produced until 2000. 1949 Praktica until Praktica V 1964 Praktica Nova 1969 Praktica L with vertical metal focal plane shutter 1979 Praktica B with new bayonet mount Highlights: 1956 Praktica FX2 2. version with full automatic internal aperture activator, world standard for more than 20 years. 1959 Praktica IV with permanent eye-level pentaprism. 1964 Praktica V with instant return mirror. 1965 Praktica Mat first European TTL semiautomatic (work aperture) in production 1966 Praktica Super TL with centerweighted TTL 1969 Praktica LLC world first camera with electric simulation of aperture From 1952 to 1960 the KW factory/VEB Pentacon also produced the Praktina, a system SLR camera for professionals and advanced amateurs with a bayonet mount and focal shutter, but production was closed, partly for political reasons. Praktica was the camera that could be sold outside the DDR and bring foreign currency to the country. Edixa Another German manufacturer, Edixa was a brand of camera manufactured by Wirgin Kamerawerk, based in Wiesbaden, West Germany. This company's product line included 35mm SLR cameras such as the Edixa Reflex, which featured a Steinheil 55mm f/1.9 Quinon lens and an Isco Travegar 50mm f/2.8 lens, the Edixamat Reflex, the Edixa REX TTL, and the Edixa Electronica. The removable pentaprism could be swapped for a waistlevel viewfinder with a pop up magnifier. The lens mount was the same screw thread as the Praktica. Rise of the Japanese SLRs The earliest Japanese SLR for roll film was perhaps the Baby Super Flex (or Super Flex Baby), a 127 camera made by Umemoto and distributed by Kikōdō from 1938. This camera had a leaf shutter, but two years later came the Shinkoflex, a 6×6 camera made by Yamashita Shōkai, with a focal-plane shutter and interchangeable lenses. However, Japanese camera makers concentrated on rangefinder and twin-lens reflex cameras (as well as simpler viewfinder cameras), similar to those of the Western makers. Pentax The Asahi Optical Company took a different manufacturing path, inspired by the German SLRs. Its first model, the Asahiflex I, existed in prototype form in 1951 and production in 1952, making it the first Japanese-built 35mm SLR. The Asahiflex IIB of 1954 was the first Japanese SLR with an instant-return mirror. Previously, the mirror would remain up and the viewfinder black until the user released the shutter button. In 1957, the Asahi Pentax became the first Japanese fixed-pentaprism SLR; its success led Asahi to eventually rename itself