I remember, almost 50 years ago, I had excellent marks in my school report so my dad got the 10 speed bike he had promised as an incentive. My grand dad had promised something of the same value, I had my eyes set on a Praktica as it was the only SLR in that price range. When I showed up with my report and my wish my grand dad said: A camera that cheap must be crap. Instead of the camera I wished for he gave me his old Agfa Silette and told me to make good pics with that one and we can talk further. No manual, not the simplest instructions. I ripped the first film not knowing that something like a rewind knob existed and did not try the camera for many, many years. (It worked OK). That's the story on how I almost got a a Praktica as a teenager😪😪😪😉
I once repaired a Praktica that was slipping when winding on. From what I remember, the innards seemed to be constructed using modules for the different functions, I carefully removed each one in turn until I got to the cause, which was a screw through a slotted arm. Tightened the screw, assembled the modules back in order and everything worked properly.
Yep ... pretty logical inside ... I have to replace the rear plastic viewfinder eyepiece on one of mine - and that should be a pretty straight forward job - requiring just the removal of the shutter speed dial and rewind crank assembly to remove the top plate.
Praktica cameras do indeed feel quite refined compared to Zenits. My first SLR was a Zenit EM, which I enjoyed using. Later I was given a Praktica Nova 1B which was better, and now I have 3 MTL50s which make Zenits feel like the Stone Age. Great video, though I think fans of the products of Dresden will be horrified that you called the Praktica's M42 mount a "Pentax Mount" 😉
Ah the Zenith EM ... the 'posh' Zenith E with an auto diaphragm! Saves all that forgetting to stop down thing I used to do 🙂 After I made the video I realised I had fallen into the trap of calling it 'Pentax screw' ... it was what what most of the magazines back in the 70s called it to differentiate it from Leica screw. I know Carl Zeiss originated the M42 mount back in the 30s - but I always think of Exacta bayonet as the 'Dresden' mount ... funny how we fall into these things.
I got my start in 35mm film photography nearly 50 years ago with a "Hanimex Praktica LTL", my first SLR. The camera store took pity on me at that time, selling the camera as part of their scratch & dent sale. The camera looked spotless to my eye. It was built like a tank and proved to be a great camera for learning the basics of photography.
My first SLR camera was a Praktica LTL. I was in Capitol Flea Market in San Jose in 1997, and saw this camera with Pentacon 50mm f1.8 and a Hanimex 135mm f2.8 lenses. Have bought several cameras since, but I learnt to use SLR camera with the Praktica.
My first slr was a used LTL3 in the early 70's, which took some of what are still my favourite shots. Eventually gave it to my partner many years later after I bought Pentax all-singing thing. A bad move, especially as she later couldn't find it. Oh well. Bought a MTL3 a few years ago as a reminder, but am tending to use rangefinders more these days.
i do like the front facing shutter release, i was mistakenly believing it was a russian copy of another camera system. it might be an ideal camera for my 8 yr old nice. get her introduction to film cameras. I started off with my trusted Pentax K1000 with 55mm F-2 lens 1978
I picked up a Praktica LTL with a carl zeiss jenna ddr 50mm lens, I was impressed how solid and sturdy it felt. I only paid £10 for it. I also picked up a bag of M42 screw mount lenses for £20, it contained a zoom lens a 55mm autochinon, a 28mm sunagor and a 135mm photax lens plus various filters, extention tubes and converters, the bag alone was worth the £20 I paid for them. I since sold the zoom lens for £30. I have the Chinon CX which takes the same M42 lenses so they'll all come in very handy! I've added your channel, hopefully you'll connect with another retro photographer?
Great to have you onboard :-) As you have found, M42 screw mount gear is plentiful and much of it is quite cheap. It's a strange thing to be shooting with cameras that sometimes costs less than the film I'm putting in them ... but that's old Prakticas for you!
My first serious camera back in the early 1970's was a Praktica LTL. I still have it, but unfortunately it's showing it's age. I now use the Olympus OM1
I've had a few of these and they're heavy but bullet proof. The placement of the shutter release is very instinctive to use. My favourite was the MTL 3. The BCA I once (briefly) owned was more advanced (with it's LED viewfinder info) was nice, but I preferred the more basic versions. For me, that was the whole point.
