Praktiflex FX

I started my use of SLRs with the Hanimex Praktica Nova 1B.  Along the way I learned that Praktica had been making cameras for quite some time.  There are a number of interesting cameras bearing the brand name.  One that caught my interest was the FX, so I looked around and found a reasonably good example.

The camera has a waist-level finder that doubles as a sports-finder.  It also features an eye-level magnifier to help with focusing.  When the camera is fired, the viewfinder goes black until the camera is again wound.  It has many of the typical features of modern-day single-lens reflex cameras but would be considered fairly primitive by today's standards.

Still it's part of a line of landmark cameras.  I could not resist having at least one in my collection.

Carl Zeiss Jen Prism Finder for Praktiflex FX

Back in the days when manufacturers began making single-lens-reflex cameras, things started happening fast.  First the reflex system for small cameras became popular.  Immediately the concept of an instant-return mirror came about.  People wanted to hold the camera right up to their eye, see the image the correct way around, and soon enough, to have a built-in meter.  These advances came about in just a few years.

Many people buy cameras such as this with a view to keeping them for some time.  Manufacturers realizing this created all manner of contraptions to extend the life of these cameras, and of course to increase the number of ways to utilize their manufacturing capability to generate revenue.

Which brings us to this item - the Prism Finder.  It looks positively silly but in actual practice provides a good view of the viewfinder.  It's a high-quality item that judging from my example, would provide years of trouble-free service.  As we know, many manufacturers produced cameras later with removable prism finders, with and without built-in meters, and various capabilities.  But this has to be one of the earliest such devices intended for "old" SLR's.