The annual Prescott Holiday Parade was a good time
to use one of my cameras that has been “ignored” for a long while. This time,
my choice was for a 1959 Petri 1.9 Super rangefinder manufactured by a long
disappeared Japanese camera company.
It is not a well known camera as the name Petri has
never been associated with a quality SLRs. But this model, made in the early
years of the manufacturer deserves attention and has a cult following in the
rangefinder world.
Made by the Kuribayashi Camera Industry, founded in
1907, the Petri F1.9 was produced in 1958 and production lasted for only 4
years. It was aimed at competing in the
global rangefinder camera market, but its marketing coincided with the
introduction of the venerable Leica M3...
The Kuribayashi Company filed for bankruptcy in 1977.
The Petri F1.9 is a fixed 45mm lens minimalist watchmaker’s
camera. However, it is beautifully made and has lasted the past decades
gracefully if.. you find one with functioning and accurate speeds! I got mine
as a “consolation present” from the buyer who sold me an equally non-functioning
Soviet FED-2 rangefinder camera from the 1950s. It was in the late 1990s and
film cameras were sold as paperweight since the world was going the digital
route and users of film were considered neo-Dodo birds. Somehow, a Ukrainian camera man in Baltimore,
Maryland repaired both cameras and gave me many years of enjoyment using the
FED-2. As for the Petri, after dry-shooting it a few times, I reserved a fine
spot for it on my shelf.
Here is my camera:
And a testimony statement about the company’s
dedication to quality and customer support on a sticker inside the back cover:
Till this weekend. I tested winding and clicking a
few times, and checked the lens blades for oil deposit – all seemed to function
as it should. I put half a roll of film in it (I roll my own film in canisters) and took it to the Holiday Parade for a few street
photography test shots.
I was delighted when I inspected the negative strip –
frame distances were perfect, and I could tell that there was ample contrast
the lens had captured. However, the black and white shades seemed to be
following each other abruptly, without noticeable transition of gray. That
could mean extreme differences in bright and dark segments of the frame during
printing under the enlarger where lenses are typically f3.5 or 4.5 thus not
allowing enough light to create the shades of gray during the 10-15 second light
exposure time I prefer.
So, I went back to my FED-2 which originally came
with a badly calibrated Jupiter-3 Soviet fast lens but has a wide opening of
f1.5 allowing more light to go through it under the enlarger. As I have often
done so, I replaced the enlarger’s flat field lens with a camera convex lens
and proceeded to my darkroom work.
Here is my FED-2 with the 1956 Jupiter-3 lens I used
on the enlarger:
The
photos:
Well, the most dramatic was the one at the top of
the page. I wanted to test the 45mm lens at f18 and 1/125th second.
What I got is a very “creative” yet phantasmagoric photo! My first reaction was
“these are creatures from another planet!”
but I quickly settled for the effect of a vintage soft camera lens
coupled with a re-calibrated Soviet lens on the enlarger. But, I admit that
I do like the result which was the type of surprises I like, even if they look apocalyptic!
The next photo is more “from our world” although
flare (even with a hood) is apparent along with good sharpness at f4 that also
surprised me. The thing I wanted to capture was the head of the small dog the
young woman was holding on her chest – a careful look will detect the ears of
the dog and its left eye pointingly looking at me! Not bad for that much detail
and sharpness from a 65+ years old lens.
Finally, a photo that combines the two characteristics
I have so far seen from this lens – minimal gray scale transition and, an
uncanny depth of field. In this photo the foreground is blurred ad the same
time that is the background although the name of the gallery where I had my
first Prescott exhibit as a guest artist is in perfect focus!
Will I take this camera with me when I need predictable, sharp and smooth transition of shades? Clearly not. However, I will use this camera again for creative, hence somewhat unexpected results. The lens seems to be doing things with my scenes that I cannot create via lens opening and speed changes. Artists have been using plastic Holga medium size cameras for years to achieve such surprises.
Maybe my lens is defective. Or maybe this was my
first half-roll with the camera and I will learn to celebrate its character
more than hope it will render what I was aiming to capture.
One parting thought—for a photographer who enjoys
the design and feel of a camera, the Petri F1.9 is a joy to carry and use. And
if the goal is to discover, all over again what you thought you saw through the
viewfinder, this is the overall perfect camera for that!
December 8, 2024
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024
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