THE PRAKTINA SYSTEM

The History of Praktina

The design of the Praktina cameras was developed by Siegfried Böhm in the factory of Kamera-Werkstätten, a German Company located in Niedersedlitz near Dresden. A prototype was shown in 1952 with the name Praktina and the Praktina FX was introduced on the market in 1953. An improved version was introduced in 1958 with the name Praktina IIA. In May 1960, Kamera-Werke stopped the production for various reasons: the high manufacturing costs, the lens mount too expensive and the strong competition of Japanese manufacturers of SLR.
This camera is of great historical importance and represents a milestone in the development of the 35mm single-lens reflex cameras. Praktina was the first 35mm single-lens reflex camera with the full interchangeability of lens, viewfinder, focusing screen, camera back and also the connection for a motor drive.
With its lenses and accessories the Praktina is the first example of a professional 35mm SLR camera system. It has held for some years an outstanding position into specialized applications due to its original accessories as electric motor drive with remote control, spring winder, 17m magazine back and others scientific devices.

Praktina FX, the first model of 1953

Praktina IIA, the last model of 1960

The Praktina models

Kamera-Werke put on the market two series of Praktina, the first with the name Praktina FX and the second with the name Praktina IIA. However several changes were introduced in both of the two series during production. The production has therefore been divided into seven generations and the cameras coded as models FX-DS, FX-M, FX-SA1, FX-SA2, FX-SA3, IIA-A and IIA-DA.

Estimated production

Richard Hummel, in his 1995 book "Spiegelreflexkameras aus Dresden", reports the number of Praktina produced between 1952 and 1960 year by year for a total of 101.856. Furthermore Hummel classifies the production of Praktina in three groups: Praktina (code 108) with 10,041 cameras, Praktina FX (code 109) with 66,967 and Praktina IIA (code 110) with 24,848. The quantity of Praktina (code 108) is completely wrong. Less then 500 prototypes were built.
A personal search on serial numbers, performed by collecting data from cameras offered for sale, publications and information received from other collectors, records 57,500 Praktina FX with numbers between 20,000 and 77,500 (with some Praktina IIA in this range) and 28,500 Praktina IIA with numbers between 100,000 and 128,500 for a total of 86,000 cameras. The difference with the Hummel's data is big. My opinion is that the production of Praktina cameras indicated by Hummel is overestimated.

Date of production

Very few information about the production of the various models. Kamera-Werke never highlighted the changes made to the cameras during production. The presentation of the Praktina and its accessories was made on the occasion of the fairs held in Cologne and Leipzig. The knowledge of new models was therefore conditioned by the dates of these fairs. However, it is not possibile to know if the model presented was a prototype or already in production or if it has been on sale for a long time.
Basic information on production dates can be found in the book "DER VEB PENTACON DRESDEN" by Gerhard Jehmlich: Praktina (prototypes) approx. 07/1952 - 07/1953, Praktina FX approx. 09/1953 - 07/1958, Praktina IIA 06/1958 - 05/1960.

Praktina Model Identification

The 'Model Identification' pages can be used to easily identify the Model and Version of your camera.

Contact

email contact: praktina@yahoo.com

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