Candid Camera Perfex Speed

Candid Camera family list

I’m holding the Perfex Speed, and I’m not sure where to begin. At first glance, it seems assembled from unrelated parts, and it remotely resembles the concept of a camera as we know it. Indeed, it has a lens, a viewer, and a superstructure styled after a medieval rampart, but all seem to be out of place. Add to that the heft, over a kilogram or 2 lb 5 oz, and the oversized frame, and you’ll wonder what the designers had in mind. The removable lens assembly alone weighs 220 g / half a pound, so it is the mightiest 35mm camera to pass my bench.

Calling it ugly would be biased, so I’ll classify it as different. The camera is just shy of 90 years old, and I do not know how it looked when it came off the production line, but its current condition is pathetic. No offence meant if a descendant of the original owners reads this, as it happened with a review I wrote about Kalimar. The camera finishes are pitiful. The bakelite is cracked, the coating is pitted, the steel parts are rusty, the lens assembly is jammed, and the moving parts are badly machined. But there is a redeeming factor: the shutter is agile and well-behaved. Both curtains are intact. This is more than I can say about most cameras of this age. It is the first American-made camera using a focal plane curtain shutter, so they have done something right.

Looking at the camera’s top, it appears as if the designers picked up a slew of random camera parts and mounted them in a haphazard order.

• The viewer is at the extreme right, which sanctions the user to use the left eye, with the camera weight resting on the left hand. It may suit lefties, but most humans are right-handed. Further, using the right eye coupled with a prominent nose would force the camera to be held askew.
• The viewer returns a minified image, not too practical but acceptable.
• Next is the shutter cocking knob that also serves as speed selector. To cock the shutter, turn clockwise against a strong counter spring, similar to the same on the Foth Derby. It takes fully winding it till it locks; else it will spring back to the pole position. To set the shutter speed after winding, pull it up and position the desired speed by the red dot. It is mentioned that setting the speed before winding should be against the black dot, but on my camera the black dot can be matched only for speeds 200 and above, and it falls in between the slow speed marks.
• A mighty bulwark-style superstructure is the uncoupled rangefinder assembly. A tiny window at the back captures the two windows at the front, with an unfriendly thumb dial by the rear window. I am looking for a term to describe it; cumbersome seems like a match. Turning the dial until the top and bottom images line up gives the distance, which is to be manually transferred to the ring closest to the body on the lens barrel.
• A frame counter dial is by the viewfinder, manually reset.
• A spring-loaded push-down button hides next to it, which allows for rewind. The rewind button is at the bottom right of the body.
• The film winder is last. It is spring-loaded so that it can be pulled up, but I see no reason for it. My camera came without the knob, so I tinkered a solution; see images.

The back and inner parts tend to the traditional:

• The back cover is fully removable. Pull the two side thumb latches to release, and watch for the sharp corners of the cover. It is made of some alloy, and as the rest of the camera is badly finished. An exposure calculator is a triple concentric dial on the back. To mount the rear cover back in place, you may well need three hands, but mortals could manage with a dual-hand configuration.
• The inner side of the cover has a pressure plate, with a side-mounted spring arm to keep the feeding cartridge in place.
• Inside are the two film hollows, a pivot with two cogs on the film path that keeps the roll in line, activates the frame counter, and locks the trigger after each actuation. It is made on the crude side, but it works.
• The frame mask is in the middle with a Leica-style horizontal curtain shutter, which here works fine.
• The serial number is printed above the mask. Oddly, all numbers I see online are within the thousands, none in the tens of thousands. I do not have production figures, so I am taking it as is.
• Note that the film moves from right to left.

The bottom part is peculiar.

• The oversized rewind knob is on the right. A support brace in the middle. With the back mounted, the camera is stable and rests only on the brace.

The front styling is borrowed from a military apparatus.

• A large breast plate at the front with ten prominent screw heads.
• The trigger is set for left-hand use. There was an optional screw-on protective cap.
• The lens assembly is mounted on a 1.5” x 32 TPI thread. All references describe it as a 38mm thread, which is wrong. At the time of production, no American engineer would use the metric system. It is an odd choice, but so was the Leica thread of 39mm. No other manufacturer had offered such a thread.
• There were two lens options, a  3.5 and a later added 2.8. Two compatible tele lenses are mentioned on the fly with no further details.
• There is no lock to guard the lens against an occasional turn, so if the distance dial is stiff, turning it may carry the main thread with it.
• The knurled ring close to the body is the lens mounting thread. Next is the distance setting dial, marked in feet, and at the front is the aperture dial.

For the collector, it is highly recommended. Take it as an early American 35mm model or as a guide on how not to build a practical camera; either way, it is unique. It is built like a tank, so most available models would be serviceable.