Petri Flex V camera
Category
Technological items
Date
1961 - 1965
Materials
Metal, Glass, Plastic, Leatherette
Measurements
95 x 142 x 97 mm
Collection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1525534.1
Summary
Petri Flex V camera Made by Kuribayashi, Petri brand, in 1961, with a top speed of 1/500th, Petri had changed from the early Petri lens mount to the Petri Bayonet mount. An adaptor was made to mount M42 thread lenses. Fully manual operation, no meter, auto diaphragm, and instant return mirror. Petri placed the shutter release on the front at an angle like Practica and Welta etc. This is a single lens reflex camera of standard layout with film rewind handle on the left of the top plate along with the Syncho switch and the automatic exposure counter. Shutter speed is managed by a knurled control to the right of the viewfinder and the film winder trigger to the right. The back of the camera has only the door to the film compartment which is opened by moving a small catch downwards on the left side of the camera. The front and back have leatherette trim over the metal finish and there is a strip across the prism housing. The bottom of the camera is a plain metal plate with a tripod mount and the botton to disengage the film winding mechanism. The plate is stamped Made in Japan. The front of the camera has the number 315455 on the prism case and beneath is embossed Petri Flex immediately above the lens. To the left of the lens is the shutter release and a self timer lever, to the right is a flash synchro terminal The lens is an F2 55mm with a fully automatic diaphragm ring From the camera body, the first ring is a bayonet ring which allows quick release of the lens. The next ring allows thee lens to be set to manual or automatic. Next is the F stop from 2 to 19mand finally the focus ring which is marked in feet and metres to infinity. There is a BD B52/50 filter in place and the front of the lens is marked “Kuribayashi C.C.Petri 1:2 f=55mm No 65179". There is a plastic lens cover.
Provenance
Donated on 22.09.2017 to the Fox Talbot Museum by Tim Summerton