kenneth_loen

Again, many years later, I had the same problem with a Sears KS-2 that I bought for $10. I put new batteries in the camera and the shutter fired 3 or 4 times, then the mirror locked up. I followed these instructions and now the camera works perfectly! Probably the easiest fix ever. This is a really fantastic camera, with a wide range of shutter speeds, exposure lock, multiple exposure button, metal shutter curtains, etc. Well worth the minor trouble to get it working!

Reviving a VERY old thread, if possible! Is anyone aware of any further work done to catalog production dates for Perfex cameras? I have a couple of fifty-fives and a twenty-two that I am trying to date. By the way, one of my fifty-fives is a non-metered type (post war?) with a serial number of A53000. This appears to be out of sync with the sequence listed above.

Excellent work in reviving this camera! I love these old Perfex cameras...I own three. Unfortunately only one is fully functional so it's inspiring to see the work you've done. Perhaps I'll get up the nerve to take mine apart sometime too. My understanding is that because of the low manufacturing tolerances of this camera, each lens must be manually adjusted for each individual camera to achieve proper infinity focus. If you've taken the lens from one camera and installed in on another, the lens must be adjusted for that new camera. Apparently there is an infinity focus adjustment screw on the lens that is used to calibrate the lens to the camera body. I think you can do this yourself by placing a bit of tracing paper (or better yet an old focusing screen from another camera) at the film plane and setting the lens focus ring to infinity, then adjust the lens to focus on a distant mountain or something similar. In any case, this is great work and thanks for sharing the results!