East German Tank

Click here if this is your business
Praktica L - LT - LTL - MTL etc.
★★★★☆
4.3
From 8 reviews
88.0% of users recommend this
  • Photograph Quality

  • Features

  • Ease of Use

  • Value For Money

Click here if this is your business

Connere388's review of Praktica L - LT - LTL - MTL etc.

“East German Tank”

★★★☆☆

written by Connere388 on 08/11/2015

Ok, this is an old camera. Made from late 70s to early 80s. Uses 42mm screw lenses so lots of good quality cheap lenses to pick from. Uses stop down match needle metering, activated by the black level next to the front mounted shutter release. You soon get used to the slightly odd placing of the release, I found it quite logical.
On the plus side it's easy to use and takes reasonable pictures, especially when paired with a decent lense. Film loading is also one of the best ever designs.
One the down side, the shutter makes a solid ker-chunk -- no stealth photos with this baby! There can also be some shake unless held firmly. quality and reliability are also possible issues. Quality control was iffy at best. Pentacon lense shutters were prone to sticking if not serviced but the big bugbear was the electronic light meter which would fail and cost more than the camera's new price to repair.
Pay a fiver or a tenner for one in good nick and take a chance. If you must have a 42mm camera then a Pentax SP1000 makes more sense, and if you want a straight manual camera then a Pentax K1000 or MX are both much better.

  • Over 1 Year

    Time Camera Owned

  • Photograph Quality

  • Features

  • Ease of Use

  • Value For Money

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0