Topic: Good Old Praktica L2

[hzandelei]

I've worked with numerous cameras, and yet, I needed something which is reliable, simple and delivers results. That's when I got my Praktica L2. It was brand new, probably never used and dirt cheap. Was it worth the money and time...? By all means yes. It's the simplest camera You can get. Exposure, Aperture, 50mm Lens and away we go. No assistance what so ever. So far I've been using it for a year or so and the results are encouraging. I've done all of my film work in China with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chinachronicles/

I tried finding a wide lens back in Europe, though it's very hard to locate the older type which I prefer. Most of the stuff is plastic 28s from the 80s.

[Francois]

Doesn't it take M42 screw mount lenses?
These can be found dirt cheap nowadays and are all compatible. That means you can put something like an old Takumar on the camera and it will still work.

The M42 mount is the ancestor of the Pentax K mount. The format was "open source" so many companies used it.

[jojonas~]

maybe an old pentacon 29mm would be appropiate?
Anyhow, great shots and it seems like a good camera. If you feel like it, post a pictute of your camera and attach some of your photos to the thread to liven it up

[John]

Hi,
My first post. I'm an M42 camera user myself, the Pentax Takumar 28mm and 35mm would be the obvious suggestions as they are probably the best in the M42 mount. Also Vivitar made some very good wide angle lenses for the M42 mount and in my experience are very good and generally cheaper than the Takumars. I have a Vivitar 28mm and 35mm as well as various Takumars.

Prakticas were decent starter cameras in their day. I own an L and an MTL5, and while a little lacking in finesse, I think they are capable of producing excellent results, as your photostream shows. I find the shutter button to be in just the right place, like one of the first SLRs, the 1949 Contax S.

I particularly like your 'Nap Time' photos.

Here's a pic I took on my MTL5 and wet printed at home. The night shot is the Vivitar 35mm lens.

[Ezzie]

Very nice John. A big welcome from one newbie to another.

The first camera I bought for my own money was an MTL3+. Where it has got to I don't know. This thread almost pushed me over the top and get another one, I still have some M42 glass for my Spotmatic. A rare glass Takumar, a Prinzflex zoom, two Vivitar 2x teleconverters, and some other stuff I forget.

[hzandelei]

maybe an old pentacon 29mm would be appropiate?
Anyhow, great shots and it seems like a good camera. If you feel like it, post a pictute of your camera and attach some of your photos to the thread to liven it up

Coming in the next few days... To be honest, I never knew how to take a good photo of a camera Alas I tried, but it always turned up to look ridiculous.

[jojonas~]

welcome john! that train shot looks proper classic. I would've guessed it to be a commemorative postcard for the trainline. do you often photograph trains?

Coming in the next few days... To be honest, I never knew how to take a good photo of a camera Alas I tried, but it always turned up to look ridiculous.

I hear you! I can take photos of cameras but I'll be damned if I ever succeed in taking a good one(!)

in the mean time, I found this on wikipedia. not yours, I hope

[mcduff]

I have been thinking about Prakicas lately as a friend bought an LTL this weekend and pointed  out that a Praktica is a movie star! (We are both movie geeks.) Much like the Canonet was a celebrity in Pecker, and the Yashica Electro is in the latest Spider-Man, the sister to your Prakica (LTL)  was in the Unbearable Lightness of Being (an adaptation of a Milan Kundeira book).

The lomo site has a posting on it that my friend alerted me to today. http://www.lomography.com/magazine/lifestyle/2012/03/05/camera-cameos-praktica-ltl-on-the-unbearable-lightness-of-being

[SLVR]

thats funny, i JUST threw out my jammed and scavanged LTL skeleton last night. Was a different camera to use. Shutter release is different.

[John]

Very nice John. A big welcome from one newbie to another.

The first camera I bought for my own money was an MTL3+. Where it has got to I don't know. This thread almost pushed me over the top and get another one, I still have some M42 glass for my Spotmatic. A rare glass Takumar, a Prinzflex zoom, two Vivitar 2x teleconverters, and some other stuff I forget.

Hi Ezzie, thanks for the welcome and positive comment. I got my first camera about 5 years ago. I saw someone with an MTL3 the other day, and they are cheap on Ebay these days. What's the rare glass Takumar? I have a Sigma 28-70mm zoom but it's a pile of junk so I stick to primes.

welcome john! that train shot looks proper classic. I would've guessed it to be a commemorative postcard for the trainline. do you often photograph trains?]

Hi jojonas,
Thank you for your positive comments. Yes I do photograph trains quite a bit. I'm also interested in night photography but I haven't done a lot of it, I will try more this winter. Also I like street photography but I find that very difficult, I so admire the people who are good at it. That exploded pic of that L2 is superb, a great find.

[Francois]

What's the rare glass Takumar?

Rare glass is simply glass with outstanding transmission characteristics. It's usually very pure unlike window glass or things like that. Most of the time, it's called low dispersion glass (LD glass).
And the Takumars are the brand name of Asahii Pentax. Almost all of them are excellent by any standard. And the Takumar SMC lenses have a good multicoated set of lenses.

[SLVR]

some are also radioactive because of thorium in some of the elements