The Petri Racer is a fixed-lens rangefinder introduced by Petri Camera Company, Inc. (formerly known as Kuribayashi Shashin Kogyo K.K.) in 1966. Similar to other Petri cameras like the 2.8 Color Super, the Racer features the signature âGREEN-O-MATICâ viewfinder which visually sets it apart from other Japanese fixed-lens rangefinders.
The Kuribayashi Petri 2.8 Color Super is a fixed-lens rangefinder produced by Kuribayashi Shashin Kogyo K.K.. Confusingly, there doesnât seem to be an âofficialâ model number for this camera as itâs just one of many ambiguously named fixed-lens rangefinders made by Kuribayashi in the late â50s and early â60s. However, the well-known McKeownâs Price Guide To Antique & Classic Cameras identifies this particular model as the âPetri 2.8 Color Superâ so, for simplicityâs sake, thatâs what Iâm going to call it here.
The Olympus Pen EED is a direct descendant of Japanâs very first half-frame camera: the original Olympus Pen. As it was one of the smallest available 35mm cameras at the time, the Pen was named as such because its portability could be compared to that of a (very oddly shaped, large, metal) pen. Seven years after the Olympus Pen debuted, the Germans launched the hallowed Rollei 35 which was just as small but could make normal 35mm frames and effectively heralded the end of Japanese half-frames. In defiance, this EED variant was released one year after that supposed end and, quite stubbornly, Olympus continued making Pens well into the 1980s and then revived the name in 2009 for its line of Micro Four Thirds cameras.
The Argus Autronic II is an automatic fixed-lens rangefinders produced by Argus in 1962. Like many Argus cameras of that era, the Autronic II is fairly unremarkable at a glance with its simple but vaguely awkward styling.
In 1961, Canonâthen an upmarket camera companyâshocked the industry by debuting the Canonet line, a series of modestly-priced compact rangefinders. The very first Canonet model completely sold out in just two hours while worldwide sales hit the one million mark in a mere two and a half years, an auspicious beginning for what would be a wildly popular line of cameras that would span over two decades. The Canon Canonet QL17 G-III is the final high-end model of the Canonet series.
The original Minolta Hi-Matic is one of the first mainstream fixed-lens rangefinders and the first Minolta to feature automatic exposure. The Hi-Matic was also rebadged and sold in the United States as the Ansco Autoset and gained some notoriety after American astronaut John Glenn purchased one at a local drug store shortly before embarking on the Mercury-Atlas 6 space mission. Although there were other cameras on the Friendship 7 spacecraft, Glenn burned through five rolls of film with his new camera while on board, shooting many historical images including this photograph of the earth.
