Petri (Semi)

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Petri, in a column in the Japanese magazine Photo Art (フォトアート), December 1949. (Image rights)

The Petri was a folding camera for 4.5x6cm pictures on 120 film, made by Kuribayashi in 1948. It was the first time Kuribayashi used the name Petri for a camera (the company was later to be renamed Petri in 1962, having used the name for many cameras). It has an uncoupled rangefinder built into the top housing. It also has a small telescopic viewfinder that pops up from the same housing, and a small reflex finder, also built into the housing. The lens is an f/3.5 Petri anastigmat, in a rim-set Petri or Wester shutter giving speeds from 1-1/200 second, plus 'B' and 'T'. The film winding knob is on the 'bottom' of the camera (i.e. not on the top housing).

It was the first of a series of similar cameras:

• Petri (1948)
• Petri II (1948-51). Improved by replacing the pop-up viewfinder with a simpler built-in one.
• Petri III (1948-51). According to McKeown, the lens was replaced for the III, with an f/3.5 75mm Orikon Standardize Four, a Tessar type; however, the example pictured below still has a Petri anastigmat, though in a synchronised shutter.
• Petri RF (1952). The camera was made more compact, by doing away with the reflex finder. The film winding knob is now in its place (so the direction of travel of the film is reversed). According to McKeown, this model is identical to both the Karoron RF and Karoron S-II.
• Petri RF 120 (1955). Improved with a coupled rangefinder (still with its eyepiece separate from the viewfinder).
• Petri Super (1955). Coupled RF, now combined with the viewfinder.
• Petri Super V (1956).

Petri III, with a Petri anastigmat in a synchronised Petri shutter with a delayed action, in a column in the Japanese magazine Camera Fan (カメラファン), October 1951. (Image rights)

Notes

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. Items 804–7. (See also the advertisement for items 467–8.)
• Baird, John R. Collectors guide to Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras. Grantsburg, WI (USA): Centennial Photo Service, 1991. ISBN 0-931838-16-9. Pp.21–2, 25–6, 29–30 and 116–22.
• Lewis, Gordon, ed. The History of the Japanese Camera. Rochester, N.Y.: George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography & Film, 1991. ISBN 0-935398-17-1 (paper), 0-935398-16-3 (hard). P.63 (brief mention only).
• 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). P.578.
• Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.21.
• 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. Items 1393–5.

Links

In English:

• Petri at Cosmonet's Classic Camera site (Japanese version)
• Petri at Kent Bentzen's camera collection
• Folding cameras at Ross Alford's camera site

In Swedish:

• Petri, lot no.99 of auction no.31 (2 November 2008) by LP Foto

In Japanese:

• Petri repair notes at Yaneneko