Pentacon Super TL1968

History

VEB Pentacon was formed from the nationalised remnants of the Dresden camera industry under the East German state, consolidating the former KW (Kamera-Werkstätten) and several other factories. The Pentacon brand absorbed much of the earlier Praktica line and continued developing it through the 1960s and 1970s.

The introduction of TTL metering to the Praktica/Pentacon SLR line in the late 1960s followed the broader industry shift initiated by the Pentax Spotmatic (1964) and Topcon RE Super (1963). East German manufacturers were not early adopters of TTL technology, and the stopped-down metering approach on the Super TL -- which required the photographer to close the aperture before reading the meter, rather than metering wide-open as later open-aperture systems did -- was a simpler and cheaper implementation than the automatic diaphragm coupling TTL metering used by Minolta and Nikon in the same period.

The Super TL was part of a broader TL-designated family that included the Praktica TL, TL3, LTL, and MTL series cameras. These formed the core export and domestic mid-range line through the late 1960s and 1970s. Stopped-down TTL metering was eventually supplemented and then replaced by open-aperture metering in the later Praktica B-series cameras of the 1980s.

Why It Matters

The Pentacon Super TL is significant as the vehicle through which TTL metering reached the Dresden SLR line. For photographers working in Eastern Europe in the late 1960s and 1970s -- where Western cameras were largely inaccessible -- the Super TL represented a meaningful upgrade in exposure control. The stopped-down meter workflow, while slower than open-aperture alternatives, was sufficiently accurate for the range of subjects these cameras were used for: photojournalism, amateur portraiture, documentary work, and scientific photography.

The camera also demonstrates the limits of centrally planned industrial technology transfer in the Eastern Bloc during this period: the West German and Japanese competition had moved to open-aperture metering by this point, but the simpler stopped-down implementation was manufacturable within Pentacon's facilities and adequate for the market.

Lenses & Accessories

The Pentacon Super TL accepts all M42 lenses. The stopped-down metering system is compatible with any M42 lens regardless of whether it has an automatic diaphragm pin, since the photographer stops down manually before metering. This makes the Super TL especially practical with budget and older M42 lenses that lack a meter coupling pin.

Recommended lenses of the period:

• Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50/2.8 -- the standard kit lens of the Dresden line; sharp center, characteristic rendering
• Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50/1.8 -- fast standard lens, multi-coated on later examples
• Meyer-Optik Görlitz Oreston 50/1.8 -- another fast standard option, often preferred for its out-of-focus rendering
• Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35/2.4 -- wide-angle option, well regarded for architectural and documentary work
• Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135/3.5 -- telephoto standard of the East German line

Any M42 lens from Asahi, Fujinon, Mamiya, or independent makers also fits.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Used by working photographers and photojournalists in East Germany and other Warsaw Pact countries during the late 1960s and 1970s.
• Exported to Western Europe and marketed as an affordable alternative to Japanese mid-range SLRs; distributed under various trade names depending on market.
• Collected today as an accessible representative of the DDR camera industry's attempt to match Western TTL metering technology.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Pentacon Super -- covers the Pentacon Super family and TTL metering variants