# East German cameras



## keller

I've seen a few of these old SLRs supposedly from East Germany, and they're selling for as low as $30. Does anyone know why?

I mean, I know the joke about East German cars, but are their cameras notorious for bad quality or something? Or did I just end up finding a really cheap model? $30 is a bit low for a film SLR, compared with the Canon/nikon/etc models.


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## Rob

keller said:
			
		

> I've seen a few of these old SLRs supposedly from East Germany, and they're selling for as low as $30. Does anyone know why?



Build quality and image quality mainly - you get what you pay for. There are some Eastern Bloc cameras which produce interesting and sometimes good results. For that money, give it a try and see if you like it!

Rob


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## montresor

What about the Werra, made by Carl Zeiss Jena? I _think_ Jena was in East Germany. I have no experience with the Werra, they always seem available on eBay (not cheaply, either!) from former Eastern Bloc countries, and I'm reluctant to send money to strange lands; but they are certainly some of the sleekest 35mm cameras I've ever seen. The transport/shutter-cocking mechanism looks like it could cause trouble as it ages, but the first model, with the olive leatherette trim, is a breathtakingingly beautiful design classic. Admittedly, it's a rangefinder, not an SLR....


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## ThomThomsk

Praktica SLRs are solid and go for next to no money, and were a common student camera because they were good value. I think they are probably better than the Russian equivalents. 

The MTL series are the ones I remember, often with a Carl Zeiss Jena lens. Jena is a town in East Germany, and after World War 2 the Carl Zeiss company got split into 2, with the Jena factory coming under Russian control. Many of the Jena lenses are pretty highly regarded.

Thomsk


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## Iron Flatline

The East Germans have been making some of the finest glass in the world. I can't speak to shutters, build quality or the overall controls of their cameras, but as far as their lenses go, they are quite good. 

East German binoculars are highly prized.


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## Torus34

Don't overlook the Russky rangefinders.  You can pick up a decent Fed 3a, Zorki 3-C or Kiev 4AM for about $US60, including shipping.  These were solidly built rigs and remain fully functional today.  Lenses such as the Jupiter 8 are fully acceptable for most work.

Why so cheap?  The lure of modern rigs with all sorts of whistles and bells has proven irresistable and the old cameras are being traded in for them.  There are far more old cameras than buyers in the old Russian Empire countries.


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## JonK

Torus34 said:
			
		

> Don't overlook the Russky rangefinders.  You can pick up a decent Fed 3a, Zorki 3-C or Kiev 4AM for about $US60, including shipping.  These were solidly built rigs and remain fully functional today.  Lenses such as the Jupiter 8 are fully acceptable for most work.
> 
> Why so cheap?  The lure of modern rigs with all sorts of whistles and bells has proven irresistable and the old cameras are being traded in for them.  There are far more old cameras than buyers in the old Russian Empire countries.


watch yourself if buying those from ukraine or russian federation based sellers...been stories of lots of problems with them on ebay. plus they are literally flooding the market...millions of these cameras were made and a lot of them are suspect. buyer beware!


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## keller

Yes, Praktika was the one they were selling. I might go buy one just to try it out. The sellers are from Australia fortunately, so (hopefully) shouldnt have too many problems.


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## darin3200

Prakticas are some sweet cameras. I got a B200 for under $100 w/ shipping. Prakticas are built like tanks. Pentacon makes good glass and made some for zeiss. 

from wikipedia


> Praktica is a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, formerly within the DDR prior to reunification. Pentacon is the modern-day successor to Dresden camera firms such as Zeiss Ikon, and for many years Dresden was the world's largest producer of cameras. Currently Praktica is the only brand sold by the company; previous ones included Zeiss Ikon, Contax (now owned by the Carl Zeiss company), Exakta, Pentacon and many more.
> 
> The firm collapsed after German reunification but was resurrected in partnership with Schneider, and produces many products under various brands such as car industry products, 3D LCD screens, and still cameras and lenses under their own Praktica brand and also for more known international brands.


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## nreed_94

I own a Praktica LTL3 for $10 at a flea market.  I absolutely love it, and use it more than my digital camera.  It has a Carl Zeiss Jenna Tessar lens, and it takes fantastic photos.  East German cameras may be cheap, but they are built to last!!  The LTL3 has a solid body, and a great feel.  Overall, I am very please with it.  Some companies are better than others, so it all depends though.


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## SamSpade1941

There are a few members of my Medium Format group on Deviant Art who are from Eastern Europe that shoot the  Pentacon Six cameras and submit their scanned photos and from what I can see the Pentacon Six is no slouch as far as being able to produce nice quality images.


