Quick and dirty Praktica "significant models" statement

[JDMvW]

<p>Marc asked for <a href="../classic-cameras-forum/00VHpr">this</a> , and this is the best I can do off the cuff. Perhaps later I can do something more. Any suggestions are welcome.<br /> Since I am generally not a "completionist", my own collection of Prakticas and their relatives in the DDR SLR area is in fact an attempt to have a "representative" collection -- one or two from each generation/model family. These are not necessarily significant to someone outside the Praktica world as such. What follows is quick and dirty. I'll do a another post later if I can get to it. A much more detailed account of models and so on may be found at Dr. Mike Otto's wonderful site (<a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/">link</a> )</p>

<p>Of course we have already discussed the early stuff a little. The Ur model is the Praktiflex of 1939. It is the "first instant return mirror" according to some of us, anyhow. This model was produced for war reparations after the end of WWII, but some did make it into the USA though outlets in NYC like Abe Cohen and Peerless, which had offered Dresden cameras as late as 1941. Even Dr. Mike Otto does not have the first model with Gothic lettering. The shutter release/mirror button is on top of the camera.<br /> The second generation of Praktiflex no longer had the mirror return and the shutter release was moved to the front, where most SLR cameras today have it. Production started in 1947. All the early Praktiflexes have a M40x1 mount. A very few Praktiflexes at the end were made with M42x1 mounts but given the waste-not strategies of the KW, these may not actually precede the Praktica M42x1 mount, so whether they are actual prototypes or just clearing out the old parts bin, is uncertain.</p>

<p>There is a later Praktiflex FX that has nothing to do with Praktiflex per se, merely being a reversion to the name for export reasons in the USA. It is simply a rebadged Praktica FX.<br /> 1949 saw the introduction on the Praktica (and as above) of the "Universal" M42x1 mount. later called the Pentax mount (there's a pattern here, by the way that goes back to the Asahiflex, but that's another story).<br /> The next landmark is the Contax S of 1949, arguably the first pentaprism camera (designs at Zeiss went back before the end of the war). It is essentially a Contax body with a prism, and one of the classiest SLR designs ever in my opinion. It was out of what remained in Dresden of Zeiss Ikon, not KW, of course.<br /> The next big step was the introduction in 1952 of the Praktina. Many argue that this was the first camera <em>designed</em> as a "system" camera for 35mm. It had a full set of Zeiss and other lenses in a breech lock mount, motor drives, interchangeable finders, and so on. Of course, some of these features were available on the Ihagee Exaktas, but that was something that had "just growed" rather than being designed from scratch to be a system.<br /> The Praktica IV and V came in 1959. They are the first Prakticas with built in pentaprisms.<br /> The Praktica nova (lower case) was a much modernized and more advanced camera (1964), but there were problems in production, at least, and this probably represents the nadir of KW camera production. A more developed model aimed at export markets, the Praktica PL nova marked a partially new family of Prakticas. One of these, the Praktica PL electronic "was the first SLR with an electronically adjustable shutter speed. Using a electronic circuit with different resistors were used for the adjustment of the shutter speed," according to Dr. Mike.<br /> An effort, I think the last in all of Europe, to respond to Japanese expansion in the market was the ill-fated Pentacon Super of 1968. It was a very nice camera, but simply could not compete with Canon and Nikon, and was fairly costly, even with socialist production. As I can testify, finding one today involves some serious cash outlay.<br /> 1969 was the year that the still growing VEB Pentacon had a rebirth with the Praktica L series. Altogether there were four generations of L cameras, the last of which were also the last M42 Prakticas. These had a new vertically moving metal shutter. Most of them are still working, in my personal experience, although the same cannot be said for their built-in TTL meters. Lenses (called Electric") were made with electric contacts for wide-open metering starting with the LLC in 1969. Some kind of a first, anyhow. Some of the best of the Ls were the VLC models (based on the Exakta RTL 1000, with removable pentaprism and all).<br /> In 1979, a new bayonet mount (Praktica B) was introduced, but production of the L line also continued up to the end of the DDR.</p>

