Perfex

Perfex Speed Candid image by Simon Spaans (Image rights)

Perfex was the brand name used by Candid Camera Corporation of Chicago, Illinois, founded by Carl and Joseph Price together with Benjamine Edelman. The company focussed on 35mm rangefinder cameras, but also produced a double 8mm movie camera. Perfex cameras were in production from 1938 through 1950.

Perfex Cameras

The first Perfex camera was the 1938 Speed Candid. This camera takes 135 film, and has a built-in extinction light meter, an uncoupled rangefinder, and a cloth focal plane shutter with speeds up to 1/500 of a second. It has a Bakelite body, styled like a contemporary Argus. It was available with either an f3.5 or f2.8 50mm Graf Perfex Anastigmat lens.

The Forty-Four quickly superseded the crude Speed Candid in 1939. This model has a more cleanly styled body, a coupled rangefinder, a hot shoe, and shutter speeds up to 1/1250. This model was replaced by the Fifty-Five in 1940.

The Thirty-Three introduced in 1940 is essentially the same camera as the Forty-Four but with blacked out trim, and without the slow shutter speeds.

The Fifty-Five is essentially an updated and further refined version of the Forty-Four. This model survived WWII and was discontinued in 1947.

The de Luxe is much the same as the earlier models, but has a stamped metal body instead of a cast one.

The One-O-One and One-O-Two were introduced in 1948 and have an f4.5 and f3.5 lens respectively. They differ from the earlier Perfex models by having fixed lenses, and leaf shutters. They also lack the extinction meters that were standard on all previous models.

Perfex Forty-Four as manufactured image by Rick Oleson (Image rights)	Perfex Forty-Four, modified to Fifty-Five specification image by HamWithCam (Image rights)
Perfex Fifty-Five image by Graustark (Image rights)	Perfex de Luxe image by Rick Soloway (Image rights)

Perfex Thirty-Three image by Rick Soloway (Image rights)

Cee-ay 35

The Cee-Ay 35 was introduced in 1949; but few were made before Perfex sold the design to Ciro who sold a slightly-modified version as the Ciro 35. This model continued after Ciro was absorbed by Graflex.

Cee-Ay 35 image by Manuel Barriga (Image rights)

Links

• Speed Candid Review at Scott's Photgraphica
• Speed Candid advertisement January, 1939 Popular Photography magazine
• Details of several Perfex models at Cameraquest
• Perfex Fifty-Five review
• Perfex Delux, Perfex one-O-one, Perfex Fifty-Five on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand's Collection d'Appareils Anciens