I have a Petri 7s camera. It was left to me by my dad after he died. I used the camera in highschool and it took great pictures. However, there seems to be a shutter loose in the lens.

I don't know that there is any real $ value for the camera. I would like to know if it is worth fixing or will the cost of repair run greater real high. I am not an real good camera repair guy, but I would learn how if fixing this one is deemed a good idea by those of you who fix cameras.

I don't have any manuals.

Any comments would be great.

By Mike on Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 10:01 am:

It can almost certainly be repaired, but for the cost, you could by a half-dozen or so on e-bay. They were (and are) fine picture takers. You may find it fulfilling, if only for sentimental reasons, to learn to fix it yourself. You can. I would recommend getting a similar 7s on e-bay for five or ten dollars and using the resources on this website to fix it. The big secret- take your time and consult the articles here on similar cameras of the same era such as the Yashicas and Canonets.

By Jaroslav on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 11:17 am:

It is definitely not worth to fix it by technician. However, if you like to try that by yourself it is a good candidate - not worth much to damage. I had cleaned the lens and fixed slow speeds on Petri 7s (which I've got for my son) a few months ago. It is not particularly different to dismount the lens as compared to other RF from 60s-70s. Mine (f2.8 variant) got nice two notches to help with unscrewing the middle element (really a good help!) To clean the radial around-the-lens potentiometer graphite track (which is a part of selenium meter system) was very helpful as well. Surprisingly - the selenium meter still works and is very accurate.

Our Petri is a fine picture taker, but not to the standard of better models (Oly RC,RD, Konica S2, etc), but possibly that is due to the condition of particular lens.

Personally, I like this camera,
Jaroslav

By Jaroslav on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 11:19 am:

Ooops, may be these notches were for the front element, not sure now. Anyway, that was helpful indeed

Jaroslav

By Jonathan saphire on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 04:37 pm:

Is there something loose in the veiwfinder, or is there actually something loose in the lens? If one of the aperature blades has come loose in the lens itself, it'll require a shutter removal. If it's in the veiwfinder, it would be really easy to repair. I've worked on a few 7s's, and know how they come apart. I'm trying to get a working 7s that has a 1.8 lens, as opposed to the 2.8. Ebay is full of broken 7s's. More information would help.. J.s.

By Dean Pass on Monday, January 27, 2003 - 08:02 pm:

Thanks for all the advice. I think I will give it a shot. One of the blades has come loose, so I think it will be a project. I will start looking on e-bay and find one that has parts. More to come as I need help.

Thanks again.

By Henry Huynh on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 04:41 pm:

Hello,

I bought couple 7s, one 1.8 lens with foggy finder, and the other is nonfunctional 2.8 lens with perfect finder.

Question, can I use the reflective mirror from the 2.8 to replace the foggy in the 1.8 ? is it going to affect the focus of the image ??

thanks

By Peter Back on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 02:35 pm:

Hi,

I recently purchased a Petri 7S from a car boot sale for £5. The seller said that the camera had been given to him by his father and that his father had used it to take some lovely pictures (mainly on slide film). At the time I had never heard of the Petri brand but the camera appeared to be well made, had a 'proper' Rangefinder (rather than just a viewfinder) and had a good range of shutter speeds and resonably fast (f2.8) lens. [I now know that Petri did a version of the 7S with an f1.8 lens - I'll have to look out for one].

Anyway, I have now had a chance to check the camera more closely and although I thought I could clean some spotting from the inner lens element by simply opening the back of the camera (film chamber). It appears that the fungus(?) is between the elements. I would like to attempt to clean these and propose to make some lens dismantling tools as described in the 'Articles' section of this site and use lens cleaning solution, vinegar, cold cream, vodka or one other substances suggested in these pages. Can anyone advise me if there is a chance of upsetting the focus if I remove the rear element by unscrewing? Also, is it safe to use cotton wool and cotton buds for lens cleaning? I usually use a microfibre cloth.

By Michael Linn on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 07:33 pm:

Hi Peter-

You will not upset the focus by removing the rear element. Getting it out may be another problem as it is a cemented pair and may be very tight even after the retainer is removed. In that case, you will need to unscrew the front lenses and push out the the back pair, using a clean cotton or cloth pad. Once it's out any commercial glass cleaner with ammonia will probably do the job. If not, just search the archives here for my "ultimate" solution for cleaning Petri 2.8's. Just remember not to ever touch a dry cloth or paper pad to a dry lens for cleaning.

By Peter Back on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 09:32 am:

Michael,
Thanks for your response. All I need to do now is make the tools.
Cheers,
Peter.