentacon Dresden / Kamera und Kinowerke / Hauptwerk".

 

By that time, they had mounted a logo around the top of the tower that read "VEB Pentacon".

[terry_scott]

Oops! "Zeiss-Ikon and/or KaWe symbol" that should have read. Sorry, folks!

[peter_williams2]

Thanks very much Curt, Winfried, Hortensia and Terry.

How did I miss that? I went to that site that Hortensia linked to and I thought I went through each camera model, apparently I didn't do it carefully. It does indeed seem to be a variant of the Praktika IV B.

It seems to be in working order too, although I'm not sure about the exposure meter. The shutter timings sound approx right and the controls seem to work normally. I was born in 1961, so the camera is approx the same age as me.

[mike_elek]

Note: I'm too lazy to click the link to the page.

 

Just from looking at it, it looks like the successor model to a fx3. So the Pentacon IV would make sense.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

"The building symbol is what became the Pentacon tower symbol - formerly a Zeiss Ikon or a KaWe and/or symbol, I believe."

 

Not really, the tower symbol was never used by Zeiss Ikon or KaWe before WWII and was introduced after merging the east german camera industry into VEB Pentacon. But the whole history is very confusing, since they even used different trademarks for domestic and export items. See

 

http://www.praktica-collector.de/Contax_Pentacon_models.htm

 

for some (but not all) details.

[h._p.]

Going from the Wallace Heaton catalogue 1965-66, I think it's likely to be a Praktica IVFB. The following model (VFB) had the instant return mirror mechanism.

 

I'm puzzled by the rewind knob. That looks like a non-factory addition to me.

[terry_scott]

Winfried wrote (in part), "...the tower symbol was never used by Zeiss Ikon or KaWe before WWII and was introduced after merging the east german camera industry into VEB Pentacon."

 

I didn't mean that the Tower was used on cameras made by Zeiss Ikon or KaWe.

 

Anyway, while I'm at it, here is a picture of the thing, taken in autumn of 1975.<div></div>

[peter_williams2]

Harvey, the rewind knob has a rather unique looing curved crank that slides out to the side, rather than folding over the top as is more common. It is the original factory part. The samne design is visible on several of the Praktika models shown at the Praktika web sites I found when searching for more info on the camera.

[peter_williams2]

Also I noted that the IV FB is stated as having a split image range finder and ground glass ring in the viewfinder. Mine is a plain ground glass and condeser lens arrangement, which is as described for the IV B.

[h._p.]

I've not seen one of those rewind knobs on any Praktica in the UK, although now you come to mention it, I have seen them on pictures before. Perhaps they were an enhancement for the US market?

 

You're right about the model codes, of course Peter, I should have remembered that.