Praktica MTL3 in 2023, with sample images

[@kyboshimageans8975]

My first SLR. Took some of my best photographs with this camera. Sold it back in the day to buy an olympus system.

[@sputumtube]

I've had a few of these but my inner 'camera-snob' compelled me to sell them. They never broke, took great pictures and were simple to use. The shutter button was so instinctively placed, I never understood why it wasn't adopted more widely. I might buy another now I've watched this... Lol ;)

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Similar story for me 30 years ago, now I wouldn't part with it at all, added bonus was I was given a CZJ 135mm/f3.5 for it over the weekend, a legendary lens, so now I have to run more film through it!

[@danburycollins]

Also, the camera catchment winding mechanism of these cameras is awesome.

[@teenaoakleyart2700]

I bought one of these with a couple of lenses in a charity shop around 25+ years ago. Unfortunately I didn’t know much about photography, and there was no internet at the time, and it ended up shoved in a cupboard and somewhere along the line it went missing. I’ve just won one on eBay for £1.99 (minus lens), I’m gonna have another go and actually use it this time! Excellent video thank you

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Great to hear, I will be interested to know how you get along with it

[@MassimilianoGallieri]

I bought on ebay and it's mint condition! I love it!

[@우호-g1n]

got a MTL50 recently and your video is helpful.

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Great to hear, hope you're enjoying it.

[@SchwarzPoet]

Hi Gideon, my Praktica is a Praktica VLC2. It is basically a comparatively very favourable alternative to the Nikon F2 and F3, the Canon F-1 series, the Pentax LX and the Minolta XK and Xm. Interchangeable lenses and, above all, interchangeable viewfinder attachments with TTL exposure metering directly through the lens, means that with the Praktica VLC series (VLC, VLC2 and VLC3) you can even carry out TTL exposure metering with a light well viewfinder without any problems, as the light meter is not connected to the viewfinder attachment, as is the case with the Nikon F2, for example. And since the VLC models used the long 4.5 volt mercury batteries at that time, you can nowadays easily obtain adapters into which three LR44 button cell batteries are inserted, including a ten-pack of LR44 button cell batteries, cheaply on the major sales platforms. My Praktica works perfectly, I tested it just last week with an Agfa APX100 and the horrendous amount of money I would have spent on a Nikon F2 or even Nikon F3 can be invested in film, processing and possibly a Pentax K2 body and possibly one or two other mechanical lenses. Just to give you an idea, a Praktica VLC2 with all viewfinder attachments, one or two lenses, the special hot shoe, the original camera strap, a matching clip-on eyecup, a nice matching leather camera bag from the GDR photo bag manufacturer AKO and including the aforementioned battery adapter, I paid a good €200, which is around €200 for the camera in the cheapest case and around €350 in the most expensive case. If you want the same complete package for a Nikon F2, with a lot of luck and in good working order, you might be looking at €800, but more likely €1200 or more. Maybe the Praktica VLC series would also be something you could have a look at. I definitely don't need any more competitor models from the Japanese manufacturers. Greetings from Germany Lutz

[@IanStephens-eh6nv]

I have 5 mtl's of various models. With the loading that small plate that the film has to be tucked behind can be removed by undoing one screw. Note that there is small washer to remove behind the plate. With it removed I find the loading to be much easier and quicker and seems to cause no problems at all. Just line up the sprocket holes and wind on once before shutting the back. Much easier. Well done for making these videos, there is something about old mechanical cameras

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Good to know, might have to give that a go

[@GeNTooFReaK]

You miss out on the Praktica loading mechanism: pull the film out to reach the green dot on the bottom right side, let the film slightly bend into the chamber so the metal wire would grab it, while putting it behind the plate you removed, make the film grab the sprocket. Close the back and then trigger the loading mechanism. Confirm that the rewind knob also turns around while loading. Make an empty shot, because that part of the film was exposed while loading. And now you're ready to go. Pull the loading lever again, also confirming that the rewind knob on the left turns. If it does, you did everything correctly and you can get up to 39 shots ouf of an 36 exp film. The first shots will be 00 and 0, followed by 1, 2, 3 ... So basically you can make 2 photos before the photo counter reaches "1" and sometimes one more photo after 36.

[@MC-xy5cu]

The MTL3 I bought in the 80's - also the first proper SLR I owned - is sitting on a shelf upstairs. :) Still have it, need to start using it again.

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Go for it and let me know if you share the results online :-)

[@robertcrombie8795]

Good video. My first 35mm camera as well with a carl zeiss jena 50mm lens. Must have traded it in all those years ago for a Canon AE1 Program. Wish I had held onto to it now so it would be among my collection of cameras from my past.

[@j.c.103]

I have both, the Praktica MTL 3 and the Canon AE1p. The Canon is a nice camera, but not better than the Praktica. I use Prakticas since long years and they are very sturdy and reliable over the years. All important things are made of metal, e.g. the shutter, the transport mechanism. The light meter does it's job very precise, i compared it several times with more modern cameras and it works very well . The battery what you need is a simple LR 44 or SR 44 or a 625 U. I can recommend especially the MTL and PLC series, futhermore the TL1000. The older LTL series are very similar, but the viewfinder is darker.

[@DuckXT]

My first camera as well. Mine had the Zeiss 50mm. I really wanted a Pentax K1000 but the Practika with the 50 & a 110mm Zeiss were the same price as the Pentax so guess which Santa brought?

