Petri Color Corrected Super

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A series of 35mm coupled rangefinder cameras made by Petri (still legally named Kuribayashi when the series started) carry a badge on the front right-hand side of the body including the phrase Color Corrected Super. There is a common design to all the cameras, and a progression in design through the series. Although it is not at all clear that Color Corrected Super was the model name of any of them, it is as good a collective name for the series as any.

Petri 35

The Petri 35 (this model name is clear from the user's manual[1], and 'Petri' 35 appears on the badge, together with 'color corrected super') was Kuribayashi's first 35mm rangefinder, in 1954. The camera has Petri's 45mm Orikkor lens, a coated Tessar type, and their Carperu shutter. It is likely that the specification improved with time: the manual describes an f/2.8 lens; McKeown states that some examples have an f/3.5.[2] Again, the manual states that the shutter gives speeds from 1 to 1/300 second, plus 'B'; McKeown gives the range of speeds as only 1/10 - 1/200 second. The advertisement reproduced below shows a camera according to the specification described by McKeown. The shutter described in the manual has X-synchronisation, with a PC socket and cold shoe; it is cocked automatically by the film advance, which is lever-wind (but the camera pictured below clearly has a cocking lever on the lens barrel). McKeown lists developments of the Petri 35, named the 35X (1955) and 35MX (1955-8); these suffixes presumably refer to improvements in the shutter (flash synchronisation), so may account for the variations noted. The coupled rangefinder is combined with the viewfinder, so the camera has two small rangefinder/viewfinder windows. For the company's first 35mm rangefinder, it is well-specified; very similar indeed to the Yamato Pax M2 or M3 of about the same time.


Petri Automate

The Petri Automate[3] was made from 1956; i.e. it was introduced alongside the Petri 35, as a superior version of it. It has an f/1.9 Orikkor, and the shutter now gives speeds from 1 to 1/500 second plus 'B', and has a self-timer. The top housing is slightly restyled; the glass of the rangefinder window is much larger, although behind it, the metal frame of the rangefinder spot itself is not significantly changed. The film rewind knob has been replaced with a folding crank.

Petri 2.8, Petri 2.0 and Petri 1.9

The Petri 2.8 and Petri 2.0 were introduced in 1957, according to McKeown,[2] and the Petri 1.9 in 1958. McKeown calls these models the Petri 35 2.8, etc. but the model names are given as 'Petri 2.8' and 'Petri 1.9' (and even written in words as 'Petri One-Point-Nine') in the user's manuals.[4] McKeown states that the f/2.0 model was introduced to fill an apparent gap between the high- and low-specification models.

Again, the specification may have developed with time. McKeown states that the shutter on all these models is now a Copal, giving speeds up to 1/500 second; however, the manual for the f/2.8 camera still describes a Carperu with a maximum speed of 1/300. The manual for the f/1.9 camera refers to the shutter only as an MXV shutter, suggesting at least it is no longer Petri's own Carperu. The f/2.8 lens is still a Tessar type, but the f/1.9 is a six-element lens (of four groups).

All three models have the same small rangefinder window as the original Petri 35. All have a folding crank for film rewind. The controls on the top plate of the 1.9 are made slightly more stylishly.



Petri Color Super series

The models above were replaced with the Petri 2.8 Color Super (1958), Petri 1.8 Color Super (1959) and Petri 1.9 Color Super (1960). All have a brightline frame in the viewfinder, with parallax correction. This is illuminated via a green glass window in the front of the top housing, which also covers the rangefinder window (once again, the specification must have been changed; McKeown shows an example of the f/1.9 camera in which only the brightline panel is covered with green glass, not the RF spot). The styling of the three models is very similar, whereas in the preceding series, the model with the faster lens was more generally better-specified.

The Petri E.Bn of 1960 is simply a Color Super with an uncoupled selenium meter fitted to it, according to McKeown. After this, Petri began the Petri 7 series of rangefinders, along the lines of the Canonet, with selenium meters arranged around the lens.


Notes

  1. User's manual for the Petri 35 at Mike Butkus' Orphan Cameras
  2. 2.0 2.1 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). p579.
  3. Petri Automate at Range Finder; text in Japanese, with a few pictures.
  4. User's manuals for the Petri 2.8 and the Petri 1.9, at Mike Butkus' Orphan Cameras.

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