Unboxing Unwanted Inventory
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- čas přidán 2. 12. 2021
- Wherein the deep discounts of the annual sale prove irresistible to my collector's impulse.
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#praktica #pentacon #SLR
I had an LTL for a while last year. It was bought for the princely sum of £10 with a completely terrible Prinzflex lens on it, which was actually a good lens, but was so riddled with fungus and it had etched the glass. The camera was seemingly good though, so I wound and test fired it in excess of 300 times - no issues.
I loaded a roll of film, took it out and 22 shots into a 36 shot roll, it jammed up and as they are ridiculously tricky to get into, I just gave up on it. It would have been about £85 to get it fully CLA'd, and in hindsight, I wish I had done.
I use pretty basic cameras anyway. I favour a Pentax KM and a Fujica ST705 so they're not exactly dripping with features, but the Praktica just felt so comfortable to use. To be honest, I think it deserved a better end than what befell it - sold in a job lot of broken cameras to an interior designer...
So, this idea of not removing functioning cameras from sale to sit on a shelf.....I must have missed that memo.
My First SLR was a Praktica MTL5B, I eventually bought two, and both sit on a shelf now in full working order!
Over the years I have been given (family friends) an LTL, an MTL3, and an MTL5. They all work except the MTL5 (my uncles's, he left a battery to leak).
The LTL had a seized battery door, so I bought a 'for parts' TL3 to effect a repair for £15. The TL3 was advertised as 'non functioning light meter'.
When I got the TL3 the light meter worked fine, probably a case of seller using the wrong battery.
Your LTL needs a 1.3v Wein cell mercury replacement, or failing that a 1.5v EPX625G will work but the meter will read off slightly....you know this, because I think you told me such in regards to a Nikkormat FT!
I have toyed with the idea of using my M42 set up again, which includes a couple of 50mm pentagons, a nice little Sirius 35-70, a Carl Ziess Jena 135 F3.5, and two rather ropey 200mm zooms.
The problem is that my Nikon film set up is more fun and lighter, so I probably should return the Prakticas to the community.......but will I.....Ahhhh.....they are fantastic bullet proof cameras, easily repaired with a host of cheap but quality M42 lenses available.
Great nostalgia from seeing these again. They were Everywhere here in UK back in the late 70s
Slightly more upmarket from Zenit. Love a new camera unboxing, 😊
Nice looking camera, good luck!
Typical iron curtain tank-like construction, Brian. I used one back in the day and didn't really rely on the light meter even then, preferring to use my Weston Master V. That camera is long gone, traded in for some other fancy thing that caught my eye, but recently I bought a Practika MTL3 complete with Pentacon 50mm f1.8 for £16 GBP.
This camera looks brand new, it can't have had many shutter activations but the speeds are absolutely bang on the money.
Simple engineering, a Copal Square shutter type, and a body that would survive an explosion - what's not to like?
Great content as always Brian, cheers.
They were fairly common, here in the UK. My chemistry teacher, who also ran my school's photography club, had the same model. That was 40 years ago! Anyway, the top and bottom plates are chromed plastic and the dent in the shutter curtain is normal.
They're a step up from Soviet cameras from the same era and they seem to last better too.The MTL 3 replaced your model and the final models were the MTL5B and MTL50. There were also models with open aperture metering, if you used Pentacon "Electric" lenses.
Plastic? Thats a surprise. The earlier ones where all metal. Canon A series did that too with their top pates so in good company I guess
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Very underrated cameras, have been gifted a few MTL3's. If you've not used one before you might want to take a look at a film loading video. These cameras had Praktica's version of a quick load system. It's quick once you know how to do it!
Wow, given the non-functional light meter and orphan status of that camera, YOU SIR are the Daddy Warbucks or light meter "blind" and orphan cameras, and living in Israel I am sure "the sun will come out tomorrow" for sure. ;) Best wishes!
I recommend the Praktica MTL50, great light meter, good mechanical monster with the whole M42 selection.
Another option is a Praktica B series with a M42 adapter, can use in automatic mode
Greetings.
It's great to go for other cheap brands like Canon and Minolta if you can.
I used to have a very extensive Canon FD collection. The FTb was my go-to camera for years. Canon and Minolta are indeed some of the best bargains available for quality 35mm systems.
I managed to get an LTL3 and MTL5B for £1 each a while ago. The MTL back wouldn't open: po had glued it shut in an effort to glue the pleather back on. The ltl was a bit more involved: the shutter mech and winding mech had uncoupled due to a loose screw. Fairly easy fix.
I have some half decent primes to go with it but picked up a cheap zoom. A sigma 28-80. Not sharp but dirt cheap at £18. If you want cheap lenses nobody wants the zooms, mostly for valid reasons
I've fallen for Praktica cameras. I had a Nova 1B with a M.O.G. zebra 50mm lens. Fought with it for a whole year, focus issues, light leaks, colour casts but, and this is going to sound weird, it smelt right, that slight whiff of old engineering. There followed another year of it being my best buddy and main camera. Unfortunately the advance lever then jammed. I tried everything to get it loose, no joy even after stripping it down, they're total buggers to fix. Depressed, I bought a Nova 1, slightly sharper with the same lens, doesn't feel or smell as good. Bought a Pentacon 30mm lens cheap and fixed its stuck aperture ring. Happy days once more, this one does weird stuff as well on different shots on the same roll but I just see it as an adventure.
What about ax Exa 1B with waist level finder?
The issue with the Exa is that they have Exacta mount, so it’s more difficult to find lens while the TLC, MTL series are M42, huge range of lenses. I use my Praktica with a Mamiya/Sekor, a Takumar, a Pentacon, Tessar, Helios, Indostar, you name it!
@@rpgbb yeah I know, I do have a Praktica TL 1000 which used to work fine but I had to get it repaired.
The Exa 1B and the 1C are M42 screw mount, check them out. They're small, cheap with a solid reliability shutter, no curtains at all (!)