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Never had a K1000, but I did play around with quite a few of them when I worked in photographic retail, as the college photography students used to bring them in. Slightly more refined than the Prakticas, but my MTL3 I still have a soft spot for.

[@salfordnurse]

My firsts SLR was a Praktica Nova 2, with the same lens as you have. (That was in the 90s) still have it and it’s still working fine. Current slr camera is a Nikon F2,

[@danburycollins]

MTL 3 Was my first SLR as well. Also Got a bc1, very similar to your bx20 - b series praktica cameras are a lot of fun, compact and reasonable bang for the buck, although I gather build quality for progressively worse as the DDR's economy started to flounder.

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Build quality was always a bit hit or miss with some of the B series cameras, even when they were new. The lenses tended to be a bit more consistent. Still loved my BX20, both back then and now.

[@Cairol58]

Hi from the Continent.🙂I started to get a liking of these analoge SLRs again and got a Practice EE3 (without a lens) vor 30€ last week. I was a bit worried first when it arrived despite the seller had it advertised as "working". But it does work, there is a M42 from my late father's Praktica FX4 (which he had bought at the beginning of the 70'ies as a Porst brand) in the house I could use it for testing. The thing works fine! So I decided on getting a Pentacon Praktica "Electric" 2.8/28 mm lens for it which came in a set together with a Pentacon Practica 2.8/135 mm. This one is standard, non-"electric", but of course works with the Praktica EE3 in manual mode as well, just there is no electrical connecting between the camera and the lens. I learnt the Praktica EE2/EE3 models are fairly rare as they were not produced in high numbers compared to the rest of the Pentacon L-series. And there is also a Pentacon Praktica Bx 20 with a couple of lenses here. Looking forward to use the thing for some analog photography, I have a collection of analog Canons and Nikons (all with lenses) for some time but never used them because I had hardly any time for such things, which has changed recently ... 🙂

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Nice collection, I've the same 135 for my BX-20 take a look at the video on that to see some of the results from it. BTW www.lomography.com/ is a great place to share your film photos once you are up and shooting, mine are here: www.lomography.com/homes/gideonliddiardphotography

[@Cairol58]

@@gideonliddiardphotography Thanks for the kind reply. Will check out the info later. And I see you have a Canon T90 as well. I learnt from a KZbin video it's supposed to be one of the most advanced Canon analogue cameras but came too late into the market because everything went autofocus. I got mine 2 weeks ago from a an online photography shop for just 60 Euro and it is in excellent condition, just a small scratch marks at the bottom. But it is quite bulky because of the built-in winder. And today I bought a Pentacon electric 1.8/50 mm lens for the Praktica EE3 for 30€ also from a renown online shop. All very interesting what you can find for a good price if you invest in some time looking around. I want a Pentacon M42 to Praktica lens adapter for using the M42 lenses on my Praktica BX20 next but currently there are only some going for plus 50€ which I am not willing to pay .as I can wait .... 😅

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

@@Cairol58 Yep the T90 is a great camera, but not without its faults, I had one back in the early '90s and rebought one earlier this year. The M42 to Praktica bayonet adapters tend to be expensive (and don't come up much) because only Praktica made them.

[@Cairol58]

@@gideonliddiardphotography Ok, thanks a lot for the info! 🙂

[@Cairol58]

@@gideonliddiardphotographyHaha, collecting goes on here! Doesn’t really makes a sense but I love collecting those Prakticas. Today a Praktica VLC 2 (without lens) in excellent condition arrived. Cost was just over 20€ … And the M42 to PB adapter also arrived, was 15€.

[@conrad4094]

Nice video . I’m quite fond of the old Prakticas. The film didn’t do too badly considering. Some of those mail order films and “own brand “ films as well as stuff like scotch were made by Ferrania which is pretty good .

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Yep, really surprised myself at how well it held up.

[@EvenStarMN]

Great camera. Probably #1 Camera among Socialist Soviet countries. My father had one. I still have it's long lens.❤

[@j.c.103]

To be honest. This was NO soviet camera, it was made in Dresden, Germany.

[@dzava]

Actually, the city these cameras were made in is one of the most known for cameras - Exacta was also eastern bloc - yet, it was still the first SLR camera in the world. That’s why Hitchcocks movie Rear Window main character was using this camera because he didn’t have any other in that time, so they simply put sticker across the name of Exacta so no one would know it was eastern bloc camera

[@andrewwilkin1923]

Hi Gideon, just subscribed and enjoying the content. The Praktica brand is so underestimated, it gets lumped in with "Soviet" cameras. However these were very innovative cameras compared to their Russian counterparts and came from the centre of the German camera industry, Dresden & Jena.

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

100% agree, without Praktica I would never have been able to start my photographic journey, and they were head and shoulders above the Soviet cameras.

[@mansuryayas]

I got Gifted one when a friend was vacating their home. It's in prestine condition.

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Excellent, gifted cameras are always great.

[@Gerard-hu6kp]

Used one Zeiss lens good

[@nazahamed5860]

i just bought the MTL3 in a fleamarket with a price tag I could not resist but my MTL3 has no self timer, the leatherette is different and the advance lever plus the shuter speed dial is black. maybe this particular model has many variations?

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

Yep, well spotted, they did a few variants, IIRC the lack of self timer makes it one of the late models

[@krzysztofbaraniow]

Has light metter

[@gideonliddiardphotography]

It does indeed have a through the lens light meter.