-Introduction

 The heritage of the Praktica cameras is divided between the Zeiss Ikon Contax S, and the KW Praktica. After the war ZEISS IKON was divided between East and West Germany. While West German Zeiss Ikon continued the production of rangefinder Contax cameras, Zeiss Ikon Dresden introduced the first camera with a built-in pentaprism. It used the M42 lens mount, that was being developed by KW for the Praktica.

The 1949 Contax S. The first SLR with a built-in Pentaprism. Note the shutter release in the front of the camera body, a feature used in Prakticas until 1989.

-Contax/Pentacon Cameras (until 1959)

Contax S type Cameras

Pentacon Cameras

 In 1959 Zeiss Ikon Dresden was merged with four other Dresden camera factories, in the VEB Kamera und Kinowerk Dresden. One of those companies was KW that for years produced some excellent cameras: the Praktisix, the Praktinas and the Prakticas.

-KW/Praktica cameras (until 1959)

 KW (Kamera-Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch Dresden) was founded in 1919, in 1937 it was bought by the Charles A. Noble of Detroit USA. In 1939 KW introduced the Praktiflex, sharing with the Kine-Exakta the title of being the first 35mm single lens reflex camera.

Praktiflex

 In 1949 the Praktiflex was improved, and called Praktica. It used, for the first time, and in conjunction with the Contax S, the M42x1 lens mount.

The original Praktica.

Praktica series

 As the original Praktica model began ageing, KW developed a top of the line camera the Praktina.
The Praktina was a competitor to the more advanced cameras from Exakta and Pentacon/Zeiss Ikon. It had many accessories like an auto winder and a film back, it was a "scientific" camera opposed to the "amateur" status of the Praktica. Unlike the Praktica it was sold with a Pentaprism. It used a bayonet lens mount, this mount prevented the Praktina from being as popular as the Prakticas, as few manufacturers produced lenses to the Praktina.

Praktina series

 In 1959 KW updated their range of Praktica cameras. The Praktica design was becoming old, so KW incorporated a built-in pentaprism, and a winder lever. The Praktica IV was born. But that was not enough, Japanese competition was growing. So in 1959 KW was merged with Zeiss Ikon Dresden, the new company was called Pentacon.

Praktica IV

Praktica/Pentacon cameras (after 1959)

After the unification of KW and Zeiss Ikon. The East German camera production was reorganized. The Praktina range was progressively phased out. The Praktica range was once again improved. The Pentacon Super would become the top of the line camera. Among the East German camera manufacturers only Exakta continued, for now, independent.

Praktica IV series

 In 1964 pentacon produced another first, the rapid return mirror. This feature was again, adapted to the same Praktica body design.

Praktica V series

 In 1965 after many years of production, the Praktica design was changed.
A new model, the Praktica Nova (New) appeared, it had features reflecting the heritage of Pentacon. The camera had the traditional Zeiss Ikon Dresden angled shutter release. But it maintained the shutter mechanism of the KW Prakticas, to be replaced in the Praktica mat.
But innovation didn't stop there, at the same time Pentacon launched the Praktica mat, the first European camera with TTL metering.
 In 1966, another first, the Praktica Electronic, was the first camera with an electronic controlled shutter.. The design of shutter was very similar to the one used many years later in the Praktica B200. The Praktica electronic never entered production.  Overall, the new cameras were smaller, had a better finish and the winder lever was placed in the top of the camera.

Praktica Nova series

Note1: The Praktica Nova line of cameras, was sold in the USA by HANIMEX.

Note2: There were also the Praktica Super TL2,TL3,TL500 and TL1000, they were produced until 1981,they were L series cameras supplied OEM.

Pentacon Super

 In 1969 the Ihagee Kamerawerk, was being integrated in the Pentacon Kombinat.
Their cameras were too expensive to manufacture, and it was suffering from Japanese competition.
So a camera was jointly developed by Ihagee and Pentacon. It used the efficient manufacturing techniques, which were being developed for the Praktica L series of cameras. The shutter was the one of the Pentacon Super; the lens mount was the traditional Exakta mount. Exakta enthusiasts have a little "disdain", for the Exakta RTL1000 so it must have a space in this page.

Exakta RTL1000

 In 1970 the VEB Pentacon, launched the Praktica L. The Praktica L was the first of a line of cameras that were made, until German reunification. The biggest innovation, from previous Praktica cameras, was the excellent vertical focal-plane shutter. The Praktica L shutter was first used in the Pentacon Super and in the Exakta RTL1000. The reason why there are still so many screw mount Prakticas in use is this excellent piece of engineering.

L Type Cameras

Note1: There were several OEM L series Prakticas, sold mainly in the UK, such as the STL3 and the TL3.

Note2: All Praktica L cameras could use both the electric and non-electric lenses.

 Note: It's almost impossible to make an accurate list of the lenses made in East Germany for Contax S/Pentacon/Praktica cameras. The lenses were upgraded over the years, so you can find the same lens with different finishes. Besides that the lenses were made with different features, such as electric mounts and 2 pin mounts to transfer aperture information to the camera. There were multi coated and non multi coated versions of the same lens.