In the late 1930s and 40s, there were numerous attempts by American manufacturers to produce a 35mm 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 (Ektra and Foton) 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, but had the distinction of being the first American 35mm rangefinder with a focal plane shutter.
The revised model Forty-Four that superseded it in 1939 was both cosmetically and mechanically redesigned. The body was all die cast metal and in a more common elongated oval shape. However, the model Forty-Four had a combined slow and fast speed dial that was reportedly problematic. In 1940, the Perfex Fifty-Five was launched which was largely similar to the Forty-Four, but had an updated slow speed mechanism that separated the slow speeds. The Fifty-Five was discontinued in 1948, being replaced with the Perfex One-O-One and One-O-Two, which used a similar body style, but used a Wollensak Alphax leaf shutter, instead of the focal plane shutter of the previous models.
In 1942 the Perfex Fifty-Five could be had with the f/2.8 lens for $46.33 (Appx. $750 in 2020), but by 1946 the price had risen to $81.50 ($1100 in 2020) due to postwar inflation.
On paper, the Perfex Fifty-Five 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) Rangefinder
-Interchangeable 38mm Screw Mount Lenses
-Integral Extinction Type Light Meter
My Perfex Fifty-five was bought for the whopping sum of $9 from eBay. 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.
Let's take a tour of the camera and examine its feature set in detail.
Well, the first thing you notice about the Perfex is its weight. With the lens 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, with the body measuring 3 3/8" x 5 1/2" x 2 7/8" (86 x 140 x 73mm) with the lens attached. No weird hand-holding techniques or protrusions on this one.
The lens found on this example is a 50mm Wollensak Perfex Velostigmat f/2.8. This lens offers apertures from f/2.8 to f/22 and, as this example was produced prewar, is uncoated. I haven't been able to find evidence of what type of constructions or how many elements this specific lens has, but Wollensak's use of the name Velostigmat on their other licensed Tessar designs suggest it is of four element in two groups construction.
Other lens options were a 50mm Graf Perfex Anastigmat f/2.8, a 50mm Wollensak Perfex Velostigmat f/3.5, a 50mm Scienar Perfex Anastigmat f/2.8 and a 50mm Scienar Perfex Anastigmat f/3.5.
On the front of the camera body we find two other controls other than the lens and focusing helical. At the top we have the film release button, When this is pushed and held, the film can be rewound into the cassette. Below it is the slow shutter speed dial. To set this the shutter speed dial atop the camera needs to be set to "S", the slow speed dial is then lifted slightly and rotated to the slow speed desired (1 second to 1/10th). Before firing the shutter, the slow speed dial needs to be wound clockwise until it stops (this requires a bit of force).
The focusing helical 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. More importantly, and the feature that limits this camera is that the focusing helical is a component of the body, not the lens itself so the camera is limited to a focal length of 50mm only in order to have accurate focusing and rangefinder coupling.
On the top of the camera body from left to right we have the rewind knob, the M-synced flash hot shoe, the shutter speed dial with shutter release in the middle and the wind knob/frame counter. The frame counter is reset by lifting and rotating it to the desired position.
The fast shutter speeds are changed by lifting then rotating the shutter speed dial, then setting the selected speed to align with the index mark. "S is listed below 1/25th for use of the slow speeds. One quirk of this camera is that this needs to be done only before the shutter is wound.
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. Originally this camera would have an included cap that screwed over the shutter release, covering it to prevent inadvertent exposures, and also allow use of a cable release. Mine was lost long before I acquired my example.
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.
On the back of the camera we have the rangefinder window on the left and the viewfinder to the right if it. To the right of these both we have a step wedge type extinction light meter and then on the back of the body, the calculator dial to turn the extinction meter reading into usable exposure values.
The view inside the rangefinder 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 is different from most other rangefinders I have seen. Most rangefinders come in one of two forms, a coincident image rangefinder where a beamsplitter is used two overlay two images, or a split image rangefinder where you have an upper field and a lower field and you line up a vertical object in each field with each other to focus. The Perfex uses a half silvered mirror which only occupies 2/3 of the lower field of the rangefinder. I've taken some photos to try and show off how this looks to the eye, but the effect is that you can really use it as either kind of rangefinder as you so choose. The top field is tinted slightly green for increased contrast.
The viewfinder is typical of its era, slightly small and with no framelines, but certainly usable.
The step wedge extinction light meter is an early type of light meter used on some cameras and as stand alone units. It has the advantage of light weight and small size and requires no power source. Rather than use a photoelectric cell, the light meter uses a piece of transparent plastic with steps of increasing density, each labeled with a letter. This meter uses the user's eye to make the measurement, where you are supposed to look at the subject through the window and choose the darkest letter which is visible.
The letter is then transferred to the dial on the back, which will give f/stops and shutter speeds for the given lighting with a given film speed.
Loading film is easy with a removable back as opposed to a bottom loader such as a Leica. Cassette to cassette film advance was not something I took advantage of, but it is a feature I suppose.
The bottom features only a set of locking levers which retain the back to the camera, and a 1/4" tripod socket mounted under the center of the lens.
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.
I started with Kodak Tri-X 400 developed in HC-110B for my first roll:
At larger apertures the Wollensak Velostigmat tends to adopt a swirly bokeh in the out of focus regions. It is not the most corrected lens in the world. Compare the first image, shot at 1/100 f/11 verses the subsequent photo at 1/1250 f/4:
The next roll I shot through this camera was some Fuji C200:
When stopped down, the Wollensak Velostigmat performs quite well. However, being uncoated, these color photos show a lack of contrast and saturation that I would normally expect from this film stock. Postwar examples can be found with coated lenses, so I would seek these out if looking for a shooter camera.
In conclusion, is the Perfex Fifty-Five an American Leica or Contax? No, of course not. The features it does have like the light meter and "interchangeable" lenses are more there to appear on paper, than they are to be useful. However, I think that it is a still a half-decent camera in its own right. Lacking features like an actual photoelectric meter or varying focal length lenses limit the versatility of this camera, but don't detract from the overall photo making experience. The controls are easy to use and the handling is good, and above all it does make pleasing and sharp pictures.
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