PRAKTICA BMS
if you have a Praktica in your life you know it's a practical camera... i know, easy easy joke, but not that far from the truth... made by Pentacon, in Germany (Dresden), my Praktica model BMS was manufactured between late 80's, beginning of the 90's. i bought it not that long ago and immediately fell in love with her. i take her with me everywhere i go. everywhere. it's a reflex camera, fully manual and, for me at least, very intuitive in the way she works. yes, you have to know a thing or two about taking photos without the help of the automatic programs, but when in doubt if you're choosing the right speed, you can always look through the viewfinder for some help as it advises you on that, and only on that. anything else you have to relay on your photographic skills to make it work.
the first thing you have to do if you have one is to get yourself some 35mm film. here in Lisbon the sun is up and shining 80% of the times so i usually use 200 ASA films, unless i want to shoot indoors, then i need a higher speed and sometimes a flash, although i rarely use it (it's very easy to find a respectable flash for these cameras, so if you don't have one just check ebay or some flea markets around you and for a couple of euros you'll find one you like and working just fine).
back to the film...
insert the film by pushing the rewind button all the way up until you hear a crack. load the film in like in any other analog 35mm camera. now you have to set the film speed on the camera. right under that same button you have the film speed. you have to select it by lifting it up and rewind it according to the speed in question. you can choose whatever speed you want if you want to experiment things. but usually if you are using 200 ASA you choose 200 speed. and so it goes.
on the other side of the camera you have the release button, the film count, and the shutter speed dial. on the lens you have all the other options: right next to the Praktica logo, on the body camera, you have the depth of field selection, on my Pentacon lens opens f1.8. you also have the focusing ring right after.
so, with the right film, on the right day, either if it's outside or inside, you can easily manage this (made in german democratic republic) camera. it's a light camera for one of it's kind, it's also gorgeous (i love when they look all black and rough) and will do the job you want.
this photos that i'm sharing were the first to come out of my Praktica camera, i think i had an over exposure problem on the first ones, mainly because it's always too sunny in Lisbon, and because i was still trying to get to know her. anyway, apart from that, i kind of liked the effects that it gave to the pictures.
i used Kodak Color Plus 200 ASA.