I think the fact that the 'B' series Prakticas used a unique bayonet mount kinda defeated the universal appeal of a M42 thread-mount camera as well as their more advanced and electronic operation. Praktica always equated to workhorse not racehorse to me🙂
Thanks for the comment 🙂I had a Nikon F 'plain prism' as they used to call it - a good few years ago. Lovely camera. I actually have very few 'battery only' film cameras ... my Nikon F4 and my little Olympus AX are the only two.
I have just acquired a Ricoh KR-5 super II for £30 including shipment in mint condition. This one has a Copal square shutter and is fully manual and mechanical. Battery is only for the light meter and highest shutter is 1/2000. It use Pentax K mount ;-). It is actually a rebranded Cosina CT1 Super and is the brother of Nikon FM10. I can highly recommend it.
Just got a Praktica L from MW Cameras and it cost me about £7; however, I believed the description and got a lemon...seems the shutter speed dial is a one speed Johnnie.. Nice video on btw....
@@philipcupid6660 Yep it has no depth of field preview lever ... which is a pain unless you are using it with a camera with an onboard stop down lever like the Praktica Super TL1000. it's actually a great lens for video ... as well as stills.
What do you think of the Praktica VLC model series, i.e. Praktica VLC, Praktica VLC2 and Praktica VLC3? In my opinion, these three are a very good and very affordable alternative to the Praktica VLC: - Nikon F2 - Nikon F3 - Canon F-1 - Canon F-1n - Canon New F-1 - Pentax LX - Minolta XK - Minolta Xm What do you think? By the way, I have the Praktica VLC2 and don't need any of the others mentioned. 😉
@@ashsphotolounge I know, I have an Exakta Varex IIb myself, but it still needs to be refurbished and I know that the Praktica VLC models are the younger and smaller sister models of the Exakta RTL1000, only with M42 screw thread instead of the Exakta mount and I also know that the first SLR camera released on the market worldwide was the Kine Exakta, released in 1936, so I think you would have listed something similar with "need I say more". 😁 So I'm going to take a wild guess... you agree with me that the VLCs are a damn good alternative to the major Japanese manufacturers. 😁 You could even make a really nasty video about it, but I'm not going to give anyone any "stupid" ideas here. 😉 Greetings Lutz
@@SchwarzPoet VLCs are very tough and very practical. Probably not quite in the league of some of the others you have mentioned for accessories ... motor drives being one. The Praktica was a camera from an earlier era dressed in modern clothes so it didn't quite have the sophisticated metering of others - and as far as features, the Pentax LX for example had complete weather and dust sealing. and a tougher bodyshell than a VLC. But the Praktica was a great camera and miles better for having the larger mount 'throat' diameter that allowed for faster lenses more cheaply and easier wide angle construction. Had the VLC had a development department behind it like Minolta's or Nikon's and if quality standards hadn't fallen over the years history may have been very different.
Maybe you would like to give me one of your Prakticas in exchange for one of my Canon AE-ones (50mm, f=1,8 Canon FD lens), I have two of them, both fully functional. I´m shooting a Kiev 4a (Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50mm, f=1,4), a Canon Ftb QL and a Canon AE-1 (with a large amount of FD-Lenses)...
@@ashsphotoloungethat’s odd. I just tried to play it again and the ad before was loud and clear. But your audio isn’t. Except for the shutter sounds in your intro. Must be my phone somehow.
@@ashsphotolounge I’m thinking the audio got corrupted on my phone and then cached or something. Glad it’s just me and no one else. Still need to watch this video.
@@NandR Should be a fairly easy matter to clear the cache. As a tip, I have both Safari and Chrome on my phone as occasionally one or other won't like a site 🙂
I remember, almost 50 years ago, I had excellent marks in my school report so my dad got the 10 speed bike he had promised as an incentive. My grand dad had promised something of the same value, I had my eyes set on a Praktica as it was the only SLR in that price range. When I showed up with my report and my wish my grand dad said: A camera that cheap must be crap. Instead of the camera I wished for he gave me his old Agfa Silette and told me to make good pics with that one and we can talk further. No manual, not the simplest instructions. I ripped the first film not knowing that something like a rewind knob existed and did not try the camera for many, many years. (It worked OK). That's the story on how I almost got a a Praktica as a teenager😪😪😪😉
I once repaired a Praktica that was slipping when winding on. From what I remember, the innards seemed to be constructed using modules for the different functions, I carefully removed each one in turn until I got to the cause, which was a screw through a slotted arm. Tightened the screw, assembled the modules back in order and everything worked properly.