<p>The last Praktica SLR was the BX20S produced after the fall of the wall in 1989. A very nice little camera, that "coulda' been a contender" in a different world. Remember Canon EOS was introduced in 1987.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Thanks JDM! that was an excellent review. May I add the <strong>Praktica Mat</strong> to your list. This was introduced in 1964-65 and apparently won some award in Europe [possibly Photokina] for its split beam CdS meter. It also sports a different shutter mechanism from the earlier nova; and, the shutter speeds go up to 1/1000 sec. It is said to be the forerunner of the later Nova IB and the Super TL. It was popular in the UK though not much in the US. It was considered a Professional Grade camera and, at least, one professional in the UK thought it was as good as his Nikon and took more beating than the latter!<br>

Another aspect of these cameras until the Praktica L-series was their very old fashioned industrial design of the exterior and looks [esthetics]. However, inside these cameras things were designed [seemingly] at the cutting edge of modern technology. Many of the "new" things in the L-series seem to have been tried out and refined in the later Mat-PL Nova I-Super TL models. My two pennies worth from looking inside these cameras.<br>

The Praktica CdS meters use a Wheatstone type bridge circuit. Thus they can take any battery that suits the size. Small voltage fluctuations do not affect the readings as the meter measures the differential current flows. Regards, sp.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Many thanks, <strong>JDM</strong> , and <strong>Subbararayan</strong> , this has just been converted to hard copy and filed in the "Praktika" folder, for posterity. It's this kind of information flow that makes this forum so worthwhile...</p>

[h._p.]

<p>The Prakticamat wasn't a forerunner of the Nova series, Subbarayan, but a reworking of it. Although sold as a 'professional' camera, it really wasn't, being less than reliable when new and not improving with age. I have two of the little horrors and, although I consider them quite handsome, they wouldn't be my first choice to take important shots with. The Super TL was even less reliable than the 'Mat or the Nova and working ones are getting quite rare, now.<br>

The L-series, on the other hand, seem to be astonishingly reliable, as JD pointed out.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p><strong><br /> The paragraphs are taken from Prakticausers.com</strong> . They also opine that the Praktica Mat was a fore-runner of the Nova IB and the Super TL. I have read similar opinions elsewhere. Even Chronologically the dates speak for themselves. I am not a Praktica fanatic; however, I do appreciate their innovations and design. I do appreciate your assessment HP. I have had similar bad experiences with Canon cameras. But the general perception of Canon is pretty high among users.<br /> <br /> “Introduced in <strong>1965</strong> , the Prakticamat was largely based on the nova chassis but slightly taller. Its TTL metering working on the stopped-down principle is of a design still unparalleled in accuracy.<br /> <br /> Ideally, the metering sensor in a TTL system is of exactly the same size as the film format, placed right at the film plane, something quite impossible in practice. Being the closest simulation of this ideal situation, the Prakticamat meter takes its reading directly from the entire area of the focussing screen, itself a surrogate film plane, with the help of a complex focussing screen and condenser structure in which a beam-splitter is incorporated. A constant 7% of the light hitting the focussing screen from the mirror side is siphoned off towards the back edge of the screen structure, and intercepted by a single large CdS (cadmium sulfide) photoresister which gives a reading averaged across the entire film format area. As the beam-splitter works only one way, light entering the eyepiece has no effect on metering accuracy. The meter is powered by a PX625 or PX13 mercury cell, with a battery check function incorporated.<br /> <br /> Another interesting feature of the<strong> Prakticamat is that it preceded the nova 1 models in offering a single, non-rotating shutter speed dial with evenly spaced settings, with a maximum speed of 1/1000s, and is </strong> located around the rewind knob; a feature not to be seen again until the EE2 twelve years later, if we do not count the rare Praktica electronic. All in all, a machine of Wagnerian magnificence.”<br /> <br /> <br /> “Presented at the <strong>1967</strong> Leipzig Spring Fair, the Praktica nova 1 brought much needed updates to the nova series. Following the lead of the Prakticamat, the nova 1 replaced the two-range shutter speed dial with a modern non-rotating one, with regularly-spaced speeds. In addition, it introduced the PL system for secure and rapid loading.”<br /> <br /> “The Praktica super TL of <strong>1968</strong> <strong>can be considered as a simplified Prakticamat</strong> , still based on the nova chassis. Instead of the elegant but expensive TTL metering arrangement as used in the Prakticamat, it uses a small metering cell reading the light bled off the front surface of the pentaprism, where an additional prism known as Light Concentrator is added: <strong>all M42 Prakticas with TTL metering except the VLC inherited this</strong> <strong>metering layout</strong> . Theoretically somewhat more prone to influence by stray light entering through the eyepiece, it nevertheless works very well, and with the added benefit of being centre-weighted in its metering pattern.<br /> <br /> In line with the nova models, the super TL has its shutter speed dial returned to the conventional position, and its top speed reverts to 1/500s. At this time the customers were no longer likely to have to use early lenses with greater body intrusion, so the automatic diaphragm actuator is no longer disengageable.”</p>

