The Pentacon Six System
by TRA

Where can I buy a Pentacon Six or an Exakta 66?


The Pentacon Six and Exakta 66 are unfortunately no longer available new, although it is possible to find examples in “as new” condition, if one is patient.  In my opinion, with the exception of a very few specialist shops, the best place to find a selection of these cameras and lenses is on the internet, so I’ll start there.

eBay

There is usually a lot of Pentacon Six equipment and some Exakta 66 equipment on eBay (especially German eBay).  I advise you to read carefully eBay’s guidance on safe trading, read the descriptions carefully, check the seller’s feedback, note the postal charges, and set yourself a price ceiling.  Some people get caught up in the excitement of bidding, and end up paying more than they should.  When searching for items on eBay, you can tick a box asking for a search “only on completed auctions”.  This enables you to see what prices different items are fetching – although prices can vary enormously from one day to another.

For the rarer items, setting up a search on eBay is probably the only way.  You will then receive an e-mail from eBay whenever the item is offered for auction.

If you get a camera that has sat in a cupboard for 10 or 20 years – or worse, in an attic, where the heat in the summer has caused the lubricants to run to where they shouldn’t be, in both the camera and the lens – it will need a service.  But on the other hand you might get one that is excellent from day 1.

I have had good experiences with the Ukrainian vendor who trades as grizzly33bear on eBay, and she offers a wide range of interesting items.  (You can do a search on eBay for this vendor.)

eBay vendor Cupog has been recommended by several people in whom I have confidence, and my own experience buying from him has confirmed that.  It appears that he is situated in Bratislava in the Slovak Republic.

I have so far only had three bad eBay experiences, two of them with with vendors located in Romania, and the other with a vendor in England.  When things go wrong, expect to lose money, regardless what the eBay and PayPal “guarantees” say.

Other internet sources

Gevorg Vartanyan of Araxfoto in Kiev, Ukraine, is a highly-respected supplier with whom I have had good experience.

An excellent supplier from Germany is Rolf-Dieter Baier of Baier Foto.  He takes credit cards and I trust him completely.

Hans Roskam in Holland has an excellent reputation and usually has new and second-hand cameras and lenses.  http://www.roskamoptics.nl/

Cameras modified by Richard Wiese in Hamburg, Germany, have an excellent reputation. 

Mike Fourman of Kiev Camera in Atlanta, Georgia, USA may have some items.  (http://kievcamera.net/ )
He is a major western supplier of Kiev Cameras, with excellent prices.

Niclas Walser of http://www.foto-walser.com has had these lenses, but I don’t think that he has any left. I suggest that you visit his website. It is also possible to telephone him, although not all his staff speak English. He sells a lot of lenses on eBay.de 

As you may have seen if you have worked through this website, I bought my Kiev 88-6 from Brenner in Germany.  They still sell them, and told me in September 2002 that the quality has improved since 1996, when I bought mine.

Shops

I have just (November 2008) learnt that Jessop Classic, which used to be opposite the British Museum, has closed down.  With the closing down a few years ago of Global Cameras of Harrow, that only leaves two shops of which I am aware in London:

Jessop’s main branch is five minutes’ walk away in New Oxford Street. This is mostly new, 35mm and electronic, but if you go downstairs you will find equipment for professionals, including new and used Medium Format cameras and lenses. I once bought an Exakta 66 lens there, but it is very unusual for them to have anything. The full address is 67-69 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1BG Tel 0207 240 6077.

If you stand outside this shop, looking at it, and then turn left and walk along New Oxford Street going away from the junction with Tottenham Court Road, in three or four minutes you will come on a small camera shop that I think is called “The Clock and Watch Repair Company”, but I can’t find an address under this name. It nearly always has lenses for the Pentacon Six and usually one or two Pentacon Six or Kiev 60 bodies, but they are usually very old and worn, and very expensive.

You are likely to be more successful looking in the windows of large camera shops in Germany, although even here, it is now difficult to find the Pentacon Six and its lenses.

Centrum FotoŠkoda in Prague is a treasure-trove of Pentacon Six equipment and lenses, most of it at extremely reasonable prices.  The address is Vodickova 37, 110 00 Praha 1.  This is very centrally located, just off Wenceslas Square.  Tel Prague 222 929 029.  Fax Prague 222 929 016
They have a website, unfortunately only in Czech: www.fotoskoda.cz  Moreover, very few of their secondhand items appear on their website.  But if you are visiting Prague, don’t miss visiting them – you could probably leave their shop with a complete outfit, including many of the lenses!

In the USA, I am told that B&H, Adorama and Keh.com regularly sell Pentacon Six and Exakta 66 cameras and lenses.  I have no experience of the first two, but have bought one item from Keh.com, and it was exactly as described, with a problem-free transaction.

Tom Page of Wickford Cameras is the best Pentacon Six camera and lens repairer in the U.K., but he now sells very little equipment.  He can be contacted at:
15 St Magnus Close
Birchington
Kent
CT7 9UW
Telephone + 44 (0)1843 848115
Please only call between 10.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. UK time Monday – Friday!

Other sources

Camera fairs can be a fascinating source of equipment.  They usually take place on Sundays in village or school halls.  For the U.K., “Amateur Photographer” usually advertises them  in the small ads section at the back of the magazine each week.  Check the equipment carefully, as many vendors provide no guarantee.

I would also suggest that you buy the weekly magazine “Amateur Photographer” and read the advertisements carefully. You may find something there – either from a shop or in the small ads (that’s how I bought my first Pentacon Six!).
 

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© TRA November 2005, November 2008