Candid Camera Corporation

Candid Camera Corporation family list

Candid Camera family list
Perfex Speed
Perfex Forty-Four
Perfex Fifty-Five

The company

Candid Camera of America was born in 1938, in the Silent Generation, a time when science had rapidly added many technologies that are taken for granted today. The TV was just a decade old, not yet commercial, as were liquid-fuel rockets. FM radio and radar were invented in the early 1930s, followed by the photocopier, the jet engine and the programmable computer. Not to forget are the ballpoint pen, nuclear reactor, microwave oven, and the transistor.

Photography had been in use since the late 1800s, but it was the domain of specialists and enthusiasts, a far cry from the free-for-all Generation Z photography. The transition took place with the introduction of smaller film formats, pioneered by the #127, 35mm and bolta, that transformed cameras from luggable to true pocket size. It had begun in Europe’s 1920s and migrated to the US about a decade later.

So, 1938 was a decade after the great depression; the US middle class had recovered, the market was ripe for new lifestyle technologies, and bright minds from the world over lined up at the US ports. Kodak was there since forever, buying any viable venture, just as today’s tech giants are wont to do. So did Ansco under the auspices of AGFA. New players came on board; regrettably, none had stayed afloat for long. There were Argus, Metropolitan, De Vry, Utility, Universal, Ulca, Monarck, Irwin, Herbert George, Detrola, Spartus, Cardinal and the list is still long. Most names are known to die-in-the-wool aficionados. Further, other than a handful of high-end cameras, most Leica-inspired, no US-made camera had crossed the low-end to middle-market line.

The Candid Camera of America, beforehand known as The Candid Camera of Chicago, was a brain child of three partners, none of whom had a background in this specific industry. It wasn’t uncommon in the industry, as it was up and coming, with a growing market and a small supplier base.

Researching this company, the camera Gods smiled at me and suggested two books, both of which deal with the US photography trade. One is Collecting Vintage Cameras Volume 1, 1972, by Kelton C Lahue and Joseph A. Baily. The other is Glass, Brass & Chrome, which I was surprised to find was a revised edition of the other, somewhat corrected. An online chapter of the Candid Camera is on Google Books. The books made life easier, as they are not subject to online publishers’ creativity.

The camera line of Candid Camera was, in a way, trailblazing, as it used 35mm format, an interchangeable lens and a Leica-style focal plane curtain shutter. Sadly, this had not sustained the company past its short decade of existence. In hindsight, I would put the reason for that squarely on the lack of industry culture, experience, and legacy.

Although all sources cite 1938 as inception, there are records of a cine camera under that name made in 1930. I did not dig into that as it is immaterial. The company issued a line of nearly identical models; see below, except for the first and last models that stepped out of line. The company was vertical, producing all camera components in-house. I think this was suitable for larger corporations, as using outsourced parts from specialized makers could have eased production and cut costs.

The company lasted until 1949, when it was taken over by Ciro, but the brick-and-mortar establishment still survived as a national camera repair and service lab, at least until 1972, when it was mentioned in the above-mentioned books. In the productive years, they also expanded into early electronics, viewers, and projectors.

To sum it up, the target market was unclear, as quality was not there to cater to high-end users, and the features offered were above the entry-level buyers. They offered fresh models in quick succession, not enough to build recognition and loyalty, and with ever-changing variations of the same melody.

Models run up

The first model was the 1938 Perfex Speed, made of the magic new material, bakelite, that was widely used on newly introduced devices, such as telephone sets. It resembled a steroid-laden version of the earlier Argus A series, being a mighty, heavy and crude contraption. It stood against any camera convention, unfriendly and cumbersome to use.
In 1939 it was replaced by the Perfex Forty Four, the first in a line of nearly identical models, pursued till the one before last. It looked and behaved like a European camera of the era, just bigger and heavier,
The Perfex Fifty Five followed in 1940. Almost the same as the Forty Four, slightly streamlined. Early models kept the distinctive extinction meter; later models did not.
The Perfex Thirty Three came in the same year, a scaled-down Fifty Five.
The Perfex Twenty Two joined in 1942, a scaled-down version of the Fifty Five. It had a short production run due to the war. It was reintroduced in the post-war years, but did not stand up to the European imports that were cheaply sold in the US as a foreign exchange earner for the war-beaten East and West manufacturers, let alone the Japanese makers.
The Perfex Delux followed in 1947, with better finishes and a matching price tag, the first Perfex that had crossed the USD 100, lifting it to a category it did not belong to.
The last two models of this series were the One-O-One and the One-O-Two of 1948. Both were economy versions of the Delux, shared a similar body but with a fixed lens and an in-lens leaf shutter. They had lower max speeds, 150 and 200 respectively, and were made of haphazardly varied outsourced components due to post-war supply chain constraints. Quality took a hit, as did the popularity.
The last model was the 1949 Cee-Ay, a radically redesigned camera with a fixed lens and a leaf shutter. It was sold to Ciro in that year, and was a base for the Ciro 35 and the Graphic 35.

For the collector, any of the Perfex models are shelf-worthy. Some models are freely available at matching costs; some are more expensive, not for quality but due to rarity for a very short production run.

Candid Camera Corporation of America family list

Other than the cine camera, all cameras are rangefinders and use 35mm format.

Model	Year	AKA
Cee-Ay 35	1949	Ciro 35
Cine Perfex	1930
Perfex De Luxe	1947
Perfex Fifty-Five	1940
Perfex Forty-Four	1939
Perfex One-O-One	1947
Perfex One-O-Two	1948
Perfex Special Candid	1938
Perfex Thirty-Three	1940
Perfex Twenty-Two	1942
Perfex Speed	1938
Perfex Candid Prototype	1940