The Imperfect Perfex? Candid Camera Company’s 1940 Perfex Fifty-Five

In the late 1930s, there were numerous attempts by American manufacturers to produce a rangefinder camera to compete with German imports the likes of Leica or Contax but at a much-reduced cost. The Argus C3 is perhaps the best well-known outgrowth of this trend, and the only model which was truly able to weather the post-war influx of cheaper imports. Other manufacturers whose were not able to sustain production in the post-war era either due to competition or poor management, included Clarus with their MS-35, Universal with their Mercury II and Perfex. Larger corporations like Kodak and Bell and Howell were able to survive, but their high-end American 35mm rangefinders were not sustainable in the post-war market.

 

 

During this short period immediately before and after the Second World War, American 35mm rangefinder production was at its most diverse. The Candid Camera Corporation based out of Chicago introduced their first 35mm rangefinder in 1938 in the form of the Perfex Speed Candid which was a very blocky and ungainly camera. The revised model 44 that superseded it in 1939 was both cosmetically and mechanically redesigned. The model 55 of 1940 was largely similar to the 44, but had an updated slow speed mechanism that is reported to be more reliable than its predecessor is.

 

 

On paper, the Perfex 55 has a list of features that is competitive with if not better than a Leica IIIc:

 

 

-Cloth Focal Plane Shutter B, 1 - 1/1250

 

-Internal M-Sync Flash with Hot Shoe

 

-Removable Back for Film Loading

 

-Film Advance Mechanism allows Cassette-to-Cassette Film Advance

 

-Wide Base (90mm) Split Image Rangefinder

 

-Interchangeable 38mm Screw Mount Lenses

 

-Integral Extinction Type Light Meter

 

 

My Perfex 55 was bought for the whopping sum of $9 from the auction site. It needed a full CLA, the leather replaced and has some pitting of the chrome. However, the shutter curtains were in good shape except for exactly two pinholes which were easily fixed with some black acrylic paint. I did require some assistance in reassembling the shutter gearing and am thankful to Rick Van Nooij for his input and Rick Oleson for his technical notes.

 

 

But how does the Perfex stand up to its claims? Well, the first thing you notice about the Perfex is its weight. With the Wollensak f/2.8 Velostigmat mounted and a roll of film loaded, the camera weighs in at a whopping 1.75 pounds or just short of 800 grams. It certainly has a solid feel to it due to its cast and machined alloy construction. In spite of the heavy weight, the camera actually feels really good in the hands. No weird hand-holding techniques or protrusions on this one. The shutter button looks to be oddly placed atop the shutter speed dial, but it doesn’t feel weird to place your index finger across the winding knob to actuate it. The shutter release is easy to depress and the shutter is quite quiet in operation with only a small “snick” at the end of its travel.

 

One of the evident ergonomic problems of the design apparent to me is that the left rangefinder window is so placed as so that your middle finger occludes it when you have your index finger on the shutter button. Not a huge problem, and I have found that it seems to work best if you focus on holding the camera with your left hand while moving the right to focus and depress the shutter.

 

 

The focusing helix is very smooth to operate. I have heard some malign the screw mount of the Perfex because it can unscrew when trying to focus using the grasping ring on the lens. All I can say is that I did not have a problem on my example, perhaps because I ensured that the focusing helix was properly cleaned and lubricated while the screw mount for the lens was clean and dry. There are some problems with having a screw mount where the lens rotates, but I did not find that setting the aperture was majorly inconvenient on the Perfex. There are 3 aperture scales set around the circumference of the lens so it is not necessary to turn the camera over to hunt for the scale depending on the focus distance.

 

 

Lenses on this camera are interchangeable in theory, but have an infinity adjustment and need to be adjusted to the body they are used on.

 

 

The view inside the viewfinder is…distinct. I had to admire the simplicity of the rangefinder when servicing it, it is only two mirrors and a pivoting arm, so it works very well considering how simple it is. That said, the view inside the viewfinder is different from most other rangefinders I have seen. In technical terms it is a split-mage rangefinder. However, the view you see is much closer to a co-incident image rangefinder in geometry as you still have a wide view of the scene around the rangefinder mirror in the Perfex.

 

 

Loading film is easy with a removable back as opposed to a bottom loader such as a Leica. I am not sure what purpose is served by having a removable film take up spool allowing the use of cassette-to-cassette film advance. Seeing that no 35mm was ever offered in this form that I am aware of, but it is a feature I suppose. The film rewind button on the front is convenient and easy to use.

