m42 – John's Cameras. A collection of interesting and old cameras.

Wirgin Edixa 2MTL

Edixa 2MTL camera, front view. www.oldcamera.blog

A Japanese camera rebadged for the German firm Edixa.

Praktica Nova (no name version)

This camera has no name on it anywhere – in fact, no writing on it at all. The only clue to its identity is the Ernemann Tower embossed in the leatherette on the back. Ernemann was one of the four camera makers that merged in 1926 to form Zeiss Ikon. With the partition of GermanyContinue reading “Praktica Nova (no name version)”

Pentacon F (Contax F)

This is a ground breaking camera. This was the first modern 35 mm SLR camera (in the S version). SLR cameras have been around for a very long time and there were many SLR cameras that used glass plates rather than film. There were also earlier 35 mm SLR cameras – the Kine Exakta isContinue reading “Pentacon F (Contax F)”

Praktica F.X2

This is an early Praktica made by KW (Kamera Werkstätten) between 1958 and 1959 i.e. before the merging of East Germany’s camera makers into Pentacon. In many ways, this camera is much like what became the ‘standard’ SLR camera – such as Asahi’s Pentax and Nikon’s F. In other ways it shows its position inContinue reading “Praktica F.X2”

Soligor TM

A no-nonsense SLR from Miranda

Fujica ST605

This is a 35mm SLR film camera from 1977. It is very reminescent of an Asahi Pentax. Interestingly, Fuji (as Fujifilm) are one of the few companies to still make film cameras – the Fuji Instax. So, this is an all manual film camera using the standard M42 lens mount thread introduced by eastern ZeissContinue reading “Fujica ST605”

Wirgin Edixa-Mat Reflex mod B

I now own two Wirgin Edixa cameras. The other one is simple viewfinder camera, the Edixa 1. This is a hefty, solid looking camera with a reputation for not being robust. It was made in Wiesbaden in West Germany between 1960 and 1962. The German heritage is very apparent in the styling – it has aContinue reading “Wirgin Edixa-Mat Reflex mod B”

Asahi Pentax SV

This is the archetypical 35 mm SLR from Asahi – marketed in the Americas as the Honeywell H3v. It wasn’t Asahi’s first 35 mm SLR – that was the Asahiflex – and there were earlier S model Pentax SLRs – but it is the direct ancestor to the famed Spotmatic. Pentax SV with Super-Takumar lensContinue reading “Asahi Pentax SV”

Ihagee West – Exakta TL500

I do not intend to repeat the history of Ihagee here, suffice it to say that during the 1950s, 60s and 70s there were two Ihagee companies – the original Ihagee in Dresden that became absorbed into VEB Pentacon and a newer Ihagee West started by the original owner of the Dresden Ihagee (Johan Steenbergen)Continue reading “Ihagee West – Exakta TL500”

Pentax Spotmatic SP 1000

The Spotmatics were the first auto-exposure SLR – or, at least, the first successful auto-exposure SLR. They built on Pentax’s earlier success with the manual SLRs. Despite the name, the exposure system was not a spot system but was a centre weighted system. Asahi Pentax SP1000 lens: none supplied focal length: n/a apertures: n/a focusContinue reading “Pentax Spotmatic SP 1000”