praktica (golden attic find)

2rob1

2rob1

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robert
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rooting through my attic i stumbled on this.

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its called a praktica MTL 5 B from 1986!
its my mums and i cant believe she has only used it a few times. completly mint!

spec is here for you camera Guru's


http://www.praktica-collector.de/209_Praktica_MTL5.htm

i know nothing of it and i dont even know how to use it. comes with 3 lenses of which i dont know, a flash gun and holster (still in its wrapping lol) fancy case an all.
no batteries at all (apart from the LED focus finder) its so clunky and machanically i love it. built like a russian tank lol.
even the self timer is a wind up mechanism like a toy car.
as soon as i get paid though i'm going to buy the instruction manuel (its very thick) off ebay or something and some 35mm film!

if anyone can give me some hints and tips on er... how it works that'll be great
 
My 1st camera was a Praktica, a TL2 I if memory serves me right,I bought it whilst I was in college in 1980 from a shop in Barnstaple,I used it for a year or 2,but then p/ex it against a Canon AV1. I seem to recall the shutter button sticking on it and I had to depress it quite hard so I had to buy a release cable to prevent any blur (did'nt work by the way,hence the P/ex).They were made in East Germany and were as you say, built like a tank,I dropped mine more than once and it still worked (maybe that was why the shutter button jammed??).Thanks for sharing,a bit of nostalgia.

The instruction manual is also available here http://www.butkus.org/chinon/praktica/praktica_mtl_5/praktica_mtl_5.htm
 
I bought exactly the same model with a 50mm lens in a charity shop in Chester in 2008, for the mighty sum of 6 quid.....And I agree it is built like a Russian tank:lol:
 
Fond memories, I had one in the 80's, my first real DSLR. Wish I still owned her, sweet find!
 
A Praktica BX20 was my first in the very early 90's. A deal out of Dixons. Great camera but a common fault was the shutter sticking. The solution believe it or not was to drop it onto a cushion from the height of about a foot. It worked and its still laying around here someplace, working :)
 
TrevDR said:
A Praktica BX20 was my first in the very early 90's. A deal out of Dixons. Great camera but a common fault was the shutter sticking. The solution believe it or not was to drop it onto a cushion from the height of about a foot. It worked and its still laying around here someplace, working :)
Click to expand...

I have still got my Praktica LLC, it has TTL metering at full aperture and only stops down when taking the picture! a new feature at the time.
The meter does not work, the frame counter does not work and the shutter sticks sometimes (cured by using the self timer)
Still takes pictures though :)

Enjoy
 
They used to sell these at Argos.. I had my eye on one for ages when I was a kid, but I ended up getting a Saturday job at Dixons and picking up a Minolta 5000 kit when they got a job-lot of them in.

Ah, memories :)

A.
 
Well it will be very different from what you are probably used to with Stop Down metering either match needle or traffic lights I cant remember which was which on the 5B.I would get a roll of film run it through and see what you think of the results before you consider flogging it
 
My dad gave me one of those which is hiding under my bed and is going to my son for his birthday! Certainly does feel well built!
 
What a nice find! I loved these old cameras, with their 'mechanical engineering' feel. I remember when I started out with a FED 4 rangefinder and used to lust for a Praktica MTL3. Happy days :cool:
 
Now that's got me wanting to give my old Praktica BMS Eletronic SLR a go! I have recently brought a pack of five 35 mm rolls and as far as I know, the camera itself still works so no excuses on taking it out for a walk.
Need to get myself back into the photography groove, though, and the weather is being a bit dull at the moment anyway.
 
zooxanthellae said:
Fond memories, I had one in the 80's, my first real DSLR. Wish I still owned her, sweet find!
Click to expand...

You had a DSLR in the 1980s? Cripes! :eek: :D

At the back end of the 70s, when I was twelve or so, Practika provided me with my intro to SLR photography by way of a second hand Nova 1 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens (late 60s/early 70s vintage).