Yep ... pretty logical inside ... I have to replace the rear plastic viewfinder eyepiece on one of mine - and that should be a pretty straight forward job - requiring just the removal of the shutter speed dial and rewind crank assembly to remove the top plate.
Praktica cameras do indeed feel quite refined compared to Zenits. My first SLR was a Zenit EM, which I enjoyed using. Later I was given a Praktica Nova 1B which was better, and now I have 3 MTL50s which make Zenits feel like the Stone Age. Great video, though I think fans of the products of Dresden will be horrified that you called the Praktica's M42 mount a "Pentax Mount" 😉
Ah the Zenith EM ... the 'posh' Zenith E with an auto diaphragm! Saves all that forgetting to stop down thing I used to do 🙂 After I made the video I realised I had fallen into the trap of calling it 'Pentax screw' ... it was what what most of the magazines back in the 70s called it to differentiate it from Leica screw. I know Carl Zeiss originated the M42 mount back in the 30s - but I always think of Exacta bayonet as the 'Dresden' mount ... funny how we fall into these things.
No problem with batteries with the MTL 50, I have one acquired because of that.
@@grahvis That's handy 🙂
I got my start in 35mm film photography nearly 50 years ago with a "Hanimex Praktica LTL", my first SLR. The camera store took pity on me at that time, selling the camera as part of their scratch & dent sale. The camera looked spotless to my eye. It was built like a tank and proved to be a great camera for learning the basics of photography.
You can pretty much knock in nails with a Praktica 🙂
My first SLR camera was a Praktica LTL. I was in Capitol Flea Market in San Jose in 1997, and saw this camera with Pentacon 50mm f1.8 and a Hanimex 135mm f2.8 lenses. Have bought several cameras since, but I learnt to use SLR camera with the Praktica.
The start for so many :-)
My first slr was a used LTL3 in the early 70's, which took some of what are still my favourite shots. Eventually gave it to my partner many years later after I bought Pentax all-singing thing. A bad move, especially as she later couldn't find it. Oh well. Bought a MTL3 a few years ago as a reminder, but am tending to use rangefinders more these days.
I used to take transparencies and sell them to postcard companies with my old Praktica - the lensers were just soooooo good
i do like the front facing shutter release, i was mistakenly believing it was a russian copy of another camera system. it might be an ideal camera for my 8 yr old nice. get her introduction to film cameras. I started off with my trusted Pentax K1000 with 55mm F-2 lens 1978
I think they are perfect 'kid's first serious cameras'. Simple, rugged, and if they do break it they are cheap enough to get another.
I picked up a Praktica LTL with a carl zeiss jenna ddr 50mm lens, I was impressed how solid and sturdy it felt.
I only paid £10 for it.
I also picked up a bag of M42 screw mount lenses for £20, it contained a zoom lens a 55mm autochinon, a 28mm sunagor and a 135mm photax lens plus various filters, extention tubes and converters, the bag alone was worth the £20 I paid for them.
I since sold the zoom lens for £30.
I have the Chinon CX which takes the same M42 lenses so they'll all come in very handy!
I've added your channel, hopefully you'll connect with another retro photographer?
Great to have you onboard :-) As you have found, M42 screw mount gear is plentiful and much of it is quite cheap. It's a strange thing to be shooting with cameras that sometimes costs less than the film I'm putting in them ... but that's old Prakticas for you!
My first serious camera back in the early 1970's was a Praktica LTL. I still have it, but unfortunately it's showing it's age. I now use the Olympus OM1
it's lovely to know so many have the same photo beginnings as me - and the same fond remembrances of our early Prakticas 🙂
I've had a few of these and they're heavy but bullet proof. The placement of the shutter release is very instinctive to use. My favourite was the MTL 3. The BCA I once (briefly) owned was more advanced (with it's LED viewfinder info) was nice, but I preferred the more basic versions. For me, that was the whole point.
I think the fact that the 'B' series Prakticas used a unique bayonet mount kinda defeated the universal appeal of a M42 thread-mount camera as well as their more advanced and electronic operation. Praktica always equated to workhorse not racehorse to me🙂
Great video! I've never owned one; my all manual film camera is a trusty Nikon F with the meterless prism.
