Yesterday Katie and I went to Volo, Illinois, to walk around the huge bog there, and to go to the local antique mall, which is also gigantic. At the mall I found a camera that I had read about before, the "Petri Color 35", got excited, and bought it for 20 bucks.
The Petri Color 35 is a super-compact 35mm "precision" viewfinder camera. It came out in 1968, and was Petri's direct competiton to the Rollei 35, which had come out a couple years prior. While the Petri isn't as visually pleasing as the Rollei 35 (Though it's not ugly by any means), its ergonomics are drastically better. Shutter speed and aperture are adjusted via the two small dials on the top of the body; easily adjusted with your thumb and pointer finger.
The Focus is adjusted with the dial that resides on the back of the body. The camera is a zone-focuser, just like the Rollei 35, but the distance scale on the Petri is located in the viewfinder, which is super cool and convenient. The camera also features a match-needle CDS exposure meter, but my battery compartment is unfortunately corroded shut.
Today I went on a long walk through a bunch of alleys with the Petri Color 35. Here are some of the photos I took:
I really like this camera. It's not as flashy as the Rollei 35, and the images aren't quite as sharp or contrasty, but it's a fun, funky little camera, and joy to use. Thanks for looking!
