C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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slr-35mm
The KW Praktiflex (1938) is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera made by Kamera-Werkstätten (KW) in Dresden, Germany. It is one of the earliest 35mm focal-plane SLRs ever produced, pre-dating the Contax S and the postwar SLR revolution by nearly a decade. The Praktiflex introduced what would become the M42 screw-thread lens mount — a 42mm diameter, 1mm-pitch thread that KW used for simplicity and versatility.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
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About this camera
The camera that established M42 as a lens mount standard — the Praktiflex was Dresden's first 35mm SLR, introduced in 1938, and its screw-thread lens mount would go on to become the most widely adopted interchangeable-lens standard in the world.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24×36 mm) |
| Mount | M42 (42×1mm screw thread) |
| Years | 1938–1956 |
| Shutter | Horizontal cloth focal-plane: 1/20s – 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | None (early); X-sync on FX variant |
| Meter | None |
| Exposure | Manual |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level ground glass |
| Focus | Manual, ground glass |
| Battery | None |
Kamera-Werkstätten was founded in Dresden in 1919. By the late 1930s, the 35mm SLR concept was being explored by several German firms simultaneously — Exakta (Ihagee) was already established, but KW sought a simpler, more affordable SLR format. The Praktiflex debuted at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1938.
Dresden's optical and camera industry was largely intact through the early war years, and Praktiflex production continued into the early 1940s. After World War II, KW resumed operations under East German state direction. The Praktiflex FX (circa 1948) incorporated the lessons of the war years and early postwar market demands, and the M42 mount was refined into the standard form that all later Praktica cameras would use.
The name "Praktica" — applied to the successor line from 1949 — reflected the same heritage, and the brand would become synonymous with affordable, lens-compatible SLRs for students, amateurs, and professionals on a budget throughout the Cold War era.
The Praktiflex is historically significant as one of the first 35mm SLRs and as the origin of the M42 mount. By choosing a simple screw thread rather than a proprietary bayonet, KW inadvertently created a universal standard: by the 1960s, Pentax, Zeiss Jena, Meyer-Optik, Fujinon, Vivitar, and many others all produced M42 lenses, making it the most lens-compatible 35mm mount ever made. Today, M42 lenses are widely adapted to mirrorless cameras for their optical variety and low cost.
Original lenses: Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50/3.5, Meyer-Optik Primotar 50/3.5, Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50/2.9. Post-war FX versions accepted the full range of KW/Meyer M42 lenses. The M42 mount's universal compatibility means almost any M42 lens from any era can be fitted.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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