Petri Penta
Petri Flex V3 (badged without the 'V', but showing the mounts for the light meter). The strip of leatherette on the prism is to avoid scratching if an accessory cold shoe is mounted; this strip also appears on the Penta/Flex V2. image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
Advertisement for the Petri Penta in Popular Photography, February 1960; scanned by Nesster (Image rights) |
The Petri Penta is the first of a series of 35mm SLR cameras made in the late 1950s and early '60s by Kuribayashi/Petri (the company changed its legal name to Petri in 1962, while this series of cameras was current; they all bear the name Petri on the front of the prism). Some of the series were sold in the USA (and perhaps other markets) as the Petri Flex V, and some examples are badged Petri Flex (with no 'V'); note however that the Petri Flex 7 is not one of this series.
- Petri Penta (1959). The first model in the series was Kuribayashi's first 35mm SLR camera, made in 1959.
- 42mm screw lens mount.
- Manual aperture stop-down (that is, the camera does not stop the lens down during exposure; the user must do this manually).
- Focal-plane shutter with cloth blinds, giving speeds from 1/2 to 1/500 second, plus 'B'.
- PC socket, and flash synchronisation switchable between X and FP, but no flash shoe. A clip-on cold shoe was available as an accessory.
- No self-timer.
- Petri Penta Automatic/Petri Penta V (1960). Improved version of the Penta.
- Lens mount is now a breech-lock type bayonet.
- Automatic stop-down of preset-aperture lenses.
- Shutter now 1/2 to 1/1000 second, plus 'B'.
- Self-timer.
- Petri Penta V2/Petri Flex V (1961). Almost identical to the Penta Automatic/Penta V.
- Fastest shutter speed returned to 1/500 second.
- Petri Penta Junior (1961). Simplified version of the Penta V2, but returned to the specification of the original model (no automatic stop-down or self-timer). According to McKeown, supplied with an f/3.5 35mm lens.[1]
image by John-Henry Collinson (Image rights) |
- Petri Penta V3/Petri V3 Flex (1964). Now with two studs on the front right-hand side of the top housing, to allow an accessory meter to be mounted, mating with the shutter speed control. This is a CdS meter, reading LV 8 - 18. Fastest shutter speed is still 1/500 second.
- Petri Penta V6/Petri Flex V6 (1965) (the name of this model is given simply as Petri V6 on the cover of the manual). New styling.
- Petri Penta V6-II (1970). Now with a built-in hot shoe.
Petri Flex V3 top plate. image by phollectormo (Image rights) |
Petri Penta V6 with Petri 55mm f/2 lens image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Penta V6 body image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Penta V6 with slip-on accessory shoe and CDS meter image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Inside of Petri Penta series
Petri Penta and other Petri's SLRs have very unique shutter tensioning mechanism, a single cam shaft driving, developed by Yanagisawa Akira (柳澤 明). The shutter is cocked and released by rotation of a single cam shaft.
Figures from Japanese patent 特公昭37-19038 (Image rights) |
Bottom of Petri Penta (S/N901335) image by Petri@wiki (Image rights) |
Early model (serial number before S/N8866XX) of Petri Penta used different charging mechanism.
Figures from Japanese patent 特公昭36-9835 (Image rights) |
Bottom of Petri Penta (early model, S/N886599) image by Petri@wiki (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p581-2.
Links
- User's manuals at Mike Butkus' Orphan Cameras:
- Petri Penta
- Penta V
- Penta V2
- Short manual for Petri Flex V and V3, including information on the accessory light meter.
- Petri V6 (as named on the cover; text is Petri Flex V6 throughout, OCR scanned by Mr Butkus).
- Accessory CdS light meter
- Petri Penta series pictures at Petri@wiki(in Japanese):