C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Petri FA-1 (introduced ~1979) is a 35mm aperture-priority SLR produced by Petri Camera Co., Ltd. in the last years before the company's collapse. It uses a Petri bayonet lens mount -- distinct from the earlier breech-lock system used on the Flex 7 and FT-series -- and offers aperture-priority automatic exposure with TTL center-weighted silicon metering. The shutter is a vertical-travel metal focal-plane unit running from 1s to 1/1000s with X-sync at 1/125s. The FA-1 was Petri's attempt to remain competitive in an SLR market increasingly dominated by Canon, Minolta, and Olympus AE bodies.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Petri's final push into the AE SLR market -- a bayonet-mount aperture-priority body built in the shadow of bankruptcy.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Mount | Petri bayonet |
| Year | ~1979 |
| Shutter | Vertical metal focal-plane, 1s -- 1/1000s + B |
| Flash sync | 1/125s |
| Meter | TTL center-weighted silicon |
| Modes | Aperture-priority AE, manual |
| ISO range | 25 -- 1600 |
| Battery | 2x AA (required) |
| Viewfinder | Pentaprism, split-prism + microprism ring |
By 1979, Petri Camera was in financial difficulty. The Japanese SLR market had consolidated dramatically: Canon's AE-1 (1976) and Minolta's XD (1977) had set the standard for AE-capable consumer SLRs, and Petri's earlier FT-series cameras -- built around the breech-lock mount -- were outclassed. The FA-1 represented an attempt to re-enter the market with a modern bayonet mount and automatic exposure. The transition to a new bayonet abandoned backward compatibility with the existing breech-lock Petri lens ecosystem, meaning owners had to start fresh with new glass.
Petri Camera Co., Ltd. went bankrupt in 1977; some sources indicate the FA-1 was produced and sold under successor or licensee arrangements in the late 1970s and very early 1980s. The exact production run is not well documented. The FA-1 was one of the last cameras to carry the Petri name.
The FA-1 is primarily of historical interest as a late-era product from one of Japan's oldest camera manufacturers. It demonstrates the pressure smaller Japanese manufacturers faced from the Canon/Minolta/Olympus triumvirate in the late 1970s: to survive, a maker needed to offer AE, a modern bayonet, and competitive optics -- a combination Petri assembled too late. The camera itself is mechanically competent but unremarkable; the silicon metering is accurate in typical conditions, and the aperture-priority mode works as expected.
For collectors, the FA-1 closes the Petri SLR story: from the Petri Penta in 1959 to the breech-lock Flex 7 and FT-series through the 1960s-70s, and finally to the bayonet-mount FA-1 at the end. The new Petri bayonet lens mount means glass is even scarcer than the older breech-lock system.
The FA-1 uses a Petri bayonet mount -- not compatible with the earlier Petri breech-lock. Native lenses marketed as Auto Petri bayonet mount include a 50mm f/1.7 and 50mm f/2 standard, a 28mm f/2.8 wide, and a ~135mm f/2.8 short telephoto. Third-party lens coverage for this mount is essentially nonexistent. Accessories are limited to dedicated Petri flash units and standard PC-sync accessories.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
View profile →Petri FA-1
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