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Zenit vs. Praktica

klaco

Member
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Dec 26, 2018
Messages
3
Location
Czech Republic
Format
35mm
Hello
I need your help. I want to buy SLR. So I did bit of research and found two good products in local trift shops. First is Practica Super TL ( + carl zeiss jena tessar 50mm/2,8f) and the next one is Zenit E (Helios 58mm/2f). Which of them would you recommend me?
thanks for your answers
 
The Super TL is a better made camera. Check to see if the slow speeds are working and check for pinholes in the shutter curtains before purchase.The Zenit has a brighter viewfinder. If you set the shutter speed on the Zenit, without the shutter being cocked, it can damage the mechanism and the shutter speeds are limited. If you could find a L or B series Praktica, that would be a better choice than either of these cameras.
 
I've got a soft spot for old Soviet/Communist gear, got shelves full of Zenits and Prakticas (plus Feds, Kievs, Lomos etc.) The view finder is a bit brighter in the Praktica in my opinion so focusing easier but the Super TL used a lot of plastic parts that can give up the ghost at anytime. The Zenits are built like tanks and if they worked properly in the first place will carry on working. In terms of lenses both the Helios and the Zeiss are decent Red Lenses, again personal opinion the Zeiss lens tends to have more problems with sticky aperture blades, a bit of lighter fuel usually sorts this out. I would give the Zenit a try but only at the right price, most of mine were in the 15 - 20 pound price range. Just remember that whichever you get both cameras have their idiosyncrasies and quirks but using such a basic camera will help you learn a lot about the basics of photography and can be great fun. Whichever you get have fun with it. Martin
 
I have a Super TL. It has IMO a better metering system than any of the Zenits, a swinging needle type. But unless your specimen already has a battery inside you won't be able to check if the meter is working till buy a 625 battery which is usually only available via internet.
 
klaco said:
I need your help. I want to buy SLR. So I did bit of research and found two good products in local trift shops.
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The Praktica has a better range of shutter speeds which might make taking pictures in different situations a bit easier, as well as an auto stop-down mechanism, meaning that the camera closes the iris down to the setting you have chosen before opening the shutter. It also has a built in lightmeter, weather it works or not is another matter.

The Zenit E is about as basic as an SLR camera can be. It has a smaller range of shutter speeds, no meter and no stop down lever/mechanism to actuate the iris on the lens. Many M42 lenses have an Auto/Manual switch on the side that stops down the lens manually. Some don't have this however, so when buying other lenses, you would have to look out for that because a lens with no switch wouldn't work properly with this camera.

Just make sure you check both for pinholes in both shutter curtains; open the back and take the lens off, wind on and shine a torch around under the mirror and look for spots from the back, then fire the shutter and check again.

Or you could just accept that Gear Acquisition Syndrome will eventually get you and buy both cameras if they are cheap enough. Try them out for a bit and sell (or don't use) the one you don't like!
Martin Singleton said:
get both cameras
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^ See!
 
If in good condition the Zenit E and Helios lens can be an excellent performer, I made my first magazine cover and also news paper front page with one about 50 years ago.

The Praktica build quality and lens lubrications wasn't at it's best when they made the Super TL, I had their top model a Prakticamat - while the camera body & meter was good exposures were very hit and miss. it turned out the lens was stopping down randomly. I bought a Spotmatic instead and I still use them

Ian
 
It actually depennds: one can adjust shutter speeds on Zenit 11 and TTL whenever they like, "first-wind-then-set" shutter speeds were a thing of old Zenits (like C, 3 and so on), just like the dim viewfinder.

I'm from FSU country and can certainly tell Prakticas were of higher value, higher reliability and higher price over here than our 'native' Zenits, so I'd go with Praktica.
 
Why not to get both? Both are not going to work. But they are both SLR. Is this what you want? SLR?
Or you want to take pictures? These two cameras from local thrifts stores are if you want SLR, but not to take pictures.
 
chuck3565 said:
If you could find a L or B series Praktica, that would be a better choice than either of these cameras.
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With the Praktica B series then one should try to get the Pentacon M42 adapter, as B-mount lenses (at least here) are scarce in relation to M42 ones.
 
What is the price? How would it compare to a basic Pentax Spotmatic which would run circles around these 2 in every department?

As others said both cen produce excellent results with Zenit being far more basic in features. Helios lens is normally superior to the Tessar, but as quality control was not even, so were the different samples. In that sense Tessar was more consistent across production run. Then lubrication was always an issue for DDR made lenses, so getting one these days is almost a given it will have to be addressed, now or at some point in near future (unless that lens had already been cleaned and re-lubricated). The Helios was/is far less of a problem in that sense. I have seen a lot of shutter curtains on Zenit giving up / tearing as they age, so curtains ought to be checked. If they look spotless, flat and pristine in overall condition, then they should be fine for many more years.
 
chuck3565 said:
If you set the shutter speed on the Zenit, without the shutter being cocked, it can damage the mechanism.
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The manual for the Zenit E says:
"The exposure time can be set both with cocked and released shutter."


Ko.Fe. said:
Both are not going to work.
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Not my experience.
I have encountered dead and alive cameras from that era nonwithstanding manufacturer or model.

If one wants a high chance of getting a cheap, fine sample I would advise the Canon T70... but this is not the issue here.
 