[h._p.]

<p>I've checked the Wallace Heaton Blue Books and the Prakticamat appears, with the original Nova, in the 1967 edition (and, interestingly, is gone the following year, replaced by the Super TL). The Prakticamat was reviewed in a 1967 edition of SLR magazine, where it was described as a derivative of the Nova.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p><strong>Praktica nova</strong> (lower case <em>n</em> ) made from 12/1964 to 2/1967 Hummel No. 150<br>

The original nova is a development of a "Praktica VI" prototype (Hummel No. 149) (Hummel 1995:245).</p>

<p><strong>Praktica mat</strong> (two words, lc <em>m</em> ) 12/1965 to 1/1969 Hummel No. 152<br>

"TTL-exposure meter using a large surface CdS-photoresistor (Cadmium sulphide) used with a beam-splitter in the pentaprism using stopped-down metering." (<a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/152_Praktica_mat.htm">Otto website</a> ) Maybe first in Europe? (Hummel 1995:246). It is part of the nova series, the third in that series.<br>

<strong><br /> </strong> </p>

<p>I think the absolutely authoritative source on these old DDR cameras is <br>

<br /> <br>

Hummel, Richard<br>

1995 <em>Spiegelreflexkameras aus Dresden</em> . Edition Reintzsch, Leipzig.<br>

The biographical basis of Hummel's claim to authority is presented in English by Dr. Mike Otto at <a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/Hummel.htm">http://www.praktica-collector.de/Hummel.htm</a></p>

<p>There are specific sources updating Hummel by Alexander Schulz:<br>

2000 <em>Spiegel Contax</em> . Lindemanns Verlag, Stuttgart. (German)<br>

2002 <em>Contax S</em> . Lindemanns Verlag, Stuttgart. (revised edition in English)<br>

2002 <em>Praktiflex.</em> Lindemanns Verlag, Stuttgart. (German)</p>

<p>Much of Hummel's information is available in English on Mike Otto's site (link); but original data are also presented there, based on Otto's careful examination of the cameras.<br /> <br>

<br /> <br>

<br /> <br>

<br /> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I also want to add that my choices above are somewhat influenced by Marc's interests in <em>wider</em> significance, and do not repeat my personal "Praktica landmarks" in terms of the internal development of the marque. Because of some cross-fire (e.g., the Exakta RTL 1000 and the Praktica VLC) I have also collected a somewhat more limited group of Exaktas and Exas. I have also been influenced by a DDR booklet called <em>Reiche Auswahl</em> that gave the choices in cameras available to East Germans in 1955 or so, with especial attention to the products of Rheinmetall. This is the source of my gathering in of a number of old folders and even one Pentacon 8mm-film camera.</p>

