Wrayflex
The Wrayflex was a 35mm SLR made by the British company Wray after World War II. There were two different models, the first had a low profile appearance and used a system of mirrors to provide the reflex viewing image. Sadly this was rather dim compared to the pentaprism used on competitive cameras. The second version had a higher profile top plate and used a pentaprism - it was known as the Wrayflex II. Both used the same series of lenses. The cameras used normal 35 mm film cassettes but took pictures 24x32 mm which was a problem for Slide material films.
List of lenses in Wrayflex mount:
- 35/3.5 Lustrar
- 50/2 Unilite
- 90/4 Lustrar
- 135/4 Lustrar
The Unilite lens design was covered by Patents, later there would be a dispute with Corfield when the latter company introduced their 45mm Lumax f/1.9 lens for the Periflex camera range. Corfield unwittingly had infringed the Wray patent and were obliged to ackowledge this fact.
Links
- John Wade has published a book on the camera and its lenses - see www.wrayflex.co.uk for a copy
- Wrayflex user manual at Marriott's World
- US patent: "Reflex camera with curtain shutter", descibes the Wrayflex
