Perfect
The Perfect or Perfekt is a leaf shutter made by the Japanese company Neumann & Heilemann in the 1930s and early 1940s. At least one version is said to be a copy of the Compur.[1]
Shutter plate
Different shutter plate designs are known.
The early shutter plate is inscribed NEUMANN & HEILEMANN PATENTS PENDING in small characters at the top and PERFECT in fancy letters at the bottom. The NH logo of Neumann & Heilemann is on the right and the aperture scale is on a separate crescent-shaped plate screwed to the bottom.
The regular shutter plate is inscribed PERFECT or PERFEKT in fancy letters at the bottom and has the NH logo on the right. The maker's name Neumann & Heilemann is inscribed on a separate crescent-shaped plate screwed to the top, and the aperture scale consists of another plate screwed to the bottom.
The intermediate shutter plate is directly inscribed NEUMANN HEILEMANN at the top, has the NH logo on the right and the aperture scale directly inscribed at the bottom. The name PERFEKT is engraved on the speed rim and perhaps at the bottom of the shutter plate too.[2]
The late shutter plate is directly inscribed NEUMANN HEILEMANN at the top (in a different larger font) and PERFEKT at the bottom. It has the NH logo on the right and two silver stripes on both sides. The aperture scale is directly inscribed at the bottom. Some transitional examples perhaps have the name PERFEKT repeated on the rim.[3]
Speed range and size
The following versions are known:
- 25, 50, 100, 250, B, T (#00 size)
- 5–150 (#0 size)
- 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, B, T (#00 size)
- 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 100, 200, B, T (#0 size)
- 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 100, 300, B, T (#00 size, cocking lever)
Cameras equipped
Listing of a camera here should not be taken to mean that all examples of the camera were fitted with Perfect shutters.
- Adler (Perfekt, 5–250, late shutter plate)
- Adler Four (Perfect, 5–250, regular shutter plate)
- Letix (Perfect, 5–250, regular shutter plate)
- Semi Lucky (Perfect or Perfekt, 5–250, regular, intermediate and late shutter plate)
- Semi Mulber (advertised as 5–150 in September 1939 and 5–200 in December 1939)
- Prince plate folders (Perfect, 5–150, early shutter plate)
- Prince Peerless (Perfect, 1–200, early shutter plate)
- Semi Prince (Perfect, 5–250, regular shutter plate)
- Prince Flex (Perfekt, 1–300, late shutter plate)
- Royal 35 (Perfect, 25–250, regular shutter plate, perhaps converted for flash synchronization)
- Seica (Perfect, 25–250, regular shutter plate)
Notes
- ↑ Advertisements for the Prince Flex, published in September 1937 and January 1939 in Asahi Camera, reproduced in Kokusan kamera no rekishi, p.91.
- ↑ Examples of the Semi Lucky II observed in an online auction.
- ↑ PERFEKT on the rim: advertising picture of a Semi Lucky III reproduced in Tanaka, p.77 of Kurashikku Kamera Senka no.8 (perhaps retouched). Nothing on the rim: examples of the Semi Lucky III observed in online auctions.
Bibliography
- Asahi Camera (アサヒカメラ) editorial staff. Shōwa 10–40nen kōkoku ni miru kokusan kamera no rekishi (昭和10–40年広告にみる国産カメラの歴史, Japanese camera history as seen in advertisements, 1935–1965). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1994. ISBN 4-02-330312-7.
- 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).
- Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Sonota no nihon no supuringu-kamera" (その他の日本のスプリングカメラ, "Other Japanese folding cameras"). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.8, September 1986. No ISBN number. Supuringu kamera (スプリングカメラ, special issue on spring cameras). Pp.76–80.
