Praktica IV

This slr dates from between 1960 and 1964 and was made in the Democratic Republic of Germany by VEB Pentacon. It's pretty hefty and comes with a 50mm E. Ludwig Meritar f/2.9 lens.

This camera has some interesting quirks, not least the fact that it has two film advance mechanisms, a knob on the top plate and a lever on the base. The frame counter starts at zero and counts upwards. This needs to be manually set when you load the film. 

The shutter speed selector dial features speeds in red and black. Speeds range from half a second to 1/500. 1/40 is designated by a lightning flash as this is the flash synchronisation speed. I assume the red figures indicate those which necessitate a tripod to avoid blur.

The viewfinder is large and bright and is plain ground glass, so there is no split image to assist with focusing.

Rewinding the film is nice and easy. You only need to press the rewind button once. No need to hold the button down. Then, swivel the top half of the rewind knob to the side. This turns the knob into a lever and makes rewinding much easier.

The rewind knob also houses the film speed reminder, with speeds ranging from ASA 6 to ASA 800.

There is a tripod bush underneath to assist with slower shutter speeds and long exposures.

Just like the Edixaflex, the mirror in this camera does not return until the film is wound on. The viewfinder therefore goes dark after the shutter is released.

If you use a lens that can be automatically stopped down on this camera, there is an automatic aperture plunger that will do this when you press the shutter release. The camera has an M42 screw-in mount, which means there are a large variety of lenses available. It can share lenses with our Edixaflex and Zenit E. When using lenses such as the Helios 44-2, however, that are manually stopped down, the automatic plunger can be disabled by sliding the red rivet under the mirror to the side.

There are two PC flash connectors, one marked X for electronic flash and one marked F for flash bulbs.

All in all a slightly quirky and very capable camera with a good range of lenses available.