Petri V6 SLR with 1.8/55 and 4/200 lenses

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi folks

I've been collecting Petri lenses ever since I picked up a 1.8/55 for 99p and found it to be a stunning little lens.

So when I saw a pair of Petri V6 SLRs, each with a 1.8/55 lens and a 4/200 in leather case with them for 15ukp I snapped them up.

One camera is a mess, seems to be jammed and is dirty and corroded, the mirror is missing. I plan to remove the mount from this one to make a Petri-EOS converter. I converted the 1.8/55 and 2.8/35 Petris I already had by replacing the petri bayonet with an M42-EOS adapter trimmed, they work great but I regret doing this now as I would have liked to have them in original condition.

The other Petri camera is a bit dirty and has a little corrosion but it seems to be fully working, shutter fires at all speeds and the inside is very clean, once I've cleaned it up, it should work nicely, feels like a very well made camera, surprisingly heavy.

The 4/200 Petri lens is beautiful, looks mint. It's a very long and thin lens and surprisingly lightweight, be interesting to compare this to my Pentacon 4/200. I have 5 or 6 more 200mm lenses but I don't think any of them are very good.

I'll take some pics of the camera and lenses when I've cleaned them up.

[iangreenhalgh1]

After a cleaning the camera looks pretty good and it all seems to be working perfectly, film advance is smooth and all the shutter speeds seem right, the mirror is pristeen.

Given the 1.8/55 a good clean, loosk to have some marks in the coating but shouldn't affect the image. There is a second 1.8/55 that has been taken apart, it's complete and just needs reassembling.

The 4/200 really is mint, I have a nice Petri 2x TC I can use with it as well.

Now I really regret converting my 2.8/35 Petri to EOS...

[martinsmith99]

Camera looks in great condition. What are those two studs/buttons above the shutter release?

[iangreenhalgh1]

Good question, I can only think they are for attaching some accessory like a light meter.

While the assembled 1.8/55 has coating marks I can't remove, the other one is perfect, just need to put the two halves back together and I have a lovely camera with an almost mint 1.8/55, 2/400 and 2xTC.

Looking forward to putting a film through this but probably need to replace the light seals first, very gunky.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I have thrown away the other camera, a Petri Flex V3, it was badly corroded and not worth keeping, I am under pressure to keep the place tidy and not cluttered with camera equipment so in the recycling bin it went.

I found out what those two studs are for - a large and unwieldy CDS cell light meter:

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/petri/petri_cds_meter/petri_cds_exposure_meter.htm

I think my handheld Weston Master III will do fine instead of strapping one of those big things to the camera.