The Praktica Nova, Pentacon's New S.L.R. For 1965
- Kamera Ostalgie
- Dec 7, 2025
- 7 min read
The Praktica Nova was produced by Pentacon in Dresden East Germany from December 1964 until February 1967. It was the start of the 'New Era' line of cameras, timed to be unveiled at the Leipzig Spring Fair of 1965.
The Nova was the start of a new Era for Praktica. The older Praktica IV series of cameras from 1959, were starting to look a little dated by the mid 1960's. The Nova changed all that with its new low line prism and smart 'Praktica Nova' script on the front plate, it certainly looked a lot more modern than the older Praktica IV series.
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According to the Praktica Collector website, 42, 915 of these were produced, so the new model was very popular. Was it any better? That is hard to say, Ivor Matanel thought these new Novas were a backward step, cheaper, not as well made, I suppose he had a point, I'm
sure the accountants inside Pentacon cheapened it from the original design, but put into context, most if not all camera producers were cutting back to some degree by the mid 60's, especially in Germany as they struggled to compete with the Japanese manufacturers.
The Praktica Nova does not feel cheap, It sits in the hands quite nicely, it feels right, it's quite heavy at 780g, everything comes to hand quite nicely, the newly positioned shutter release is easy to operate, the new style of viewfinder gives a nice bright image, though there is no split image rangefinder which I personally prefer. All in all though, ease of use wise, this is far easier to use than the Praktica IV of 5 years earlier. Though I doubt the engineering is just as good. So lets have a closer look at the Nova.
I suppose the first thing to look at is the newly positioned shutter release. It is in a similar position to the Praktica IV, but is angled, so it goes down and back rather than just back, they made a big thing of it at the time, but I never have had a problem with the earlier position, so its good but not a life changer!
What is good is that on the Nova you can lock the shutter! Just turn the red dot on the shutter release to the red dot below it and it's locked, no more wasted frames when you struggle to put the Nova back into the horrible Praktica case and catch the shutter with the ill fitting case lid.
Next, let us look at the shutter speed dial.
The shutter speed set up is similar two the previous Praktica IV, but not the same. On the old models the normal fast speeds used a black arrow not a white, the dial is also different, using white and red letters on black, hence I suppose the white arrow. Unnecessary confusion I think!
The principal was the same, you had the two different markers for the two different speed ranges, in this case little black notch to white arrow is for the fast speeds, the same notch against the red arrow for the slow speeds. By the look and sound of things this particular Nova shutter is still working correctly. I've got a film already to load and try the Nova out, all I need now is a fine day. Keeping every thing Eastern European, I went for a Fomapan Classic 100/24 black and white negative film made by Foma Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
The back all looks clean and tidy and the shutter blinds look in nice condition. Lets hope everything is working okay and we get some nice results from it. It can't have had a lot of use, I bought it in the early 1980's and it has only had an occasional film through it, so there should be lots of life left in it. The lens currently on it is a little later than the the rest of the camera, it is a 50mm Pentacon Auto of 1.8,it is very clean, so should perform really well.
The camera back is covered with a black ribbed material which I quite like it's good to hold if you like using your Praktica without the horrible hard case as I do. The Pentacon logo is embossed on the back along with the 1st quality mark.
On the bottom right as you look at the camera are the two flash contacts, one marked F the other X. F is for use with flash bulbs and X for electronic flash. For keen collectors there are two versions of the Nova involving different positions of the flash contacts. Most units have them at the bottom right, but there are some that have them on the top right. Also the carry strap lugs are different, the early ones have a sort of press stud attachment rather than the more usual lugs.
There is another difference that I can't find any information on at present, that is the focussing screen. Most sources both period and new say the Nova has a Fresnel screen with a split image rangefinder in the centre. My example body number 179399 does not, it is just a plain screen with a centre circle but no split image!
Even Roger Rossing in his fantastic book 'The Praktica Book' says the Nova has a Fresnel screen with central rangefinder. My edition is the 3rd edition from 1966, so did the plain screen appear in 1967?
The book by the way is a really good introduction to Praktica photography and indeed to photography in general, read and understand all in this book and you will not go far wrong. This edition covers all Praktica models up to and including the PrakticaMat. Well worth buying, it is not expensive second hand. Well worth spending a little time and searching out a copy.
Well, if you have read this post so far and not got fed up, you must be interested in classic Praktica, so for what it is worth I will give you my opinion on them. It will be quite different from most classic camera users and collectors!
I think the Praktica camera is the most underrated brand of cameras bar none. They are still cheap, if you are a gambling man you can still buy one for under a tenner. £25-50 will buy you an absolute minter.
What will you get ? A quality camera capable of producing first class results. You don't need to pay a fortune for a nice useable classic camera. There is a lot of camera snobbery in the classic camera world, it is all bullshit, a bit like the fine wine business! Don't get me wrong there are better cameras, but a lot of it is just pure hype and fashion. Don't follow the trends of collecting mega expensive hyped up cameras, you don't need all the hype and features that you will never or rarely use, search out a good Praktica, get a good lens, or a set of three, say a wide-angle, your standard 50mm and perhaps a small telephoto and you have cracked it.
Think about it, with the M42 lens mount you have hundreds of different lenses to try out on your Praktica, German, Japanese, Russian, you don't have to stick to the usual Jena or Meyer lenses, though you won't go far wrong if you do, there is everything out there you will ever need.
So, why have Praktica got this poor, cheap, unreliable reputation?
First there is the stigma of being made in East Germany instead of the West. Just because they were from the East does not make them poor quality. Think about it, Dresden was the camera making capital of the world for decades, they did not loose all this expertise, knowhow, tradition and skills just because they were the 'wrong' side of the Iron Curtain.
Many of the Praktica cameras were subsidized by the East German Government, so they came onto the market in the U.K. a lot cheaper than they should have been. Because they were 'cheap' especially at the large chain stores that sold them, they found and were aimed at ( by the UK chain retailer, not the German manufacturer) a different class or type of buyer than if they were bought by a keen middle aged amateur photographer that bought their cameras from a traditional local independent camera store. So in essence what I am saying is a different sort of buyer bought these when new, often younger and working class, Like myself for example, I bought a new Praktica from a city chain store when I was 21, I could not afford anything more expensive from the local camera store in town even if I had wanted to. So because of this many of the new Praktica cameras sold in the UK from the late 1960's to the late 1980's had a much harder life than their very much more expensive West German or Japanese rivals. So they had in general a much tougher existence, not looked after as well, not cleaned and serviced, hence they gained the wrong reputation of being unreliable and of poor quality. It was the UK buyer that was at fault here, not the Dresden factory. I looked after my new Praktica and it works just as well today as it did in 1982 when I bought it! So take your time and look for one that looks like it was looked after. If the worst thing happens and it fails, then get it repaired, it will still be cheaper than a hyped up brand. I have just had one of my Praktica IV's serviced for just over £60, it's like a new camera! I bought it for £10 a couple of years ago, so for £70 I have a camera that will last me for years, capable of fine results.
Okay, so that is my opinion on the matter! I will expand on it in further detail in future posts, but let me leave you with this thought. There was an old farmer in the Yorkshire Dales, his saying was ' when all the world goes one way, I go the other' apply this to using and collecting old cameras and you won't go far wrong!
Go on buy a Praktica Nova, try it out, you will have great fun, take some good quality images, have a lovely camera and it will not brake the bank, even if you have to have it serviced!
Take care,
Phil
