The Pentacon F SLR

 The Pentacon F

The M-42 screw mount was adopted quite early as the means for attaching lenses to a single lens reflex camera with a focal plane shutter, as seen with the Contax S in 1949. Early examples of that camera have Zeiss Ikon on the prism front. Thus was the saga of Zeiss-Ikon in Stuttgart in Western Germany, and Zeiss-Ikon in Dresden, East Germany.  By 1959, Zeiss-Ikon retained their name in Stuttgart, and the East German companies reorganized and became VEB Pentacon by 1964. We know them as just Pentacon, for the most part. Kamera Werkstatten (KW) was absorbed into VEB Pentacon, so the Praktica and Pentacon brands sort of intermingle, with each offering an M-42 mount SLR.  However, let me make this point.  While Zeiss-Ikon in Stuttgart was working on foisting the lens-shutter Contaflex SLR on photographers, the Contaflex was a dead-end, and very limited in lens choices.  The Praktica and the Pentacon M-42 mount SLRs with focal plane shutters became the de-facto standard for 35mm SLRs, with subsequent manufacturers adopting the same lens mount for at least 20 years.  Lens-shutter SLRs (and there were others besides the Contaflex, such as the Retina and Voigtlander Bessamatic) dropped by the wayside as SLRs with focal plane shutters became the standard into the digital era.

The Contax D and the Pentacon F are pretty much identical cameras.  They feature the same interesting shutter speed dial on the top deck, front-mounted shutter release, shutter speeds up to 1/1000 sec, and a PC flash socket on the top deck.  

They differ in the lenses that usually accompanied them.  In the case of the Contax D, it would have been a Zeiss Jena 50mm Biotar, and the Pentacon would likely have had a Meyer Primotar or Tessar 50mm. Today, finding one with the original "kit lens" is difficult, because those lenses by themselves are often worth more than the camera body. In addition, the fact that there are an incredible number of M-42 lenses means that these cameras have probably passed through many hands by now, and often with a different lens than the one it originally came with.

Using the Pentacon F

I have a lot of experience with M-42 mount SLRs, and the Pentacon F is easy to operate.  One thing that I had to do though, was find a proper take-up spool. The take-up spool in mine was missing - and I finally salvaged one from a broken Exa IIa.  The Pentcon F was lacking the original lens, and I ended up using a much newer 28mm M-42 lens, as well as a Vivitar 35mm f/3.5 Preset T-mount with an M-42 adapter.

Features:

Non-automatic mirror return.  That had to wait until Asahi Kokagu introduced it in 1954, and adopted later by other manufacturers.  You need to wind the film to lower the mirror for the next shot.  The camera uses a knurled film advance knob, not a wind lever.

Frame counter is on a ring below the advance knob.  

Auto-diaphragm - the camera will allow you to use an automatic aperture lens, that stops down at the moment of the shutter release.  You can also use pre-set lenses. For more information on those, see this post.

No light meter

No hot shoe, but PC flash port on top deck

Self-timer (even the Pentax K1000 does not have one)

Front mounted, angled shutter release with cable release threads

B, 1-1/1000 sec focal plane shutter.  You set the shutter speed by pushing down on the kurled knob just below the window and turn the knob clockwise to get the desired shutter speed to show up on the dial.  Pretty nifty.  There is a sliding switch on the back of the camera that determines which shutter speeds you select.  There are slow shutter speeds in red, and faster speeds in black on the dial. Pushing the switch to the left gives you a red arrow on the left of the speed dial to align the slow speeds with, and pushing the switch to the right gives you a black indicator arrow on the right side of the dial for faster shutter speed selection.  

Film rewind knob, no pop-out wind lever. 

Flash Sync speed - I don't know. There is no symbol to indicate the sync speed, nor is there a choice of X or FP sync, but some research indicates that it is a slow 1/10 sec.

There is a film release button for rewinding the film and a tripod socket on the bottom. 

