Praktica MTL3 - A different mindset of camera design from the eastern

Praktica MTL3 came to my collection to satisfy my desire of M42 mount.

Just like a lot of novice analogue lovers, I hop on the cart of M42 recklessly after I found that treasure vault.

As the greatest value of M42 mount is came from the variety of lenses, I grabbed a M42 mount camera body with a price as low as possible.

That's how I met Praktica MTL3.

Praktica MTL3 x Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f/2.8 x Fujicolor 100

The M42 mount is a popular screw thread mounting standard for attaching lenses to SLR camera.

It was first used in Zeiss's Contax S of 1949.

Since there were no proprietary elements and production difficulty on M42 mount，many other manufacturers used it.

This has led to the valuable lenses heritage we found today.

Praktica MTL3 x Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 x Kodak Portra 160

Praktica is a brand of camera manufactured by Pentacon in Dresden in eastern Germany, formerly within the GDR prior to German reunification in 1990.

My Praktica MTL3 was came with a malfunction self-timer but other parts were worked soundly.

Thanks to the simplicity of the camera structure that made it so easy to preserve and restore after decades.

Of course， the quality and the feeling you hold it in your hand are not something you can compare with some other high end models.

Praktica MTL3 x Schneider Kreuznach Xenar 50mm f/2.8 x Tudor Color XL 200

The real challenge of using Praktica MTL3 is the adaptability of shooter to accept the quite different structure of this camera,

especially for someone like me who started my shooting journey from Japan camera.

It really took me some efforts made it worked smoothly in my hand.

The biggest difference is the shutter release button located on front of the camera instead of the top of the body, just like most of the camera we can find in the pass and today.

However, soon you will find out that the location of shutter release button is so close to the metering button and you can move your finger so comfortably between them.

Just like other simple structured camera, it worked without any vibration reduction mechanism.

Never try your luck with low shutter speed.

The appearance of it also quite difference with eastern made camera.

Every edge and corner of Praktica MTL3 are so bold while Japanese made their camera in a smooth and comfortable shape.

Maybe this is some kind of reflection to the character difference between these 2 races, I suppose.