<p>The non-activated link above to Otto's home page is at <a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/">link</a></p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Addendum:<br /> <strong>Praktica PL nova 1B</strong> - 4/1967-1/1975 Hummel No. 159 (Hummel 1995:249)<br /> (Otto: <a href="http://www.praktica-collector.de/159_Praktica_PL_nova_IB.htm">link</a> )<br>

<em>B</em> means <em>Belichtungsmesser</em> = "light meter"</p>

[marc_rochkind]

Thanks, JDM et al. I already have two in JDM's original post, a Contax S and a Praktica LLC. What I don't have is anything from the early 1950s. I'll see what eBay can turn up. I already know that the choices are most plentiful in Europe, but I always deal with eBayers in North America. Maybe I'll have to make an exception... we'll see.

 

--Marc

[JDMvW]

<p>Some of the late 40s Praktiflexes are most widely available from the former USSR, since many of them were sent there as war reparations. Poland and Czechoslovakia (as it was) are other sources for many DDR cameras, being the best cameras one could buy in the Warsaw Pact, at least in the minds of many people there.<br>

Finally, although VEB Pentacon had a very low profile in the USA in later years, it continued to be a major player in the Netherlands and United Kingdom up to the end.<br>

There are later (post 1989) cameras labeled Praktica and Exakta that are point and shoot cameras made in Asia.</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

A Fascinating world these Praktikas! One of these days I'll get the Hummel book!

I'd like to get one of the L-Series just to see it work!

I'm also fascinated with the early models. I guess I have a better chance here

in Europe, than some but I think don'T start a new line of collecting!!

I must agree with JDM about the Contax S. It is "the" SLR! Fine and Klein (small)

Oh and the reference

".... the Pentax mount (there's a pattern here, by the way that goes back to the Asahiflex, but that's another story)." I think I could bear to hear one more bedtime story!

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Yes Chuck, I think you would enjoy the L-series. I would like to visit Dresden and walk around to look at many of those places that produced these magnificent cameras. Still cannot reconcile to the historical fact that such a creative city was destroyed by the War, even as they produced no armaments at all! Regards, sp.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>If you ever see the Hummel book, grab it. It's very hard to come by.</p>

<p>The relationship between the East German camera industry after WWII and the developing Japanese camera works is bound to be a great deal more controversial than I care to go into right now. Needless to say, Pentax is not alone in claiming "firsts" that are, at the least, questionable when looked at from a Dresden perspective.</p>

<p>Before I tackle that, I will need more time in my cave letting wounds heal before I return to the fray. ;)</p>

[dbltap4]

<p>Went to an antique mall today, and stumbled onto a neat looking camera bag, containing a Praktica PLC3 body, Pentacon electric 50/1.8, a Pentacon electric 135/2.8 in bag, inst booklet, and othr assorted stuff. Not sure of the quality of the lenses, but have an M42 Fujinon 50/1.4 to compare it with. Ergonomics seem alittle awkward, but should be fun to play with. Everything in the bag for $33.oo. Body and lenses near mint.<br>

Jim</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Jim, that's a good buy. I think that you'll find the lenses are quite good.</p>

[ph.]

A nerdy comment from an occasional collector of such ancient devices:

In my occasional inspection of this treasure trove of ancient posts i  have reached nuber 330-something and noted this description of KW products

 In some descriptions of the FX vintage it is stated that Zeiss made prisms to be inserted in the "lichtschacht".

I, however have such a removable  prism fitting well atop the camera  the prism  is numbered and marked KW (and with "s" in a triangle ). No idea whether they bought it in and relabelled, but Neusiedlitz  near Dresden is not reputed to have had any optical production, so Jena may have been  the origin even if those prisms are usually said to be labelled Zeiss.

The small diameter thread lens I have for an older body-version is a "Victar" probaly also a triplet like  Ludwigs "Meritar"

p.