Petri 17 (c. 1960–1962)

The Petri 17 is a compact 35mm half-frame camera from Japan. It shoots 24×18mm frames, which gives 72 shots on a standard 36-exposure roll. Petri aimed it at the amateur market during the early-1960s half-frame boom, when twice as many pictures per roll was a real selling point. It was marketed toward casual and travel shooters, helped by the small body and simple controls.

The lens is a non-interchangeable 28mm f/2.8 four-element design with scale focusing. You judge the distance and set it with zone symbols for landscape, group and portrait. A leaf shutter in the lens barrel runs from 1/15 to 1/500 plus bulb. There is no built-in meter, so exposure is fully manual. The film advance is a knob, which also cocks the shutter, and the viewfinder is a bright-frame type. It is a point-and-estimate camera from before automation took over.

Documentation on this model is thin, and what exists contradicts itself. A period review in High Fidelity (January 1963, p.75) discusses the camera alongside other contemporary audio and photographic equipment. The Japanese domestic name was the Petri 17. Export markets saw it as the "Petri 7" or "Petri 7s" - sources disagree on which - and some markets knew it as the Color Petri 7s. Production dates are just as uncertain: 1960, 1961, or a 1960-1962 run, depending on the source. No original price has surfaced in any research. The half-frame format, the 24×18mm frame size and the 28mm f/2.8 four-element lens are consistent across the record.

Owners report that the lens is "quite decent for a camera of this vintage when stopped down to f/8 or f/11." After fifty-plus years, the higher shutter speeds are often inaccurate, a common complaint with aging leaf shutters. The light seals around the film chamber also tend to need replacement. Current asking prices on auction and resale sites hover around $75 for an export version and €60 for a domestic one.