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## timor

Pentacon company, a maker of Practika had, like many others companies in communism, problem with raw materials. Very seldom one model had a run longer then 2 years without any change. That is why there is so many models with different reliability "rating". I was a happy owner of brand new LLC model with some "electric" lenses: Pancolar 1.8/50, Flectogon 4/20 and Pancolar 1.8/80 and one non electric, Sonnar 2.8/80. I lost that set during the emigration, too bad, I am still mad at myself for it. Nevertheless LLc body withstood around 1000 rolls of film with just one failure of film winding sprocket which was fixed for small money. This bodies, except for small price, are very indifferent, basic cameras, quite noisy but with excellent film loading system, which will save at least 2 frames and if you lucky 3 frames on every roll. It is simply very good value for the money.


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## jeroen

I have a Praktica MTL-3. The M42-mount SMC lenses that you can get for it is about the best glass ever made. I also own a couple of Pentax Spotmatics, its more refined Japanes M42 cousin. The Praktica is heavier and noisier and looks and feels a bit cheaper. But it is a very good and reliable camera.


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## Irish_Melkite

I own 2 Praktica PLC3's that I purchased for little money. 

Techs at the former Essex Camera/camerarepair.com, whose opinions I highly valued, praised the model as a highly reliant, well-made camera. Based on their comments, I decided it would be worthwhile investing in a CLA, though the cost was several times what I paid for either camera. I've no regrets - my experiences with the two have been very positive. My only complaint is that the mechanism for unlatching the rear is a bit of a nusciance - photo quality is excellent and I've found them to be pretty rugged. 

Neil


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## orejano

East German cameras are oriented towards SLR's. The only rangefinders I recall are the Belmira and some Werras. Of the reflex devices, the best are the Praktinas, although finding lenses for their mount is more difficult than for Exaktas and Prakticas. The Exas are easier to use than Exaktas and the shutters more durable. Exaktas and Prakticas with lift, turn and drop speed dials are liable to shutter breakage if speed is changed without firing and camera put away. This apparently also happened to me with a Praktica of metal shutter plates which self-destructed. As someone stated above, the optics are better than the mechanics in East German products, and a good Japanese camera is a better choice. West Germans tended to go with leaf-shutter SLR's, less durable than the focal-plane shutter ones, and difficult to get an ample line of lenses for, especially zoom lenses. Some East German devices (Penti and Pentina) are of interest as oddities, but I would advise against them as serious users. There has been a long-standing tendency to underrate Japanese cameras, but even in the 50's, they were improving and evolving rapidly.


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## orejano

Some Werras are rangefinders;others are not. Some have a Compur shutter, and others an East German Prestor. Russian focal plane rangefinders and SLR's with a lift, turn and drop into place shutter speed dial and East German SLR's of that type are prone to shutter breakage if the speed is changed and the camera laid to rest thus. The tension must be relieved by firing the shutter after any speed change. This has happened to Prakticas and Exaktas, Zorkis and Feds and even a Praktica with metal vertical travel shutter. I imagine it also explains the problems with the shutter of the Kodak Ektra. Of the East German SLR's, those with a Praktina-type shutter (identifiable by the speed selector-also present on some Exas) do not present this problem and are the best choice, albeit, due to the breech-lock mount, harder to find lenses for. The ones without an instant-return mirror (regardless of brand) may also, due to carelessness, have pinholes in the inner curtain. The lenses, particularly the Jena ones, are an excellent buy and are easily found in Exakta and P42 mounts.  I personally find Exas much easier to use than Exaktas, but others may view things differently. Not all East German goods were bad.


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## Dave Colangelo

I have one of the old Russian range finders (FED 2 style) I think I paid $20 for it at a flea market. They are neat little cameras made to imitate the Leica III ish era stuff. As mentioned the build quality is the issue. Its not that its poorly made its just a bit different than the other stuff. Material quality is eh at best and you can tell. There is a lot more stamp metal parts where the Leica and Blad's of the world were precision milling stuff. Where other cameras have ratchets and spring loaded stops it has smooth operating things. The Iris can be set to any position for example which is kinda neat but a bit frustrating if you want to lock it into place. Reliability is less than optimal but I cant say I have had a ton of issues with it, FWIW its a pretty simple machine. The soft focus qualities are neat and it can yield some really cool photos but I just cant trust it like i can trust my nikon FT.

On top of everything they just made a lot of them. Supply has far far out weighted demand in this case. 

Regards
Dave


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## compur

Nowadays any old film camera from any country that you come across might or might not be fully working regardless of what it originally cost or where it was made. And that includes the big names from Japan and West Germany. So, I don't think you can categorize reliability by country of manufacture anymore or even by brand.


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