The good, the bad and the ugly

[Roger Hicks]

Three new pieces on the .eu site. The good: SOOZI the 90mm Summicron. The bad: Five Leicas, all in need or more or less repair. And the ugly? Well, it's hard to beat four non-functioning bayonet-mount Prakticas and eighteen lenses for them.

Any ideas on what to do with the Prakticas?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Erik van Straten]

In the trash can.

Erik.

 

[Chris101]

Make 'em into door knobs and other household hardware.

 

[robbeiflex]

I'm sure the lenses for the Prakticas can be used with adaptors on multiple digital cameras, and therefore have value to someone. I'm with Chris on the Praktica bodies, they are probably worth more to an interior decorator than to a photographer.

Cheers,
Rob

 

[tunalegs]

Those CZJ 35mm lenses have a bit of a following. Otherwise there's not much worth trying to sell in that lot.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Best idea for the bodies so far: toys for her 9 year old half brother.

But I also like "doorknobs" and "interior decor".

Cheers,

R.

 

[santino]

The BX20 isn't ugly at all 😉
It feels cheap but looks good…
Get a screw driver and save the screws.. 😀

 

[p.giannakis]

I have font memories of Practika - shot loads of slides with a BMS throughout the 90's. Unfortunately, the B-series were completely unreliable and difficult to repair once the electronics failed (which was frequent). Lenses were much better though. I ended up throwing away mine.

 

[Roger Hicks]

The BX20 isn't ugly at all 😉
It feels cheap but looks good…
Get a screw driver and save the screws.. 😀

Another great suggestion. I have the screwdrivers... Yes, unless I can get the mirrors down, I'll do that.

Cheers,

R.

 

[esearing]

stick one of the non-functioning practikas in your bag. Next time you are shooting with a friend(s), pretend to get mad at your leica, swap the bodies and throw it into a lake or over a cliff. 😱😱😱 😀

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

re

What about the lenses, though? The list starts with a CZ Jena 20/2.8, the front glass etched by fungus. If it weren't etched by fungus it might almost (but only almost) be worth getting SRB of Luton to make up a Pentacon to Leica adapter and use it as a scale focus lens.

What's a 20/2.8 Zeiss worth? Ummm... but... a 20/2.8 Zeiss Jena in Praktica bayonet mount with fungus damage (hard to see here) is an exercise in declining expectations. In all fairness it may not have been fungus damage: it may have been really awful coating. And with a decent hood, damage like this often makes surprisingly little difference to image quality. Even so, what would you pay for it?

1. If it were without fungus, it would fetch quite a nice price:
EUR 295.00
Approximately £249.97
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carl-Zeis...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

2. Similarly here:
EUR 257.00
Approximately £217.77
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carl-Zeis...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

3. Having a scratch on front lens:
EUR 165.00
Approximately £139.82
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carl-Zeis...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Dear Roger:
What would the aforementioned SRB adapter cost?

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . .
Dear Roger:
What would the aforementioned SRB adapter cost?

Under 50€: contact them for a free estimate. But the front glass really isn't pretty. Would probably work OK with the deepest possible hood.

Cheers,

R.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

Under 50€: contact them for a free estimate. But the front glass really isn't pretty. Would probably work OK with the deepest possible hood.

Hm, so far I don't have any Praktica bayonet lenses, and I presume my wife wouldn't be amused if I'd start collecting an additional/«new»/exotic lens line, even if really inexpensive, but: I have some IMHO quite good (actually, one or two of them very very good) Fujica X mount lenses, where also no LTM or Leica M adapters are readily available … the same applies for the various Mamiya 35mm-mounts … thank you, Roger, I'll contact SRB 🙂

Cheerio,
Alexander