Pentacon Super - The last gasp of Europe in system camera production

[Mike Gammill]

Great photos. I really didn't know much about this model so thanks for posting.

[JDMvW]

<p>To follow up on some points raised by Subbarayan, Dr. Otto's site lists a "prototype," but as he notes in his decscription of it, it is not the Praktina N prototype described by Hummel (Nr. 118), but</p>

<blockquote>

<p>possibly a camera Prototype on a developmental stage between Praktina N-Prototype (Hummel No. 118) and serial Pentacon Super.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Otto's camera has mostly cosmetic differences (larger display type for name, etc.) from the normal production model. Perhaps it was a camera shown at the Leipzig Fair?<br /><br /> Here is Hummel's complete description of the 118 Praktina N (my translation this time):</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Demonstration camera of a new system camera for the 42x1 screwmount with TTL metering with open aperture, and extensive accessories for professional uses. This prototype was the foundation of the future Pentacon Super. <br /> 1963<br /> Prototype<br /> Hummel R: <em> Spiegelreflexkameras aus Dresden</em>. Edition Reintzsch, Leipzig 1994 S. 225.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Here is a picture of the Praktina N from Hummel.</p>

<p>Its similarity to the Exakta RTL and Praktica VLC camera bodies should also be noted.</p><div></div>

[JDMvW]

<p>My 12-year old daughter to her mother:<br /> How do elevators work?<br /> Mother:<br /> Why don't you ask your father?<br /> Daughter:<br /> I don't want to know <em>that much</em> about how elevators work.</p>

<p>Sorry, I do love these old Ossies so much I get carried away. :)</p>

[User_502260]

<p>The only other mention of the Pentacon Super I have seen was in Ivor Matanle's book. I don't know what I'd make of the camera but I'd love to have one of the 55/1.4 lenses. I'd probably get out an adapter and use it on a Canon F-1 or Minolta X-700. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>The Pancolar 55mm f/1.4 may have been made only (?) in the Super version (Kadlubeks Objektiv-Katalog KWD 00980), but the Pancolar 50mm f/1.8 or f/2 (<a href="http://www.slrlensreview.com/web/carl-zeiss-slr-lenses-51/standard-slr-lenses-94/398-carl-zeiss-jena-pancolar-mc-50mm-f18-m42-lens-review.html">review</a>) is available for around a $100 or so in a number of mounts on eBay, and aside from my aperture needing work, it usually is OK mechanically and a rather nice lens optically (6 elements).</p>

<p>Another good one for any camera it can be adapted to is the legendary Biotar 58mm f/2.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>There is one listed today on Ebay UK from the seller, following. Very expensive though. <strong>Fotoherberscom</strong>. sp</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Thanks, wish I'd bought it before the dollar plummetted. Maybe when the kid gets out of college, if ever. The good news is that the shipping charges are smaller than usual. :)</p>

<p> </p>

[chuck_foreman1]

I like the elevator mother daughter scene.. could've played here.. we do get carried away! My neighbor saw me on the street with a Voigtländer and commented it was a DDR camera....a few minutes later he said .."uumm I really gotta get going!!" He didn't need to know too much about Voigtländers!

[subbarayan_prasanna]

hi Al V! have not seen you post in a long time. Hope to see some soon! Regards, sp.

[longname]

<p>:)</p>

[JDMvW]

More at

LINK Pentacon Super

 

and more detail of the shutter mechanism from that site

 

But a few years later when all that competences hidden in the formerly fragmented plants were concentrated in a large-scale concern, this situation had changed and an interest in a professional system reflex camera became revitalised. Parallel to the modernisation of the Praktica line (leading to the Praktica mat with TTL-metering in 1964/65) KKW/Pentacon worked on such a new high end single lens reflex camera. The first sign of that process was a patent from May 1961 on a metal leaf focal plane shutter (No. DD27,434). This prototype worked with only two leaves resulting in quite a large dimension of the whole shutter unit. Later that year the upper/lower leaf was replaced by a piece of rubberized cloth making the whole moving parts much lighter (Patent No. DE1,145,474). The cloth material was just bent or stretched when the metal part moved. This still required quite a lot of space but made the curtains very light so that this shutter construction reached a shortest shutter time of 500µs and a shortest open-time of 8ms. The shutter is astonishingly quiet (when mounted into the camera) and very robust.

[chuck_foreman1]

Was this the beginning of the later Copal vertical three piece??

[wanders]

I'm completely unfamiliar with this one. Very nice writeup!