 

Setting the shutter speed is a bit tricky. The knob has to be lifted and set into place before the film is wound on and the higher speed markings are very close together.

 

I found that the extinction light meter built-in to the camera to be less than useful. I was using a GE DW-68 meter for all of my shooting and found that trying to use the extinction meter and calculator on the back of my camera resulted in it suggesting 3-4 stops of overexposure on average. I later found out the speeds listed on the camera are Weston and not ASA, but this would not explain the difference in exposure suggestion. Perhaps the graduated ND filter in my meter strip has faded over time.

 

 

One other thing I should mention is that the design of the Perfex is not conducive to trying to squeeze extra shots on a roll. When you reach the end of the roll, the stop feels similar to when the advance stops automatically. The shutter will cock partially and can be released and the result is an underexposed frame that partially overlaps the previous frame.

 

 

The Wollensak 50mm f/2.8 Velostigmat lens was a very popular offering from Wollensak during this period. It is a simple triplet, but shows good edge sharpness at f/8 and smaller. At wider apertures, it shows swirly bokeh characteristic of this type of lens. Film was Kodak Tri-X 400 developed in HC-110B:

 

1/100 f/11:

 

1/100 f/11

 

1/1250 f/4:

 

1/200 f/5.6:

 

1/100 f/5.6:

 

1/50 f/8:

 

 

So, is the Perfex an American Leica? No, of course not. However, I think that it is a still a half-decent camera in its own right and it did originally sell for much less than a Leica or Contax.

Congratulations on your Perfex--It always impresses me when someone manages to get a vintage camera like this working well again. Incidentally, Contax cameras from the 1930's also had removable take up spools and backs and allowed take up cassettes so that film didn't need to be rewound at the end of the roll.

Contax cameras from the 1930's also had removable take up spools and backs and allowed take up cassettes so that film didn't need to be rewound at the end of the roll.

 

Interesting, I was familiar with the practice for 70mm film but wan't aware it was a widespread practice for 35mm. Was this a product sold pre-packaged? If you bulk load, I can see how this wouldn't be too difficult to implement. What are the advantages of this versus rewinding?

Nicely done.

 

My report on the 44 model camera at LINK A Perfex camera? The Perfex Forty four of 1939

 

Also see Oleson's on the 33 at Perfex

Edited January 28, 2020 by JDMvW

Thanks for this - very interesting. But how is the film secured in the receiving cassette?

Good to see you got yours working properly, Hunter. I don't dare change the shutter speed on the one I reconstructed from two cameras.

Interesting, I was familiar with the practice for 70mm film but wan't aware it was a widespread practice for 35mm. Was this a product sold pre-packaged? If you bulk load, I can see how this wouldn't be too difficult to implement. What are the advantages of this versus rewinding?

I think it would have involved bulk loading. As for advantages, it would save time when reloading and make scratching the film base less likely. It would also make static electricity marks less of a problem by not having to rewinding film in cold, dry weather. The Contax cassettes also opened when loaded in the camera and closed their light traps when the locks to open the camera back were opened. I think that early film base materials were more prone to scratching than more recent films, which may account for the elaborate measures that Zeiss took with the Contax, although the sometimes notorious German over-engineering may be just as responsible.

Excellent presentation of a camera practically unknown in the Southern Hemisphere. I'm always fascinated by the history of US-made cameras of this era, as very few found their way downunder and there's no local knowledge base. Thanks for an informative and interesting post.

But how is the film secured in the receiving cassette?

 

In the day when, even ordinary cassettes could be opened and re-closed. Many cassettes even had screw or clip top to allow access to the spool, where tape or a clip would hold the incoming film.

Soviet reloadable cassette.

Thanks JDM. I should have known that, to be honest. That's exactly how I used the Ricoh Color Back when shooting 35mm film in my Super Ricohflex TLR.

 

Out with the Super Ricohflex

Great post on a very interesting camera, very few of which found their way down to Australasia. On the subject of the spools, the Agfa Karat/Rapid system saw film supplied in cassettes with no centre spool; the leader was taken across the film gate and pushed through the light trap of an identical cassette in the take-up position. The camera fed the film into the empty cassette by the usual sprocket feed, and when the film was finished you took out the full cassette and swapped the empty one into the receiver position. The system saw most of the major manufacturers release cameras using the Rapid cassettes; it's standard 35mm film and I've quite regularly loaded my own Rapid cassettes in the darkroom for use in these cameras.