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 names as well as under other brands, with new models introduced with only marginal changes. As with other Petri cameras with fancy name attributes, here the lens is ‘flint glass’, for whatever it means.

Petri’s early models used a 42mm lens mount with Petri’s preceptory bayonet mount thrown in randomly. The late SLR cameras, post-1977, after Cosina took over, used K mount. For the bayonet mount, Petri offered one 35mm and a slew of telescopic lenses.

The Petri Flex 7, AKA Petriflex 7, was introduced in 1964. It gained attention due to its design, resembling the famed Zeiss Contarex Bullseye, made a decade earlier. The resemblance does not go far, in either quality or value. Other similar-looking cameras come to mind, such as the Fuji Fujipet or the Alsaphot Cyclope, but there the prominent lens is a viewer or taking lens, respectively.

Other than the meter housing, the body of the Petri Flex 7 is a typical Petri SLR, carried forward till the end of the line, with minor changes.

The camera is relatively heavy; at 730gr, body only, it is above the class average of 600gr. Yet it is smaller and lighter than the Contarex, weighing a mighty 930gr.

The top fascia contains the winding lever, which the manual asserts is one stroke, a self-reset frame counter lens and a run-of-the-mill shutter speed dial. Set the speeds against a tiny red dot on the prism bulge. A window by the rewind knob shows red once the shutter is fired. To preserve the battery, the meter circuit cuts off after actuation. As with other Petri cameras, the lettering is miniscule.

The front has an Exakta-style front angled trigger, with a large self-timer lever by it. The timer is activated by the button embedded in its mount and will not be activated by the main trigger. Above the lens assembly is the CdS meter lens, surrounded by a film speed dial marked ASA and DIN. At the right is the battery compartment, covered with an unfriendly thumb nut.

The lens uses Petri’s bayonet mount, which is secured with a body-mounted ring. Here, you hold the lens in place and turn the ring anti-clockwise. To mount back, align the red mark on the lens with the red mark on the ring, or set the tiny pin on the lens base into the receiving hole on the body. Both options are easy to miss.

The lens base has a slotted finger rest taat accepts a pin on the lens aperture setting dial. This transfers the aperture setting to the body. The lens has two settings: auto, where the aperture steps down with shutter actuation, and manual.

There are several articles about this model; common to all is that the camera tested is dead. Same with my model. While all mechanical parts function, I could not open the battery compartment (as yet). It could be a coincidence or evidence of the build quality. The pictures show that the area around the battery cover is etched, perhaps due to a leak.

For the collector, it had a reputation of being scarce, but it is not. A working exemplar is not hard to find at a moderate price. Even if it is dead, it is a unique-looking model that looks good on the shelf.