Candid Camera Perfex Fifty-Five

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

The two early models made by Candid Camera of America were not a stellar success. The first model, the Perfex Speed, was a unique, unorthodox device that defied most conventions in the camera world. Production lasted only a year, and it was replaced by a traditionally styled model, the Perfex Forty Four. It was still not a fully baked product, so the designers reported back to the drawing boards and, within a year of inception, issued a third in line, the Fifty-Five. Price had gone up, from USD 38 of the Forty-Four to USD 45. This is not to predict that the models that followed adhered to a logical order; the successors’ numbering was chosen out of sequence, much to confuse the followers.

The Fifty Five is almost the same as the Forty Four, with some mechanical and superficial changes. As the Forty Four I recently looked at, the 86-year-old unit on my desk is well preserved, well finished, and fully functional. It is more than I can say about the average German-made cameras of the time.

The camera description is very similar to the Forty Four, so I copy most of the description from there.

• The body is all metal, with flowing and rounded shoulders. No sharp edges as in the Speed. A well-preserved leatherette skin had replaced the bare bakelite, and the metal parts are flawlessly coated.
• The top hosts the winder knob, skirted by a frame counter. To reset the frame counter, lift the winder and set it to zero against the chevron pointer in front of it. The winder also cocks the shutter, and unlike the Speed, you don’t have to fight a counterspring. In the Forty Four, turning the knob halfway flicked the knob back, which was corrected in this model.
• Next is the trigger, which is set within the shutter speed setting dial. Unlike the Forty Four that had two sets of shutter speed markings, red and black, here only the speeds 25 and up are presented. Pull up the speed ring and set as required against the chevron in front of it. The slow speed dial is at the front of the body. To engage the slow speeds, set the top shutter speed dial to ‘S’, if you can find it. A hint: it is by the 25. Regrettably, the designers brought forward the minuscule engraving size, which may not go well with older eyes.
• A hot accessory shoe, uncommon in the era, is at about the middle.
• The rewind knob is on the left side. To allow rewind, press and hold the button at the front, just above the slow speed dial.
• The back opens via two swing levers at the bottom, marked open and closed. Again, engraving is badly done and is too small for mortals.  Swing both levers towards the middle, and the back slides off.
• Inside are the two film hollows, the image mask over a Leica-style focal plane cloth curtain shutter, and a double cog to guide the film.
• The take-on hollow is large enough to accommodate a cartridge for cartridge-to-cartridge configuration, allowing mid-roll change while sacrificing the in-between portion. There is nothing to hold the cartridge(s) in place, so it will drop out once the back slides off.
• The serial number is engraved at the bottom.
• The back of the camera is busy. There are two viewer windows:
  • • The right is the image-composing window, showing a minute view.
    • The left is a picture-in-picture, square rangefinder window, coupled with the lens.
    • An elongated window is the extinction meter window, which was fashionable at the time. It is simple to use: aim at the subject, and you’ll see a line of letters: KDIALGEJBFVCPxxxx. To use, note which letter in the scale is least visible and transfer it to the exposure computer disk at the back of the camera. I do not know if the letters are meant to present a phrase; if not, the selection makes little sense. A similar gabble is found in the Lumiere Eljy, where the phrase is LUMIPOSE, but it could mean something in French.
    • Note that on late models the extinction meter was removed.

  

• The front is where the action is.
• • • The top is adorned with four windows: the viewer, rangefinder x 2 and the meter.
    • At the front left of the body is the rewind release button; press and hold to rewind. Underneath is the slow speeds dial; lift and set as desired against the red dot in the pivot.
    • The focusing dial is closest to the body, difficult to grip. It has a long travel, almost the whole circle.
    • The lens thread is 1.5” x 32TPI. It is threaded into the focusing dial, so the whole lens assembly turns with it. What that means is you’ll have to hunt for the ‘f’ values, as it can be up or down, right or left.
    • There were two lens options on this model, a 2.8/50 and 3.5/50.
    • The next ring, black on my camera, carries no markings and does not individually turn. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but it slightly differs from the kit lens on the Forty Four.
    • The front ring is the aperture setting.

As with the two earlier Perfex models, this model was short-lived and is recommended for the shelf.  It is a typical exemplar of the mid-century American struggle with camera making, about as far as it had got.

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