Praktica was a brand of camera manufactured in
East Germany (
GDR). The quality of the
cameras and
lenses was good, the quality only slightly worst than comparable western cameras, but they were cheap, making them popular with semi-serious photographers on a budget.
Praktica cameras were made by Pentacon, a company formed in 1959 by merging Zeiss Ikon Dresden and KW (Kamera-Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch Dresden). The German company Zeiss Ikon was split between east and west after WWII, Zeiss Ikon Dresden being the eastern part, located in
Dresden.