There is a funny little flip-out bracket beneath the lens mount to keep the camera level on a table if you are doing selfies, I guess.

 

I loaded the Pentacon F with a roll of expired Polypan-F film, and used a hand-held meter as well as sunny-16 while I was shooting with it.  Overall, the camera performed perfectly, and my images were par for the course for a film like Polypan-F.  

Scanned on my Epson V700 Photo flat-bed scanner.

Overall, shooting with this camera was easy.  While it doesn't have the improvements of SLR bodies a decade later, it's not complicated, and has a very clean design.  It's certainly a throwback to the early days of 35mm SLRs, but once you figure out its quirks, you have access to a plethora of M-42 lenses that will work with it.

The OG Agfa Silette

Over the years, I have handled a few of Agfa’s 35mm cameras.  It’s a safe bet to say that many are not memorable, and like other German camera companies, their camera names  are often confusing, and seem to be variants of a few standard names, such as Isolette. Isoflash, Isola, Iso-Rapid, Isolar, Isoly, Isomat, and Isorette.  Or, it could be Silette. Super Silette, Solina, Super Solina, or Solinette.  In the case of the Silette, it was a series of metal-bodied 35mm cameras with scale focus, with a number of incremental changes in models dating from the original Silette (Type 1) which appeared in 1953, to the Silette LK Sensor, which was the last model, dating from 1973. According to McKeown’s 12th edition, there were 33 different Silette models.   I’ll be focusing on the model that I have, the Silette (Type 1) which was introduced in 1953 - 71 years ago!   That only seems like a long time when I think about it.

The Silette (Type 1) has a central viewfinder that sits above the 45mm Color-Apotar 45mm f/2.8 lens in a Pronto shutter.  The shutter speeds are B, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 and 1/200 sec, and the lens apertures range from f/2.8 to f/16.  Close focus is just under 3 feet, and you set the focus by turning the front of the lens.  There is no rangefinder and no light meter.  The Silette models were designed to be low-cost but very usable 35mm cameras.  The Super Silette models have coupled rangefinders, and the design is otherwise similar to the Silette cameras produced at that time.  So, the Super Silette of 1955 looks very much like the Silette here.  The Super Silette LK  (1959) looks very much like the Silette LK of 1963.

My Silette came to me in pretty good condition, and still had a recent roll of Arista.edu Ultra 200 (Fomapan 200) loaded inside.  I finished the roll (about half) in the course of a few days, and then developed the film and scanned it on my Epson V700 scanner.  

Likes 

This is not a complicated camera.  It’s a very straightforward design that incorporates the controls around the rim of the lens, which is pretty standard for many cameras of that period.  There is no hot shoe for flash, but there is a cold shoe on top and a PC flash socket on the front of the camera.  I like the single-stroke film advance lever that sits flush with the rear of the camera.  The shutter will fire only if the film has been advanced.   The shutter button accepts a standard cable release.  The film counter advances upward as you wind.   There is a tripod socket on the bottom, and the rewind release is quite obvious.  The camera fits well in my hands.  It’s not terribly different from the Kodak Retinette models from the same era. 

Dislikes 

I’m not a fan of the small rear eyepiece of the viewfinder, as I wear glasses.  You have to manually reset the film counter after you are finished with the roll.  There are no strap lugs on the body.

Results from this camera

Overall, I was happy with my results.  Yes, this is a fairly simple 35mm camera, but it does a pretty decent job with what I was shooting.  If you can be as accurate as possible with your zone focusing, you’ll have good results.  I didn’t find the narrow range of shutter speeds to be a problem. For most films, this will be just fine.

The 2012 price list in McKeown’s catalog is $15-30, which probably has not changed much.  If I had the choice between the Silette  and a Kodak H35 plastic camera with a single shutter speed, the Silette would be the easy choice.  I see a range of Silettes sold on eBay, with final prices going from $10.50 to $50.00.  If you find one of these in working condition at a decent price, you’ll be pleased at how easy they are to use.