Junk and Cheap Camera Month: Will it or won’t it work for me?
I was given this camera by my cousin along with another. They were loft finds. I was the only person she could think of that might make some use out of them.
Apparently, I completely forgot to take a photo of the camera when I received it. That is an important thing to forget for this post as you will see later. This photo was from the net and you can follow the link to the original page. Mine has a different lens as you will see later.
Anyway, The camera wasn’t in great condition and needed a good clean. The lens was ok, but had a fair bit of dust inside. At least it moved smoothly and I thought the dust would not effect any images. The shutter seemed to work on all speeds, but I could not get the light meter to activate. There was an old battery inside which luckily had not leaked. I find the mercury ones rarely have. I had to change the seals as the original ones had disintegrated.
I loaded it with a roll of Fomapan 100 and went for a walk to the Hepworth Museum. I used the Lime 2 light meter as a replacement for the internal one.
Here are some of the results:
Well, that worked very well. It is a wonder what things you can find hidden away in attics. Along with this camera was a manual for the MTL3, which I thought was odd as this was the MTL5. This discussion thread said they were practically the same and had just minor, cosmetic differences. The camera was produced between 1983 to 1985. It has a top speed of 1/1000th. The viewfinder of this example was very clear with split focusing surrounded by a micro-prism. Using and focusing even without a working light meter was a delight. From what I have read, the meters are often non-working or unreliable. However, the cameras are like Honda Cubs. They just keep working.
So, overall…did it work for me? In manual yes, very well. I am not sure I will use this camera again as I had others I prefer. BUT I decided to change the skin in homage to my grandad. I suspected it was his camera and not my uncle’s. I remember my grandfather using SLRs and this seemed like something he would have owned. My grandad and most of my family are from the Nottingham area and many support Forest. My father is especially a big supporter. So what better way to reskin the camera? I ordered some match programs from the 80s, the era they were the most successful and perfect for the camera. I used those to give the camera a unique look.
My dad liked it 🙂
Even over here in the wilds of North Carolina, USA, we’ve heard of a certain forest associated with Nottingham. I surely thought that you would have reskinned it in Lincoln Green! 😉
But I’m glad you and your Dad liked it!
–Rich
Robin might have approved, but it had to be red for the European cups!
Praktica made exceedingly robust cameras.
I can’t remember one I’ve tried that hasn’t worked.
Beautiful shots, the Rikenon lens has its place among quality optics. The football club skin design was a great idea.
The lens wasn’t in the best condition but it did well. It’s M42 so I think I will be using it again.
A homage to two time Champions League (as it’s now called) winners.
One of only 8 teams ever to have retained the trophy.
Best camera ever!
Exactly. Even I have started to warm to them.
My first camera, new as a Christmas present in (I think) 1983. Built like an East German tank, with an impressively loud mirror slap. I like that there’s a mechanical indicator in the viewfinder that shows whether it’s wound on or not. The meter circuit is very simple, so a repair might be possible and it’s easy to adjust for using an LR44 instead of a mercury battery.
True, but I don’t think i will use it often so manual mode is OK for me. Yes the slap is great 😀