Praktica's metered M42 SLR to 1/1000 — the Super TL1000, stop-down CdS TTL, manual, 1978.
The Praktica Super TL1000 is a 35mm film SLR from VEB Pentacon in Dresden, East Germany, from the late 1970s, a later Super TL variant carrying a 1/1000 top shutter speed as its name suggests. It kept the metered M42 Praktica formula and was sold widely in the UK as a budget manual SLR alongside the parallel MTL models.
It is an M42 screw-mount SLR with a focal-plane shutter offering speeds to 1/1000 plus B. The Super TL1000 uses a battery-powered CdS through-the-lens meter operated stop-down, matching a needle in the pentaprism finder after the aperture is closed with a lever. Exposure is manual only. The mechanically timed shutter fires without a battery, while the meter requires a cell to function.
The Super TL1000 suits students and general users wanting a rugged, inexpensive metered M42 body with a full 1/1000 range and simple manual control. It handles like its siblings, plain and durable, and runs on the same large stock of affordable M42 lenses; the dimmed metering finder and lack of automation are the usual compromises.
On the used market, check the CdS meter responds with a fresh cell and note whether the design assumed a mercury battery near 1.35V, which biases modern replacements. Fire the shutter across all speeds to detect capping or a lazy curtain, and inspect the foam light seals and mirror-damper foam for perishing. Look for prism desilvering or haze, test advance and rewind, and confirm the stop-down lever and focusing screen are sound.