The definitive equipment listing for Prakticas on the internet
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The finder system -
Employing the diaphragm -
Judging the depth of field -
The exposure -
Exchanging the Lenses -
To load the Film -
To remove the Film -
Flash Synchronization -
Accessories -
Technical Data |
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Do not load the film right awayit would only be exposed to no purpose. Film loading and all relating to it will, therefore, be described later on. REGARDING PICTURE COMPOSITION AND FOCUSING, the designers of the Praktina FX have forgotten nothing that is required in photographic practice. First of all there is the Penta Prism with its roof-like top and its finder window at eye-level. Just have a look in! You say that you see nothing - complete darkness? Yes, of course, you have to wind the shutter anew after every exposure. This is done by turning the shutter-winding knob on top right of the camera. We shall have to say more about this yet. For the present, it is important for you to learn that with this manipulation the mirror, which belongs to the finder system, is flipped into viewing position, whereas up till now, it had to leave the passage open for the light rays to travel to the film, thus blacking out the finder. |
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  … for playful experimentation. This would, no doubt, only cause annoyance, and you would, after all, have to consult the Instructions for Use. That is why we ask you first to read this booklet, with your camera at hand, so that you may be able to examine every detail and start practising at once. |
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Look into the finder hood straight from above, i. e. at an angle of 90 degrees in viewing direction. Open the finder hood by pressure on the little knob at the back, whereby the ground-glass image and the circular area will become visible. All that has been said with regard to picture composition and sharp focusing holds good also here. We only have to draw your attention to the hinged achromatic lens which magnifies the finder image 6 times and offers great facility in focusing sharply. The third finder system of the ingeniously designed Praktina FX is the little Newton Finder. It is firmly built into the camera, with the eyepiece at the back left next to the interchangeable finder. The extremely bright image formed by the Newton finder still permits judging the picture area if, for instance, in poorly lighted interiors the field lens does not show a sufficiently distinct image (flash photography). The Newton finder is also a valuable supplement to the finder hood in sport snapshooting, it helps you to "follow" your object more easily. |
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 Employing the diaphragmputs life into photography. A perfect command of the use of the diaphragm will help to develop all the possibilities of exposure technique. The field lens clearly shows that there are certain limits to the sharpness of the image before and behind the focusing line. This may suffice for quite a number of photographic tasks. As a rule, however, the perspective of the selected subjects will reach a long distance into space, i. e. the depth, thus requiring a wider distribution of the sharp area. This depth of sharpness is obtained by setting the diaphragm. Click out the resilient pre-setting ring by slightly pressing it in the direction of the camera body, and while rotating this ring, look into the front of the camera lens. The diaphragm may be set to any desired aperture. Full diaphragm aperture yields minimum depth of field, whereas a maximum depth of field is obtained with the diaphragm closed down as far as it will go. The large aperture is expressed by the small diaphragm number (e. g. Tessar f/2.8 = 2.8), and the small aperture by the large diaphragm number (e. g. f/16 = 16). The desired diaphragm value has to be set against the red triangle on the black lens rim. This is how the diaphragm pre-setting ring operates Now you may lift your camera to eye level again and shoot or, technically speaking, release the shutter. You will discover that stopping down the diaphragm does not merely mean greater depth of focus, but also loss of light and, consequently, a darkened screen image. But for focusing, you need a field lens image as bright as you can possibly get. The diaphragm pre-selecting ring is positioned immediately next to the diaphragm setting ring and is loosened by slight pressure in the direction of the camera body, whereby it becomes rotatable. Turn the ring until the little red dot stands opposite the selected diaphragm number and let the ring snap in gently. Make sure that the pre-selection ring clicks in quite close to the setting ring and that it is locked tightly. You may now view and examine the image with the aperture wide open, and just before releasing the shutter, you turn the stop ring clockwise (in viewing direction) as far as it will go. You now have the diaphragm at the desired setting without having to remove the camera from eye-level. In Lenses with Automatic Diaphragm the diaphragm is closed down as the shutter is being released and need no longer to be actuated by hand like in lenses with pre-setting diaphragm. This means increased readiness for action and greater light intensity of the screen image up to the moment of releasing the shutter. |
