I recently bought a Praktica BX20 on a whim from ebay. I was curious as to how good or bad the last of the East German giant's camera's were after the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reuinification. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Electronically controlled shutter speeds of 1 second to 1/1000th and Bulb, Aperture Priority for those days when you want to be lazy and use auto and all packed into a plastic body built around a magnesium chassis. It is powered by a 4SR44 battery that I bought from Buy A Battery that is a replacement for the PX28 it originally used.
The BX20 feels cheap compared to the offerings from the Japanese camera industry, but don't let that fool you. It certainly holds its own against camera's with the same specification costing several times as much on the used camera market. The only bad thing is I had a problem with the door latch on my BX20. I sent it to Pierro at PPP Repairs and he mended it for me for a very reasonable price. So reasonable that I still couldn't buy a decent Japanese camera for twice the amount my BX20 cost me to buy and have repaired.
Here's a few images from a roll of Foma 400 I shot recently with my BX20 and a Prakticar 35-70mm lens. If you're looking for something cheap and cheerful that's capable of producing decent images, don't walk past Praktica and head for the more desirable Japanese offerings, give it a try. You may be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Please visit these links. I don't get paid to advertise them, I use them because they are great places to do business with and I happily recommend them to you.
Here's a few images from a roll of Foma 400 I shot recently with my BX20 and a Prakticar 35-70mm lens. If you're looking for something cheap and cheerful that's capable of producing decent images, don't walk past Praktica and head for the more desirable Japanese offerings, give it a try. You may be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
Please visit these links. I don't get paid to advertise them, I use them because they are great places to do business with and I happily recommend them to you.
Great shots there. Jim. Praktica, though a bit "agricultural", are generally very reliable cameras. At the moment I'm shooting my Super TL3, and enjoying the simplicity it offers...no "bells and whistles", just a basic mechanical camera.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely a cheap way into film photography for anyone willing to give it a try.
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