Praktica LLC with Pancolar 1,8/50 lens, the first 35 mm single-lens reflex camera with electrical diaphragm simulation between interchangeable lenses and camera body (1969)
Praktica was a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, within the GDR between 1949 and the German reunification in 1990.
The firm Pentacon was divided in mainly two parts and sold after German reunification. Schneider Kreuznach and Noble bought parts of it.
Pentacon is a Dresden-based company in the optical and precision engineering industry, which was at times a major manufacturer of photo cameras. The name Pentacon is derived on the one hand from the Contax brand of the Dresden Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke and Pentagon (Greek for pentagon), because a pentaprism for SLR cameras developed for the first time in Dresden has this shape in cross section.
Today's PENTACON GmbH Foto- und Feinwerktechnik is still based in Dresden. It is part of the Schneider Group, Bad Kreuznach. Pentacon is the modern-day successor to Dresden camera firms such as Zeiss Ikon; for many years Dresden was the world's largest producer of cameras. Previous brands of the predecessor firms included Praktica, Exa, Pentacon, Zeiss Ikon, Contax (now owned by the Carl Zeiss company), Ica, Ernemann, Exakta, Praktiflex, and many more.
Among the innovative legacies of the predecessor firms are the roll film SLR camera in 1933, the 35mm SLR in 1936, and the pentaprism SLR in 1949. After WWII the company's products were best known in the Eastern Bloc countries, though some were exported to the west. They currently produce both budget lenses (mostly small, not very durable, and having manual focus, but good in optical quality) and higher priced products [citation needed]. They also produce optical equipment for the space programs of the US, Western Europe and Russia. [citation needed]
In 2001, the production of Praktica Analogue SLR cameras was discontinued with the focus shifting to a range of Praktica digital compact cameras and camcorders together with an extensive range of binoculars, spotting scopes, accessories and other optical imaging products.
Praktica today produces many products under various brands such as auto industry products, 3D LCD screens, and still cameras and lenses under their own Praktica brand and also more known international brands. Since September 2015 the owner of the Praktica brand has been Praktica Ltd, a UK limited company.
Praktica IV Praktica IV B Praktica IV M Praktica IV BM Praktica IV F Praktica IV FB Praktica V F Praktica V FB Praktica LTL 3 - 1975 to 1978 Praktica...
cameras first became well known under the Praktica brand, and thus the M42 mount is known as the Praktica thread mount. Since there were no proprietary...
The Praktica IV is a 35mm SLR with M42 thread mount that was launched by Kamera-Werkstätten (KW) in 1959. The Praktica IV was based on the Praktina FX...
The Praktica EE2 was an important innovation of the 2-L generation. It was a camera with "fully electronic, full aperture TTL metering SLR" or "camera-computer"...
would use this bajonet mount for a time. This is quite similar to the Praktica design (which adapted it from Ihagee's product), the shutter-release of...
1990. Notable East German exports were photographic cameras, under the Praktica brand; automobiles under the Trabant, Wartburg, and the IFA brands; hunting...
pentagonal shape. Pentacon is best known for producing the SLR cameras of the Praktica-series as well as the medium format camera Pentacon Six, the Pentacon Super...
Handbook of Machine Vision. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9783527610143. The M42 (Praktica) mount is sometimes referred to as a "P" thread. See, e.g., "Questar Corporation:...
camera body. The Pentacon Six was imported into the U.S. as the Hanimex Praktica 66 by Australian distributor Hanimex. This was to get around U.S. laws...
An articulating screen is a built-in small electronic visual display which is not fixed, but rather can be repositioned using a hinge or pivot. The articulating...
screw-thread lens mount which was developed after World War II by Zeiss and Praktica. Asahi Optical used the name Takumar for their lenses. These were high-quality...
adapters include Leica Screw Mount, Contax G, C mount, Arri PL mount, Praktica, Canon, Nikon, and Pentax, amongst others. In fact, almost any still camera...
mount, and redesigned its SLR camera line in 1962 to accept the Contax/Praktica M42 lens mount. The new SLR camera was introduced as the Penta J. In December...
(4 lens 35 mm 3D camera) Norita Okaya OPL Orion see Miranda Pentacon (Praktica) PerkinElmer Petri Founded 1907 as 'Kuribayashi Camera Works' Plaubel Rectaflex...
The concept proved successful, and through continuous development, the Praktica name became one of the most popular 35mm SLR brands for several decades...
Consumer digital cameras Germany Minox Compact digital cameras Germany Praktica Compact digital cameras Germany Rollei Compact digital cameras Germany...
bombing. The company was taken over by Pentacon, the maker of the successful Praktica camera, in 1951. Steenbergen returned to West Germany and created a new...
for the hybrid W8 cam). 12 mm DXG-5D8 cam and the clones Medion 3D and Praktica DMMC-3D. 15 mm Ararat Macro Beam Splitter for smartphones. 15 mm Hydrogen...
"Pentax universal screw mount" although it had actually been introduced by Praktica in 1949. Previously most makes of camera used proprietary mounts; the use...
Prism housing for Bronica ETR medium format cameras. A cutaway view of a Praktica L2 showing the pentaprism. In surveying a double pentaprism (two pentaprisms...
adapter. The 1968 Iscorama was available in Exakta, Minolta SR, Nikon F, and Praktica M42 mounts and was the only Iscorama model to always feature an individual...
Automatic Diaphragm', and other solutions on the Exakta Varex IIa and Praktica FX2) allowing viewing at the lens's maximum aperture, stopping the lens...
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