Praktica's featured B-bayonet SLR — the BX20, aperture-priority auto, LED finder, electronic, 1987.
The Praktica BX20 is a 35mm film SLR made by VEB Pentacon in Dresden, East Germany, in the late 1980s as one of the more fully featured models of the Praktica B bayonet system. It was near the top of the B range, offering the system's more complete electronic feature set toward the end of East German camera production before reunification.
It is a Praktica B bayonet SLR with an electronically controlled vertical-travel metal focal-plane shutter. The BX20 provides aperture-priority automatic exposure with through-the-lens open-aperture metering plus manual operation, and shows exposure information via an LED display in the pentaprism finder. As an electronically timed camera it depends on its battery to fire and meter correctly.
The BX20 suits students, general users and enthusiasts wanting the fuller-featured B body with aperture-priority auto and an LED finder readout. It handles conveniently with open-aperture metering and modern controls, though the construction is lighter than the earlier all-metal Prakticas and the B lens range is narrower and less universal than M42.
On the used market, treat this as an electronic camera: test with a fresh battery across auto and manual, since a weak cell can stop it firing or misexpose. Confirm the LED finder display works, inspect foam light seals and mirror-damper foam for perishing, and check the meter and aperture-priority auto behave sensibly. Examine the prism for desilvering, verify the bayonet contacts are clean, and test film advance, rewind and screen condition.