Pentacon Six

The Pentacon Six is a single lens reflex camera. It was produced in 1966 by VEB Pentacon Dresden in the GDR. The Pentacon Six is the successor of the Praktisix. In the Soviet Union, similar models were produced by Arsenal.

The Kiev 6 and Kiev 60 are very similar to the East German camera. During the production period from 1966 to 1990, the Pentacon Six produced just over 200,000 units. Part of the production was sold under the name “Hanimex 66” in Australia.

The Pentacon Six has a waist-level viewfinder, in 1968 a prism attachment with built-in exposure meter was presented. From then on the camera was sold as Pentacon Six TL.

Another model of the Pentacon Six is the Pentacon six TLs. This special model was produced only in limited numbers and was probably used for personal photos by the police in Czechoslovakia at that time.

The lenses of the Pentacon Six can be replaced. For this purpose, a Praktisix bayonet / Pentacon Six bayonet / P6 bayonet was installed in the camera. The 80mm f/2.8 biometer is often found with a roll film camera. However, there are many more interesting Zeiss lenses for this connection. The Pentacon Six does not have an autofocus function. The focus is set manually.

The Pentacon Six has no built-in light meter. The desired aperture and shutter speed can be set by the user. Bulb mode is available for long exposures. An external flash can be used via the PC flash socket. The Pentacon Six has a built-in self-timer and cable release connectivity. There is also a thread for a tripod.

Films for the Pentacon Six

The Pentacon Six is designed for the medium format. Some manufacturers still produce new films for the film format. A color film for medium format camera is the Kodak Ektar 100*. A possible film for black-and-white images is the Ilford HP5*.

The exposure area of the Pentacon Six is square (6×6). A roll of 120 film can take up to twelve square images. The film in the camera must be winded manually, as there is no automatic film transport. The camera also can be used with 220-film.