Praktica FX - rant

[baachitraka]

I know its kind of slow to operate and takes m42 without aperture linkage but I really fell for it after watching a video about camera manufacturing in east-Germany, its raise and fall and so on.

What is your experiences with FX and its variants? It the shutter is quite (MTL 5B is noisy). I rather would like to get all its variants.

 

[davela]

Its not the worst camera I've ever used, but very close. Most examples around today have big problems (or will).

The best East German 35mm SLR was the Praktina - many still work well.

 

[AgX]

The FX actually is just the synchronized version of the Praktica (without suffix).
So basically you are discussing the very first generation of Praktica.

 

[baachitraka]

Yes the first versions of Prakticas.

A typical SLR look is great but I started to like the waist-level finder. I want a slow camera....

Whats really bad about them? Perhaps they are old and may need a CLA (shutter etc)

 

[davela]

I"m sure with a CLA they will work fine. They are certainly conversation pieces these days - some of the lenses for them made at the time were fantastic.

 

[Alan Johnson]

Old Prakticas (or Exaktas) are very good for seeing how the SLR developed. The Japanese joined in later.
https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/praktica-fx-3.443080/

 

[Jim Jones]

My first SLR was a Praktica FX bought used in the early 1960s. I used it a few years before getting a Nikon F (quite a step up!). The waist level viewfinder was dim and rather inconvenient. The sports finder was clever, but framing was difficult for glasses wearers. The mirror blackout after shooting was distracting. Hinging the back would have made reloading easier. It needed only one repair that I could do myself. There must have been inexpensive and better used SLRs available at the time, but it helped me avoid more expensive mistakes when I upgraded.