Built like a tank. I had a lot of fun with it.
 
TrevDR said:
A Praktica BX20 was my first in the very early 90's. A deal out of Dixons. Great camera but a common fault was the shutter sticking. The solution believe it or not was to drop it onto a cushion from the height of about a foot. It worked and its still laying around here someplace, working :)
Click to expand...

haha that is fantastic. good ol engineering.

thanks for the help people and thanks for the manuel. going to give it a shot as soon as i can :D and i know what things do

whats the best place to get it developed?
 
I have a Praktica MTL 5B and still shoot with it. Great old school manual camera that can produce very pleasing results. That Pentacon 50mm f1.8 M42 lens aint half bad either. The Carl Zeiss lens is superb..I have one for sale right now in fact.
 
Mmmm ... my first SLR was an MTL5B as well. If I remember it took beautiful pictures ...
 
TrevDR said:
A Praktica BX20 was my first in the very early 90's. A deal out of Dixons. Great camera but a common fault was the shutter sticking. The solution believe it or not was to drop it onto a cushion from the height of about a foot. It worked and its still laying around here someplace, working :)
Click to expand...

That's it, that was (in fact still is) my first SLR... I also got mine from dixons, complete with twin lenses and a flash... still got it all somewhere :D

I can see this turning into some sort of revival thread :lol:
 
I used to have the super TL-1000, unfortunately the winder died on it. Went to sell the lenses the other day and I was told "sorry mate it;s useless to me, I've got a drawer full of the stuff, try giving it to a charity shop" so I did. Was a bit gutted that something that used to be my pride and joy was so worthless. Ho hum, that's progress for you.
 
ki_user said:
I used to have the super TL-1000, unfortunately the winder died on it. Went to sell the lenses the other day and I was told "sorry mate it;s useless to me, I've got a drawer full of the stuff, try giving it to a charity shop" so I did. Was a bit gutted that something that used to be my pride and joy was so worthless. Ho hum, that's progress for you.
Click to expand...


Yep I know the feeling. I recently asked in a used camera shop, just out of interest, how much my old Canon AE-1 was worth. "I'll give you a fiver for it!", the guy said. :eek: :(

That was my 21st birthday pressie and I think it cost about £210 around 1980/81!! I wonder how long before my new D90 will be worth a fiver...

Edit: Oh yeh, I just remembered my Kodak DC260 digital camera. I got that for £500 from the States when they were £800 over here.. a bargain!!
I watched one on eBay recently.. it went for 8 quid! :lol: Well, you've got to laugh.
 
Sloper said:
Yep I know the feeling. I recently asked in a used camera shop, just out of interest, how much my old Canon AE-1 was worth. "I'll give you a fiver for it!", the guy said. :eek: :(
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I'd take it off your hands for a fiver. It would go nicely with my AV-1 (which, circa 1982, replaced the Praktica I mentioned earlier) and the my brother's old A-1 which he gave me a few years ago. :D

[not seriously expecting you to take me up on the offer, BTW]
 
I couldn't let it go for so little, Musicman. It has sentimental and nostalgia value for me. Anyway the shutter is stuck! Maybe one day I'll get it fixed..
 
This brings back memories. My first SLR was a Practika MTL3 in 1980. I can still remember putting my first 2 films through it and getting them back blank as I hadn't wound them onto the spool properly!
 
Lol, I hadn't had my caffiene buzz when I typed that , what a wally lol. It did have a little battery in the bottom so there must have been some digital circuitry in there somewhere( back peddles rapidly towards the door)

Musicman said:
You had a DSLR in the 1980s? Cripes! :eek: :D

At the back end of the 70s, when I was twelve or so, Practika provided me with my intro to SLR photography by way of a second hand Nova 1 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens (late 60s/early 70s vintage).

Built like a tank. I had a lot of fun with it.
Click to expand...
 
glad to see so many are remember what camera's popped your cherry :D

i cant believe i'm taking pictures with something that was made 2 years before me!!!
 
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