My Granddad's Praktica

The_Yin

The_Yin

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Andy
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Hey folks.
Thought I would show my Grandads camera. It is way older than I am. He bought it when he was working on the construction of Sullom Voe in the Shetlands. So in the 70's sometime. He was part of the camera club when he worked there. I have just been talking with my Dad about it and he says it takes some absolutely cracking photos.

The camera is a Praktica, And was built in Germany.
The large lens, And it is rather large. Not sure on manufacturer. But was made in Japan.IMAG3065.jpgIMAG3066.jpgIMAG3068.jpgIMAG3072.jpgIMAG3076.jpgIMAG3077.jpgIMAG3080.jpgIMAG3074.jpg
 
Made in East Germany when Germany was a divided country i.e. before the wall came down. Praktica of that era used M42 thread lenses, later ones had electrical contacts, so image quality largely depended on lens and film choice tbh. There were some great lenses around but also some cheap old rubbish. Pentacon lenses were often used with Praktica and some were pretty good. The camera itself was pretty basic, although notice the angled and threaded shutter release and some were badly built but some were very good, mainly because they were made in the East and were currency earners for the Iron Curtain country.
It's worth keeping and using if only for sentimental reasons. I had one as my first SLR cameras in the late 70's
Matt
 
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Thanks for the info MatBin.

No intention of using it. It is just kept around for sentimental value more than anything else.
 
Praktica cameras were actually pretty good for their day, for example unlike Pentax Spotmatics which had a horizontal cloth shutter, Praktica used a metal vertical shutter so had a higher flash sync. The TL3 dates to the end of the 70’s. Many had East German Zeiss lenses fitted, although the Praticar lenses were Praktica’s own brand. The zoom you’ve got is a Mirage which was a Dixon’s own brand, iirc they were made by Soligor.
 
I have a whole collection of Prakticas sitting in a drawer in my loft, but the later MTLs (well, 3 of them are - the other is the later still model that had a bayonet lens mount. Can't remember the designation now). Along with a collection of lenses, some half decent, some not. One of the MTLs I bought new (my fist slr), one very second hand and the other inherited from my father. The newer one I bought after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Jessops, Dixons or someone were selling them off half price. I still remember rushing all the way to town on my motorbike to grab one as I'd been lusting after one but couldn't afford it. I think most of mine now have faults, they've been used and abused so much. I only went digital 6 years ago.
 
When I saw who started the thread I thought of @TheBigYin

Often seen in the Film and Conventional forum.
 
trevorbray said:
When I saw who started the thread I thought of @TheBigYin

Often seen in the Film and Conventional forum.
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This is an old problem.
I've had loads of PM's over the years for him [emoji23]
 
GordonM said:
Praktica used a metal vertical shutter so had a higher flash sync.
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An 'iron curtain'? :)

What's the standard lens? There were various options back in the day, and as it's a 1.8 it should be one of the better ones (the CZJ Pancolar is the most desirable, but there are decent Pentacon and Meyer alternatives). I picked up some version of this camera (LTL3?) to play with secondhand back in the 90s, which came with a slower but still respectable CJZ Tessar. The cheapest option was a Triotar like the Meyer Domiplan 2.8, which Camera Weekly used to use on their lens resolution charts as the yardstick for the 'worst' lens they had ever tested. It's since been reinvented as a 'character' lens for hipsters.
 
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Lovely looking Camera It's shame not to use it even if it's just once I inherited my great uncles Kodak Pocket Vest Camera and I intend on using it I have the film read just need to read the manual first!!
 
I had a MTL5 ? I think , allways had problems loading the film leader into the 2 sprung loaded rods , ended up exposing nothing as the film was not winding on , DOH ! :confused:
 
F1.2 said:
I had a MTL5 ? I think , allways had problems loading the film leader into the 2 sprung loaded rods , ended up exposing nothing as the film was not winding on , DOH ! :confused:
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Yes, it coud be a bit tricky. I used to wind the film up tight in the cartridge so when I then wound on the first two 'blank' frames I could see if the rewinder was turning. Even then once it slipped off as I loaded the film for a day out walking on Dartmoor. I realised a couple of photos in that all was not well and ended up using my rucksack as a darkroom to open up the camera back and sort it out. Ah, that doesn't happen with digital............;)
 
It's where you're most at home though, Chris! :P
 
Always amazed me when people used to fail to load film cameras properly, all you needed to do was watch the rewind knob turn as you wound on! There were very few cameras where the rewind didn’t turn as the film advanced.
 
GordonM said:
Always amazed me when people used to fail to load film cameras properly, all you needed to do was watch the rewind knob turn as you wound on! There were very few cameras where the rewind didn’t turn as the film advanced.
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The Canon EOS range of 35mm SLRs didn't have a rewind knob and they were produced for around 20 years, nor did the T series Canon cameras, nor most of the 35mm compact cameras from the late 1970s onwards, etc. etc.! :whistle: Then there's medium format cameras that neither have nor need a rewind knob. Not a bad tip but it only really applies to 35mm SLR cameras with the rewind knob on the top plate, and these were mainly produced for around a 20 year period from the mid 60s to the mid 80s.
 
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35mm compacts usually had a ‘self load’ type system which only failed if the film was not pulled far enough across. The Canon EOS range had similar loading, but as the discussion was about Praktica’s wire film leader catching system the rewind knob was a check it was advancing.
The Leica M series used rewind knobs, as did Contax, Ikonta and the Pentax Spotmatic - btw the Canon T50 had a rewind knob
 
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