Do you like quality?

I do. In fact, all people that contributed to this website do. And I am sure many others do.

I can clearly recall my first Praktica reflex. It was a heavy, solid camera, with a reassuring, metal "clang" to its shutter. At the time, early seventies, these normally very competitively priced cameras were selling like hotcakes. And with reason - although they were often ridiculed by self-proclaimed professionals, showing off their latest Nikon F or Leica, these sturdy mechanical cameras kept cranking out top quality pictures, not in the least thanks to excellent optical designs from one of the most respected optical companies in the history of photography - the famous Carl Zeiss works in Jena, Germany. Their success was so great that optical houses from all over the world made lenses for these cameras. The M42 screwmount became a standard.

In these pages you can learn about the colorful history of these cameras, lenses and accessories. This site is not just a mere listing of cameras produced, or models, or just dry serial numbers. It shows the system, the possibilities, the enthusiasm, the passion, and the wonder of optics. It shows beyond doubt that you don't need a $4000 Nikon F5 body with a $2500 lens to make great pictures. This is not to say that we dislike Nikons, or Canons, or Olympus cameras in any way. Of course we do like these systems too, and often use them extensively as well. Many photographers that contributed to this site are true professionals - with more photographic experience, knowledge and insight as many (if not most) salesmen in, sadly, most modern camera shops.

This site is simply a homage to a great brand that made quality pictures possible for so many, for so little money.

And, also interestingly, Praktica cameras have a long and colorful history. A history of not only innovation and brilliant engineering - but also how they made quality photography possible for tens of thousands of people, consistently producing excellent results for relatively very little money. Of course we realize that other cameras can produce excellent results as well. Of course other cameras can be as solid as well. Many SLR lens makers produce excellent designs too these days.

But can they do it at the same prices? They cannot. Are modern SLRs well-made and solid? They often are not, unless you are willing to pay top dollar.

The charm of Prakticas is in their friendly price, the solid, sturdy construction and inherent long life, combined with superb optical designs. Especially in those days these lenses were easily on par, and often better than other brands costing many times more.

Even today there is probably not a single APS compact camera on the market that can produce the same brilliant, sharp and crispy pictures as a well-exposed Praktica negative or slide under comparable circumstances. That's not because lens technology hasn't evolved, to the contrary even, but it's because camera manufacturers have decided that it is much more lucrative to produce millions of (very) mediocre camera systems - as opposed to quality cameras and quality optics in relatively small numbers. The sad conclusion is that quality is no longer sexy, no longer in demand. Consumers, apparently want quick, easy results - mediocre or not, as long as one can distinguish a person from a railroad car.

How often have you seen a really good, really sharp amateur picture? I bet you've seen dozens of blurry, out-of-focus and horribly distorted portraits, with those nice dark corners from light falloff. Or unrecognizable, underexposed landscapes. Or muddy looking snow with some extremely dark figures on it. Almost all of these all-singing all-dancing fully automated cameras produce mediocre results, simply because that's what they are designed and programmed for: average results under average circumstances. In "extreme" circumstances, like snow, beaches, backlighting or another photographically challenging modus of operation they almost without exception fail miserably.

If you know just a little of photography, appreciate a solid, reliable, all-mechanical look-and-feel, have a little patience and do not easily settle for less-than-optimal results, you could do a heck of a lot worse than with an old, solid M42 screwmount Praktica reflex. In fact these camera systems are so well conceived and designed that they are still very useable after all these years. Even the more modern B-series Prakticas are, compared to modern cameras, marvels of solidity and sound engineering. They, too, are more than capable of amazing results.

I wonder how many plastic, battery dependant APS marvels can say that in only, say, 15 years from now.

So... welcome to these pages, conceived, designed and maintained by Praktica users all over the world. It is the definitive collection of all Praktica cameras and lenses ever produced, enhanced with a wealth of background information, manuals and, last but not least, pictures.

If you like what you see and read on these pages you can opt to subscribe to the PUGW Praktica user group. On this forum you find a wealth of knowledge about Prakticas, their use, applications and possibilities.

We hope you will enjoy this website as much as we did designing and using it.

André La Pierre