Pet
The Pet is a Japanese subminiature taking 14×14mm pictures on 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm. It is only known from a single example, pictured in Sugiyama.[1]
Contents
Description
The Pet has the shape of a matchbox. There is a long tubular finder at the top, and a frame finder is hinged to the camera's left side, as seen by the photographer. The film is advanced by a knob on the left of the main finder. The lens has a fixed focus and aperture, and is engraved Pet F.4.5. It seems that this is the sole marking present on the camera.
The self-cocking shutter is tripped by a small lever protruding on the camera's right. Another small lever is visible at the top, in front of the advance knob, with S, B, I indications.[2] The B and I positions correspond to Bulb and Instant exposures, and the S position certainly functions as a shutter lock, needed because accidental exposures are made easy by the position of the release lever.
Origin
The Pet and the Petty have a similar name and a similar position of the controls. The two cameras were probably made in the late 1940s or early 1950s by the same workshop, currently unidentified.
Notes
Bibliography
- Sugiyama, Kōichi (杉山浩一); Naoi, Hiroaki (直井浩明); Bullock, John R. The Collector's Guide to Japanese Cameras. 国産カメラ図鑑 (Kokusan kamera zukan). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1985. ISBN 4-257-03187-5. Item 5109.
The Pet is not listed in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
Links
In English:
- Pet (text only) at Submin.com
- Brief mention of the Pet among 17.5mm film cameras at Subclub.org