Mum gave me old Praktica SLR.. some questions

[Dom0803]

Here she is... Praktica MTL 5B.. made from 85 to 89 I think.. that doesn't matter too much though, unlike digi cams age doesn't matter, as it's the film roll that depends on the picture quality.

As you can see there are two lenses there. How can I tell what they are? I'm pretty sure the smaller one is just a 35mm, but how can I find out the other one? It doesn't say on it whether it's a 200mm or whatever, but it's pretty tight. I found an old manual for the older model here, so I'm gonna use it to figure out all the numbers and that on the lenses.

I'd have put this into the film photography forum, but I figured that the question was about lenses, thus could fit in both digi and film, or here.

And what does the "B" stand for. It gives me unlimited shutter open time, which is what I've dreamt for, but I don't know what the B stands for.

Thanks.

 

[Becky]

B for bulb is my guess.

 

[ksmattfish]

As you can see there are two lenses there. How can I tell what they are? I'm pretty sure the smaller one is just a 35mm, but how can I find out the other one? It doesn't say on it whether it's a 200mm or whatever, but it's pretty tight.

And what does the "B" stand for. It gives me unlimited shutter open time, which is what I've dreamt for, but I don't know what the B stands for.

B stands for bulb.

Look at the end of the lenses. From the photo I can just barely read the end of the smaller lens. Looks like it says 1.8/50, which means it's a 50mm f/1.8

 

[Dom0803]

ahhhhh! no kidding!

Then my zoomed lens is a 135mm!

Thanks for your help peeps. Taking the cam out tomorrow to get the swing of things..

 

[Torus34]

This will link you to a manual for the camera. Ganz gut!

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/praktica/praktica_mtl_5/praktica_mtl_5.htm

 

[Dom0803]

This will link you to a manual for the camera. Ganz gut!

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/praktica/praktica_mtl_5/praktica_mtl_5.htm

That's great! Thanks very much

 

[Torus34]

'Bulb' traces back to the old days of photography when a shutter was sometimes actuated by a squeeze-bulb connected by tubing to a cylinder/piston mechanism. Exposures in seconds were the rule for interior studio exposures. When you squeezed the bulb, the shutter opened. When you released the pressure, the shutter closed. The 'B' designation stuck.

 

[Torus34]

Another site you might find of interest:

http://anusf.anu.edu.au/~aab900/photography/cameras/prakticas.htm

 

[Dom0803]

Thanks for the link and explenation of B, Torus.

Does anyone know, can you buy any lenses for an SLR camera, or are there designated lenses for each type/model?

I've tried looking for some MTL 5B lenses but I'm not having much luck.

 

[Torus34]

I believe your camera has the M42 screw mount. If your lenses simply screw into the camera, that's it. There are a zillion lenses available in a huge number of focal lengths in the M42 mount. Lenses with other types of fittings will not work without some sort of adapter, if at all.

 

[ksmattfish]

Lenses for Pentax Spotmatics are M42.

 

[Dom0803]

That's awesome, thanks!

I'll get googling, but does anyone have any sites on hand that sell the M42 range?

Oh yes, almost forgot. My film roll is ISO 200, but I took one photo on ISO 12 to see how it comes out. Will it?
I'm not sure whether my cam needs to be on ISO 200 setting or not for it to expose properly.

 

[Torus34]

The ISO setting just tells the light meter how fast the film is so it can suggest a good exposure. If you are setting the shutter speed and lens opening by hand, the ISO setting has no effect other than that.

Setting the exposure of an ISO 200 film in accordance with an ISO 12 exposure reading will lead to gross overexposure. It's a 4 stop error -- 16 times too much light.

M42 lenses: The used departments of large camera stores such as B&H and Adorama. KEH. ebay. Cole's Cameras. I just checked Cole's. There are 35 lenses ranging from 24mm to 400mm. I have not checked for UK stores, but they've got to be there somewhere.

Suggestion: Get used to your camera and its lenses. Time to consider adding a lens when you have had at least two instances where your present lenses just would not walk the dog. Using this as a rule of thumb will help you to decide which specific lenses you need and will also keep you from going broke. "More lenses fever" is an insidious disease which attacks the wallet, destroying its contents. Cures are few and often emotionally painful.

Another suggestion: The world of the small is just as interesting as large landscapes. A set of extension tubes will take you from stuff that's telephone book page size down to things which are about 2"x3". It's a lot of fun exploring that area. You do need to be patient and take time lining up your shot, though.

 

[Dom0803]

Alright, thanks for the advice Torus.

I'll get this roll onto CD hopefully, and if there's any good ones I'll pop them in here, then perhaps later on in my path of experience I shall buy more lenses. I've just got the lens fever, because the majority of lenses I've found so far are pretty cheap and don't attack the wallet like a bad plague, unlike some DSLR lenses for the bad boy cameras. I found like a 500mm Russian lens for something crazy like 20 quid!

On a Canon DSLR camera with the 2x converter, this would equate to 1600mm, 1500mm on Nikon, Minolta and Pentax DSLR's, and 1700mm on the Sigma SD9 and SD10.

It's R 5,000 - which if Russian is like £120,000 - assuming it's not Russian price but Chinese, then it's only tens!!

 

[Dom0803]

Ah ****.

Well my film roll came to an end. I tried to wind it and it got stuck, but with a bit of welly it went.

Went this way.

This has not been a pleasing start to film photography.