The Praktinas rivals from its own homeland, the Ihagee-made Exakta and the Zeiss Ikon Contax S/D SLRs, both worthy, ground-breaking designs themselves, employed bayonet and screw thread lens mounts, respectively. But let’s look at a few aspects of this apparent quality, beginning with its unique lens mount.

That it also possesses the tactile qualities one comes to associate with high-end German cameras, will therefore be no surprise to those who have experienced them. It’s also a beautifully finished one, whose weight denotes the use of some high-grade metals in its interior. The Praktina may have been an Eastern Bloc product, but it’s a solidly built one with heft to match the best competitors from Nikon or Canon. Some of history’s finest cameras and lenses were manufactured in or around Dresden and Jena, before or after World War II-Exakta SLRs and the great Zeiss Contax rangefinders being just two examples.

Some accessories available for it included: interchangeable waist level or pentaprism viewfinders, and focus screens bulk exposure magazine backs for up to 450 exposures, and what was said to be the world’s first motor drive unit for a single lens reflex (spring-powered, originally, later, an electric version).Īlthough certain products from the former DDR could, at times, have variable quality control or reliability (some, but not all, Prakticas of certain vintages are a case in point) it’s still unfair to tag the entire output of what was once a global powerhouse of photographic equipment with this trait. They were conceived from the outset as a part of a camera system for professional use, one that was quite impressive for its time (well documented at Albert Taccheo’s excellent site dedicated to the Praktina). These relatively rare East German-made SLRs, (not to be confused with the similarly named Praktica brand) were made in Dresden in the former DDR by Kamera Werkestätten. Last year I was fortunate to acquire a pair of KW Praktina FX 35mm SLRs at a bargain price via a local eBay listing. KW Praktina FX fitted with waist level finder & Carl Zeiss Jena 58mm Biotar f/2 lens.

Praktina fx camera