Thanks for the comment 🙂I had a Nikon F 'plain prism' as they used to call it - a good few years ago. Lovely camera. I actually have very few 'battery only' film cameras ... my Nikon F4 and my little Olympus AX are the only two.
I have just acquired a Ricoh KR-5 super II for £30 including shipment in mint condition. This one has a Copal square shutter and is fully manual and mechanical. Battery is only for the light meter and highest shutter is 1/2000. It use Pentax K mount ;-). It is actually a rebranded Cosina CT1 Super and is the brother of Nikon FM10. I can highly recommend it.
Another great camera the Ricoh ... good to be reminded of it Michael!
Just got a Praktica L from MW Cameras and it cost me about £7; however, I believed the description and got a lemon...seems the shutter speed dial is a one speed Johnnie..
Nice video on btw....
Oh but the 2.8 Domiplan Meyer optic 50mm has no aperture operation used to use one 😢 back in the day - the1980's!!
I would send it the heck back if it didn't match its description! No excuse for that.
@@philipcupid6660 Yep it has no depth of field preview lever ... which is a pain unless you are using it with a camera with an onboard stop down lever like the Praktica Super TL1000. it's actually a great lens for video ... as well as stills.
What do you think of the Praktica VLC model series, i.e. Praktica VLC, Praktica VLC2 and Praktica VLC3?
In my opinion, these three are a very good and very affordable alternative to the Praktica VLC:
- Nikon F2
- Nikon F3
- Canon F-1
- Canon F-1n
- Canon New F-1
- Pentax LX
- Minolta XK
- Minolta Xm
What do you think?
By the way, I have the Praktica VLC2 and don't need any of the others mentioned. 😉
Th first SLR cameras were Exaktas ... Praktica VLCs are basically ExaKtas ... need i say more?
@@ashsphotolounge I know, I have an Exakta Varex IIb myself, but it still needs to be refurbished and I know that the Praktica VLC models are the younger and smaller sister models of the Exakta RTL1000, only with M42 screw thread instead of the Exakta mount and I also know that the first SLR camera released on the market worldwide was the Kine Exakta, released in 1936, so I think you would have listed something similar with "need I say more". 😁
So I'm going to take a wild guess... you agree with me that the VLCs are a damn good alternative to the major Japanese manufacturers. 😁
You could even make a really nasty video about it, but I'm not going to give anyone any "stupid" ideas here. 😉
Greetings Lutz
@@SchwarzPoet VLCs are very tough and very practical. Probably not quite in the league of some of the others you have mentioned for accessories ... motor drives being one. The Praktica was a camera from an earlier era dressed in modern clothes so it didn't quite have the sophisticated metering of others - and as far as features, the Pentax LX for example had complete weather and dust sealing. and a tougher bodyshell than a VLC.
But the Praktica was a great camera and miles better for having the larger mount 'throat' diameter that allowed for faster lenses more cheaply and easier wide angle construction. Had the VLC had a development department behind it like Minolta's or Nikon's and if quality standards hadn't fallen over the years history may have been very different.
Maybe you would like to give me one of your Prakticas in exchange for one of my Canon AE-ones (50mm, f=1,8 Canon FD lens), I have two of them, both fully functional. I´m shooting a Kiev 4a (Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 50mm, f=1,4), a Canon Ftb QL and a Canon AE-1 (with a large amount of FD-Lenses)...
Am I the only one that can't hear what he's saying due to messed up, distorted sound?
I can’t hear the audio. It sounds like someone whispering. Tried my Bluetooth and phone speaker. Anyone else?
Seems to play fine on both my iPhone and computer speakers. I've checked the uploaded file and the audio is normal as far as I can hear.
@@ashsphotoloungethat’s odd. I just tried to play it again and the ad before was loud and clear. But your audio isn’t. Except for the shutter sounds in your intro. Must be my phone somehow.
@@NandR My wife just tried it on her phone - and it was fine on there too.
@@ashsphotolounge I’m thinking the audio got corrupted on my phone and then cached or something. Glad it’s just me and no one else. Still need to watch this video.
@@NandR Should be a fairly easy matter to clear the cache. As a tip, I have both Safari and Chrome on my phone as occasionally one or other won't like a site 🙂
With all respect your audio levels are a bit all over the place in this video
Oh god no - don't tell everyone about how great Praktica's are... you are ruining everthing for those of us who know ;)