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After selection of the aperture the desired diaphragm number has to be set against the red triangle on the black lens rim by clicking out and rotating the pre-setting ring. Make sure that the pre-setting ring, after each setting operation, rests firmly in its click stop. The diaphragm itself has to be tensioned by lateral pressure of a lever (see illustration). At full aperture, it clicks in, and the winding lever returns automatically to its initial position. Winding up of the diaphragm may be effected a) Prior to setting the diaphragm. The latter, at this stage, is fully open and will not change its position even when actuating the pre-setting collar. The diaphragm will not close until after the shutter has been released for the pre-dialled stop. b) following the setting of the diaphragm. In his case the diaphragm is set for the pre-dialled stop and will not click in until after having been wound up at the maximum opening. |
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is made possible by the two depth-of-field scales, complementing one another, on the lens mount. One of these is rotatable with the focusing ring of the lens and is engraved with a distance scale. The other scale is rigid, with diaphragm numbers engraved on the left and right of the red triangle. Try it out yourself, looking for a diaphragm stop relative to a depth of field covering the distance between 3 meters and approx. 15 meters. You turn the distance ring of the lens until the two numbers 3 and 15 meet the same diaphragm number on the right and the left. In our example (Tessar f/2.8, focal length 5 cm) this would mean the diaphragm stop f/8, covering a range between 2.8 meters and 15 meters, whereby - speaking incidentally of the Praktina FX the distance shown by the red mark is approx. 5 meters. Focusing is thus performed automatically. |
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is determinant for the negative picture. No more correcting is possible, for with the running down of the focal-plane shutter the exposure time has elapsed, and the shutter is ready to be wound up for the next exposure. Let us look and see what happens here. For this purpose, the camera back has to be removed by pulling out the bolt at the bottom left and lifting the back plate slightly to the right. This is where the film is inserted, too, but we shall read about that later. First watch the little black-draped window, while your right hand turns the transport knob on top of the camera as far as it will go in the direction of the arrow. What is happening? The focal-plane shutter is being wound up and the curtain drawn from left to right. Now adjust the shutter speed ring, setting a long exposure speed against the little red triangular mark. The shutter speeds range between l/1000th second and 1 second, and "B" for time exposures. |
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It is all the same whether you turn the knob to the left or the right, nor does it matter if focusing is performed before or after winding up the shutter. The whole mechanism has been so well pre-planned, that all controls work without any complications. With the shutter set to 1 sec., watch the small black window once more. Press down the shutter release knob, and the shutter will run down, causing the light to act on the film for one second. At the "B" setting the shutter remains open as long as the release knob is being pressed down or, in case a special wire release is being used, until the stopping device is unlocked. You should also try other shutter, i. e. exposure, speeds, so as to become perfectly acquainted with the mechanical movements. But do not more than look at the shutter. It is an extremely sensitive element. Underneath the release knob of the Praktina FX you will see a swing lever, with which the delayed action mechanism of the built-in self-release is wound up. The shutter itself is wound up in the usual manner by means of the winding knob, whereupon the lever is moved downward by 90 degrees and, on releasing the lever, the delayed-action mechanism is set working. After 10 seconds, the shutter is released. The camera must stand firmly (on a tripod or other support) to avoid any movement while winding the shutter and setting the lever. |
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 Exchanging the Lensesis as easy as any of the other manipulations with the Praktina FX. A slight anti-clockwise turn of the large milled ring on the camera body (seen from the front) unlocks the lens mount, so that it can easily be taken out. Be careful not to let it drop! To replace the lens into the camera, you must start with the red triangular mark on the depth-of-field scale at the top. Never use force, either here or elsewhere on the Praktina FX, if you do not want to cause damage to camera or lens. Having re-installed the lens into the camera, fasten it by turning the milled ring clockwise as far as it will go. |
