Some of very rare Prakticas were not produced in Dresden during the time of GDR, although they are called Prakticas. An example is the Praktica CX 1. This model was made at Cosina in Japan. It is not an export variant from Dresden so we don’t include in this article. We mention it for better identification. It is a small, handy range-finder camera which is not a SLR. Foto-Quelle sold it under a different name. It was also manufactured as a rarer power-driven variant CX-2. I found the CX-1 and the CX-2 only in Holland. I also found a SLR from Cosina which has nothing in common with a Praktica SLR from Dresden, because it’s label is black with blue letters and it has an EXA-bayonet-connector. We are left in the dark about the reason. We don’t know if the Cosina Company did name piracy or if it had temporary permission to use the name. Also the Pentaflex SL is either an export or a variant of another country, but it was the simple variant of the Praktica Nova, made in Dresden and available for people in GDR.
According to the catalogue of G. Kadlubek, we came to the conclusion that it is not right that the Praktica MX was an U.S. variant. One of my collector colleagues says: “Another variant – not mentioned in “Hummel” – is the ‘Praktica MX’ factory-provided graved (instead of Praktica FX). In the late Kadlubek Catalogue the MX is called an export model of the United States. That's not right! The manufacturing numbers of MX cameras which I know are at the beginning of the FX row (box numbers around 80,000). Not one of those cameras came from foreign countries and there had never been an offer to sell them on e-bay/USA during the last years.” It was actually planned to call them “Praktica MX”. A small quantity was manufactured, but then the flash technology improved to short lightning lamplights (F) (M = middle, F = fast). They probably replaced “MX” with the more modern “FX”.
Although most of the members of the Praktica fan community started their intensive work about Praktica cameras after the political turn in 1990, I dare to say that only now are they getting an almost complete overview of all countries’ versions. Owing to the global offers on e-bay, nothing seems to keep hidden. Now with some patience, it is possible to find a Pentacon Italia without a trip to Italy. Otherwise it is extremely difficult to get it with the label of the former company Ippolito Cattaneo S.p.A. Furthermore, there are Prakticas of Pentacon Italia with a blank label instead of the blue one. Finally, you can be sure you have a Pentacon Italia Praktica by opening the back and seeing the guarantee sticker with the address of Pentacon Italia on the inside of the film spool chamber. In this case it may be the better way to travel to Bella Italia…
A Praktica collector from England might travel to Old Germany to find a Praktica made by the company Beroflex. They were sold in the old Federal Republic of Germany. Those Prakticas can not be immediately identified and are not identical with serial models. They have a sticker with “Beroflex Garantie” (Beroflex guarantee) inside their film spool chamber. There is a code of sales office and year. The first number is the sales office: 10 = Berlin, 20 = Hamburg, 30 = Bad Kissingen, 40 = Minden, 50 = Köln, 60 = Bergen-Enkheim, 80 = München. The second number is the sales year: 470 = 1974, 570 = 1975, 670 = 1976, 770 = 1977, 780 = 1978, 790 = 1979, 800 = 1980, 810 = 1981, 820 = 1982, 830 = 1983, 840 = 1984 etc. The numbers go through 900 = 1990. I guess there is no camera with so many different names. Although most of the facts are known nowadays, some questions still remain. Despite the global world, no one can either know everything or get every variety. That is why some collectors joined me in writing this article. I express my gratitude to them for all their know how and for the photos of these cameras. I would appreciate getting new information about missing variants.
For lack of space, it is not possible to include photos of every variant. It is not necessary because the special ones are interesting, especially the ones which are not identified immediately. These photos just give you an idea. There are more photos available at www.dresdner-kameras.de, www.prakticy-collector.de or www.practica-b.org. More photos are in the mentioned book of Richard Hummel “Spiegelreflexkameras aus Dresden” (single lens reflex cameras from Dresden) and in the camera catalogues of G. Kadlubek. With the photo of the original model and the table indexes “Identical with Original Type” and “Variation of Original” the classification is almost certain. |