The Praktiflex FX was introduced in 1953 with flash contacts for bulbs (F) and electronic flash (X). The main change was just the name of the camera. The Praktiflex FX was a 35mm SLR camera with a waist-level finder, M42 lens mount, non-instant-return mirror, a removable back and a cloth focal plane shutter. The Praktica FX was The Praktiflex FX's finder is a reflex waist-level finder that shows a horizontally reversed image. As the mirror doesn't return automatically, film must be wound first in order to place the mirror in the viewing position. The focusing screen is a flat ground glass screen on one side and a condenser screen on the other side, providing a very bright image. There is a folding loupe that magnifies the whole screen to aid critical focusing. Despite not having micro prisms nor split image rangefinder, focusing is very easy and effective using just the magnifier. The screen produces remarkable images and watching the screen is more pleasant than the real world, the colors seem more vivid. The finder cover can be used as well as a frame finder or sports finder, but it doesn't allow focusing. Carl Zeiss Jena manufactured an accessory pentaprism finder that allowed eye-level viewing and focusing. Unfortunately, the pentaprism finder produces a smaller and dimmer image and the magnifier can't be used, so it's harder to focus, but as an accessory it is a valuable collectable. The original list price for the Praktifles FX was $139.50 with any of a number of lenses. The camera producer was KW (VEB Kamera-Werke Niedersedlitz) in Niedersedlitz, Dresden, and part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The shutter speeds are 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, and B. The speeds are selected by pulling up the outer ring on the shutter speed selector and moving the small black dot to the speed desired.