SLR Archives - Facts, notes and thoughts about vintage cameras and other trifle matters

February 26, 2025

Corfield Periflex

Corfield Periflex The story of Corfield Cameras resembles the case of Clarus in the US. Both companies began about the same time as the brainchild or obsession of an undercapitalized founder trying to punch above his weight. Both created a product without previous experience in the field, both companies were relocated from their breeding grounds, both needed external funding, which...

35 mm/Corfield/SLR/UK/Viewfinder Comments: 0

November 15, 2024

Petri Flex 7

Petri Flex 7 Petri entered the compact SLR camera market in 1959 with the Penta / Flex line, a mix of entry-level and mid-market models. I guess the quality/price ratio was unfavourable, as these models did not gain many followers, which is also reflected in today’s prices for these models. True to Petri’s tradition, similar cameras were sold under different...

35 mm/Japan/Petri/SLR Comments: 0

May 8, 2024

Nikon FE

Nikon FE Camera makers entered the industry at a particular market stage. The early makers began with brass and mahogany, graduated into smaller folder models, shrunk further with lens technology advances, then into even smaller klapp models and matured into compact monoblock bodies. Nikon came on board in the late 1940s, hitting straight into the monoblock segment with the L,...

35 mm/Japan/Nikon/SLR Comments: 0

December 25, 2023

Minolta XG-M

Minolta XG-M After the successful run of the Minolta SRT compact SLR line, Minolta continued with the X series, from the X-1 of 1973 through the XE and XG to the XD models, last introduced in 1982. The XG-M is a no-aspirations, vanilla SLR camera meant for the lower market end, offering a full-featured camera at a competitive price. The...

35 mm/Japan/Minolta/SLR Comments: 0

December 6, 2023

Minolta Maxxum STsi

Minolta Maxxum STsi The photographic industry Is relatively young, about 170 years old, but as with other modern technologies, it updates at an increasingly fast pace. A good example is written communication, which, within two generations, had evolved from Telex into short-lived fax technology, then into email, and now instant text messages over endless platforms. The same is true of...

35 mm/Japan/Minolta/SLR Comments: 0

December 4, 2023

Praktica L

Pentacon / KW Praktica L I thought I was done with the East German Praktica SLR models till I landed this on my desk, came together with another camera. The Praktica L is the first model of the Praktica L series, with the main change to the previous lot being the vertical metal shutter instead of the horizontal cloth. The...

35 mm/DDR/KW/Pentacon/SLR Comments: 0

September 27, 2023

Petri FTX

Petri FTX Preamble: I was looking for information about Petri cameras and could not find any in the reference books. It took time and frustration till I realized I needed to look for Kuribayashi instead. To be safe, I ordered the “Collectors Guide to Kuribayashi-Petri Cameras” by John Baird. The book came, and using a polite term, I was unimpressed....

35 mm/Japan/Petri/SLR Comments: 0

September 26, 2023

Ricoh SLX 500

Ricoh SLX 500 Ricoh made compact SLR cameras from 1963 to 2000, when digital cameras took over. Other than their own brand, they sold via Sears and Kmart in the US, Foto Quelle in Germany and Universa in France. With the early models, they subscribed to the common in the market, whereas in the late 1980s, they climbed to the...

35 mm/Japan/Ricoh/SLR Comments: 0

September 25, 2023

Fuji ST 705

Fuji ST 705 In the mechanical SLR golden era, Fuji, AKA Fuji Film or Fujica, made a series of number-name models that enjoyed high esteem, and most still survived as able shooters, available at modest prices. The ST 801, a groundbreaker at the time, fetches prices higher than the rest, at either chrome or black bodies. The first of the...

35 mm/Fuji/Japan/SLR Comments: 0