The Pentacon Six is an single-lens reflex

Single-lens reflex camera

A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...

 (SLR) medium format camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

 system made by Pentacon

Pentacon

Pentacon is the company name of a once-important camera manufacturer in Dresden, Germany.The name Pentacon is derived from the brand Contax of Zeiss Ikon Kamerawerke in Dresden and Pentagon, as a Pentaprism for Single-Lens Reflex cameras was for the first time developed in Dresden...

 from 1956 to 1992. The Six accepts lenses with the Pentacon Six mount

Pentacon Six mount

The Pentacon Six mount is a breech-lock bayonet lens mount originally used by several medium format single-lens reflex cameras from East Germany....

, a breech-lock

Breech-lock

A breech-lock is a system for mounting camera lenses to camera bodies. The lens is attached to the camera by means of a rotating ring which is used to tighten the lens to the camera by friction....

 bayonet mount

Bayonet mount

A bayonet mount or bayonet connector is a fastening mechanism consisting of a male side with one or more pins, and a female receptor with matching L slots and spring to keep the two parts locked together....

.

Praktisix

The Praktisix was manufactured by Kamera Werkstätten (KW). It is a 6×6 SLR modelled on contemporary 35 mm SLRs. It was followed by the Praktisix II and Praktisix IIA, all with minor, relatively cosmetic changes. They all have rather poor reliability, including poor frame spacing.

Pentacon Six

In 1959 Kamera Werkstätten became VEB Kamera and KinoWerke Dresden. In 1964 they became VEB Pentacon and in 1970, Kombinat VEB Pentacon. With the unification of the East German photographic industry the Praktisix was modified to become the Pentacon Six. Frame spacing was improved through the use of a roller with teeth that is turned by the film as it advances; when the correct length of film has advanced, the mechanism disengages.

When the TTL-metered prism was introduced, the letters 'TL' were added to the name plate but no other changes were made.

The Pentacon Six was imported into the U.S. as the Hanimex Praktica 66 by Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n distributor Hanimex. This was to get around U.S. laws prohibiting direct imports from communist countries.

The Pentacon Six TLs is a version modified to shoot 4×4.5 cm frames for photo IDs

Identity document

An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...

.

Exakta 66

The Exakta 66 is based on the Pentacon Six but was made in West Germany by Exakta GmbH, Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

. The body is rubber coated, the film advance lever moves through a shorter angle, and it has a TTL-metered prism coupled to new Schneider

Schneider Kreuznach

Schneider Kreuznach is the abbreviated name of the company Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH, which is sometimes also simply referred to as Schneider. They are a manufacturer of industrial and photographic optics....

 lenses.

The Exakta 66 is not to be confused with several earlier cameras with nearly exactly the same name. These Exakta 6x6 cameras were produced by Ihagee

Ihagee

Ihagee was a camera manufacturer based in Dresden, Germany. Its best-known product was the Exakta single-lens reflex camera.-History:Johan Steenbergen, a Dutchman, founded a camera company called Industrie- und Handelsgesellschaft in Dresden in 1912. The name was shortened to Ihagee...

, Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, in the pre-war years and with interruptions until 1954.

Viewfinders

The Praktisix and Pentacon Six comes with a simple waist-level finder

Waist-level finder

The waist-level finder is a type of viewfinder that can be used on twin lens and single lens reflex cameras. While it is typically found on older medium format cameras, some newer and/or 35 mm cameras have this type of finder ....

 with a flip-up cover. A non-metered prism was available for the Pentacon Six, with a TTL-metered prism produced later.

A third-party adaptor allows the metered prism from the Kiev 60 (which is based externally on the Pentacon Six) to be attached to most Pentacon Sixes and Exakta 66's. It is brighter, shows more of the view, and is available new. The same adaptor also allows the Kiev 60 waist-level finder to be used. This finder is reportedly inspired by the one found on Rolleiflex

Rolleiflex

Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werk. The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of medium format twin lens reflex cameras...

 TLR cameras

Twin-lens reflex camera

A twin-lens reflex camera is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" , while the other is used for the viewfinder system, which is usually viewed from above at waist level...

and is also better than the original Pentacon finder.

External links

• The Pentacon Six System by TRA
• Pentacon Six at camerapedia.org
• Praktisix and Pentacon Six at Commie Cameras
• Pentacon six manual
• Praktisix Story by Coopiecat JAPAN