Witold said:
What is the price? How would it compare to a basic Pentax Spotmatic which would run circles around these 2 in every department?
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The OP's question is straight from 1990. Since then all kinds of market forces have come into play, which have nothing to do with build quality or photographic capability. For my money the Nikkormat beats used SLRs on every criteria, but any branded Japanese camera in good condition knocks FSU gear into a cocked hat. The only exception being lens quality of some Soviet stuff. For reliability nearly all Eastern Block camera bodies are mediocre at best, but prices suggest they have a cool factor in 2019.
 
The Zenith would make a better Hammer!
 
Buy both.

Other wise it is like "which of your children do you love the most"
 
I beg to differ on reliability of Prakticas, especially their shutter has been close to bullet proof, I'd venture to say not less reliable than majority of shutters ever produced. The mediocrity is also a stretch to apply to ALL of them. Again, Prakticas were hardly mediocre in many areas and are rather reliable (and cheap) bodies for M42 crowd. Surely a lot of cameras from Western side had better fit and finish and overall give higher confidence. Praktica / Zenit are not on my high list, but have a few in my collection and they do not fall very far from many other makes / models.

I've already stated that it all depends on price. In Czech Republic it is entirely possible he can find either camera for $20-30 in great condition and with lens of course. If he is looking at paying above $50, then I would definitely aim at Western / Japanese models. Sometimes I check prices for DDR/Soviet cameras on western versions of eBay and find them stupendously ridiculous and far above market value. If that's the source, than for sure a much better cameras can be had for same money.

Of course, if someone thinks that his/her photography stinks because gear was not from the premium section of a store, then I rest my case.
 
Witold said:
especially their shutter has been close to bullet proof,
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It may be bulletproof, but people far more familiar with Prakticas than myself agree the shutter is a beartrap that requires a minimum of 1/250 to freeze motion. The better Dresden Zeiss lenses have a good reputation, but there are also some stinkers. Zenit cameras were well off the pace for build and quality control, but the lenses were generally good to very good.
 
While I agree Praktica do feel to provide a measurable recoil upon firing, and it's hard to say whether shutter or mirror sound off that feedback, with good holding technique (perhaps more crucial than on many other cameras) standard shutter speeds are all the same.

For those unfamiliar, I would describe Praktica's shake as a hollow (if it makes sense) one, that seems to be (at least partly) a result of rather hallow body design (unlike say a Spotmatic that feels like a solid cast).

I'm not advocating to take a Praktica over many of its western counterparts, but rather it is a capable photographic tool that sadly suffered from understandable manufacturing shortcuts. For me it is a line of cameras that played a major part in SLR development on world stage and for that alone, I need to take a hat off. Jena lenses were actually very good for the most part and it was the lubricant that gave them bad reputation far more than any optical or mechanical misdeeds. What else would one say about a lens that looks unused and yet you can't turn focus ring without a workout (or just can't move it). Luckily that is relatively easy to redo and modern lubricants take care of it for good. Just why couldn't they get it right in the first place?
 
Witold said:
While I agree Praktica do feel to provide a measurable recoil upon firing, and it's hard to say whether shutter or mirror sound off that feedback,
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Yes, hold alternatiing a Praktika L-model and a Canon A-model.. The recoil of the A model is hardly to feel.

The practical effect I have not tested yet though.
 
AgX said:
Yes, hold alternatiing a Praktika L-model and a Canon A-model.. The recoil of the A model is hardly to feel.

The practical effect i have not tested yet though.
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I have a Topcon Unirex that easily topples Praktica in that sense, but I'm told it's not supposed to do that. Ricoh TLS 401 feels very similar to Praktica though, but also feels fuller inside, or less hallow than Praktica.
 
And to be fair to Praktica, Agfa seemed to have suffered from same lubricant type as my examples of Karat and Solinettes prove beyond reasonable doubt. Surely there were other makers that fell into the same trap, but (for whatever reason) not all.
 
Early Ricoh, Aires, Agfa and Fujica rangefinders all suffer from that terrible "green snot" lube that turns into stone in about 30 years. It is almost guaranteed that any cheap example of the before mentioned camera on the auction site has a frozen focus helicoil and/or gummy shutter and aperture that will require lots solvent, heat and patience to restore it to function.

It is interesting that Germany had a substantial hand in the initial development of camera manufacturing in Japan, so the like-type grease might be a legacy of the Nich-Doku Shashinki Shokai company (which I believe became Minolta later). Nich-Doku (Japan-Germany) was founded in 1928, but German engineers were brought to Japan as early as 1921 to help boost production of optical glass.

They might have shared a basic formula for optical grease that explains why certain Japanese and German cameras of the same era have similar problems.

Just a casual theory of mine...
 
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Slight resurrection.

I've had a couple of Zenits, but the only one I've found reliable which I still have is the Zenit B which I use with a preset lens. it's a heavy lump though.
Prakticas, the earlier L models in my opinion are the best, but I have a soft spot for the B series.

Zenit vs Praktica, so for me......... in the red corner Zenit B, in the blue corner Praktica L, ........both fully mechanical and no meters.
 
Sewin said:
Prakticas, the earlier L models in my opinion are the best, but I have a soft spot for the B series.
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What significant changes die happen over their three generations? Putting the VLC's aside they only added various forms of light metering up to aperture-priority autoexposure.
 
I prefer the basic non meter L version, nothing against TL etc series,which are basically an L with a meter and improved viewfinder,which I've used and they have been ok too
.
In the 70's I had an LLC, used it a lot, but the meter was temperamental and unreliable sometimes.

The B series are as you know a complete redesign, being similar to other mid-low range SLR's of the day.
 
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