Praktica (1949-1952)

#322

This photo is from the copy I own

History and technical features 

Praktica is a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, formerly within the GDR prior to German reunification in 1990. Pentacon is the modern-day successor to Dresden camera firms such as Zeiss Ikon; for many years Dresden was the world's largest producer of cameras. Currently Praktica is the only brand sold by the company; previous brands of the predecessor firms included Zeiss Ikon, Contax (now owned by the Carl Zeiss company), Ica, Ernemann, Exakta, Praktiflex, Pentacon, and many more.

The firm collapsed after German reunification but was resurrected in partnership with Schneider Kreuznach. Praktica today produces many products under various brands such as auto industry products, 3D LCD screens, and still cameras and lenses under their own Praktica brand and also more known international brands.

Among the innovative legacies of the predecessor firms are the roll film SLR camera in 1933, the 35mm SLR in 1936, and the pentaprism SLR in 1949. After WWII the company's products were best known in the Eastern Block countries, though some were exported to the west. They currently produce both budget lenses (mostly small, not very durable, and having manual focus, but good in optical quality) and higher priced products[citation needed]. They also produce optical equipment for the space programs of the US, Western Europe, and Russia. Praktica was and is a very popular brand in the UK.

Fonte: Wikipedia

Praktica started as the name of a model of 35mm SLR from KW, introduced in 1949 and successor to the Praktiflex.

It became a long-lasting series of SLRs produced by KW and then by Pentacon. The last Praktica produced was the BX20s, discontinued in 2001.

Fonte: camera-wiki.org


Specifications

Producer: MECHANIK Kamera-Werkstätten VEB Niedersedlitz
Responsible constructor: Siegfried Böhm
Production period: August 1950 to September 1951
No of produced cameras as a part of 1st variation: 24,805

Technical properties of the camera
Shutter type: mechanically controlled horizontal-run rubberised cloth-blind type shutter with twin settings for fast and slow speeds
Exposure time (possible settings): B, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200,1/500
View finder: fixed waist-level view finder with condenser type ground-glass focusing screen, simple sport view finder
Mirror: no instant-return mirror
Film transport / frame counter: knob film advance, loose film take-up spool, manual frame counter
Lens mount: M42x1
Self timer: none
Battery: none
Metering system: none
Flash system: with one flash contact at the front of the camera body
Flash indication: none
Aperture reflection into view finder: none

Fonte: praktica-collector.de

Model

Mine has serial number 017407
Reference sites

camera-wiki.org

praktica-collector.de

Wikipedia


Manual

English manual



Film


Pictures taken with this machine


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