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the camera back has to be removed. This has been described before, so you can take hold of the film cartridge right away. The cartridge has to be inserted into the cartridge bearing, but you will find that there is a driving shaft in the way. This leads to becoming acquainted with a new knob - the so-called rewind knob, the counterpart to the transport knob. The re-wind knob has to be pulled out as far as possible, and it will take the driving shaft with it. The film cartridge can now be put in, with the concave part at the top of the camera, and the beginning of the film coating (light surface) to the interior of the camera, pointing towards the receiving spool. Now push the rewind knob back into the camera carefully and turn it until the driving shaft catches the bar in the film cartridge. The trimmed film leader has to be pulled across to the receiving spool and fastened into the spool slit, pointing in the direction in which it will be advanced. Turn the transport knob, making sure that the film does not slip out of the slit in the receiving spool and that the sprocket teeth catch the perforation holes. The camera back can now be replaced on to the camera. Special care should be taken in fixing it into the right-hand groove. For the first exposure, it is necessary to wind up the exposed film leader until an unexposed section of film is in the film gate. As a rule, this will mean two turns, during which the rewind knob must be watched to make sure that it turns as well, a sign that the film is being properly transported. At the base of the transport knob is a scale belonging to the automatic picture-counting device. As soon as the camera is ready for the first exposure, the number 1 on the scale must be turned to meet the triangle. The scale now moves on to the next number each time the shutter is wound up. You will thus be able to see all along how many exposures have been made. Another reminder is the film-marking disk on the rewind knob to show which film is in the camera. |
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 To remove the Filmit must first be rewound into the cartridge. Unlock the transport mechanism by pressing in the little knob on the camera base (next to which is the connection for spring motor and magnetic release). With your finger pressed on this little knob, turn the rewind knob in the direction of the arrow, until you notice, by slight resistance, that the film is being pulled out of the slit in the receiving spool. This concludes the rewind manipulation, and the camera back may be opened to remove the film. But not in bright sunlight, please. Until development, the film cartridge should then be wrapped up in the original packing material. |
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Flash SynchronizationOn the front of the camera are two bipolar contact sockets, the upper one - X contact - for flash tubes (electronic flashes), and the lower one - F contact - for flash bulbs. Shutter speed 1/50 sec. for flash durations ranging from 0.1 to 1 ms (1/10000 to 1/1000 sec.). For flashes lasting from 1 to 5 ms (1/1000 to 1/200 sec.) the shutter has to be set on the  mark.This contact is also designed for short-burning flash bulbs, in which case the shutter speed has to be set according to the actual flash duration. As a rule, this will be 1/25 or 1/10 sec. F Contact (below): This contact allows for synchronization with the shortest shutter speeds of those flash bulbs whose ignition time is shorter than 10 ms and whose actual flash duration is longer than 20 ms. For use with slower shutter speeds than 1/500 sec., the shutter speed in ms has to be added to the 20 ms value, and the resulting sum shows the actual duration to be achieved by the flash. Important: The flash bulb must never be put into the flash unit before the shutter has been wound up! |
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| The Special Wire Release is indispensable for long time exposures (small diaphragm apertures and unfavourable light conditions). As long as the little milled locking plate lies close to the release socket, the release works just like any other wire release. Turn the milled plate slightly to the left, and it will slide away from the socket. Depress the release plunger and it remains in this position, keeping the shutter open, until the plate is unlocked by downward pressure. |
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| There are yet many accessory equipments to complete the Praktina FX. Application and handling of these are described in separate instructions. It has been our intention to save you annoyance, which is generally caused by uncertain experimentation. If you have now learned to know and estimate your camera, and if you have become a zealous photographer - this little "course" has been a success. May your Praktina FX be a source of boundless pleasure to you! |
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| Technical Data: Lenses Focal lengths from 35 to 500 mm, with relative apertures from f/1.5 to f/8, pre-set diaphragm, or automatic diaphragm, screw bayonet fitting. Shutter Focal-plane shutter 1 sec. to 1/1000 sec. and B, synchronized for electronic and regular flashes. Finder system Field lens reflex finder (free from parallax), interchangeable finder hood, penta prism, and magnifier viewfinder, field-lens screen with coincidence rangefinder, built-in Newton finder. Film transport Coupled with shutter wind. Weight 630 grams, without lens. Dimensions 4.6 x 5.9 x 8.5 cm (approx. 5 ¾ x 2 ½ x 3 ½ ins.) |
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The 50 ft. Film Cassette for a sequence of approx. 440 exposures