Jörg Krüger
Petri MF-101A
Petri MF-101A with Petri 2/50
(Cosina CT-1A with Cosinon-S 2/50)
At the end of the 1970ies Petri has ceased manufacturing own cameras, instead they sold Cosina cameras with their label. The identification of Cosina's CT series is not very difficult: MF-101(A) = CT-1(A), MF-102 = CT-2, etc.
The CT-1A is an entirely manual and mechanical camera. The exposure is displayed in the viewfinder with -/o/+ LEDs, while the predecessor CT-1 used a needle. The successor CT-1 super has a top shutter speed of 1/2000 s. The CT-1 models were very successful as OEM cameras, especially the CT-1 super was the base for many cameras of other brands.
So simple the camera may be, it is the essence of decades of camera manufacturing. With a minimum of effort achieve a maximum of performance, this camera has no individual features, its handling was proved on generations of cameras, it's the "generic" camera.
Many parts are made of plastic, so the camera was very affordable. In 1980 it cost DM 220 with that standard lens. Competitors were the Ricoh KR-5 for DM 300 or the Praktica L2 (with no exposure meter at all) for DM 200. With DM 650 the Canon AE-1 had a complete other level.
I don't have much information about the lens. It has exactly the same housing like its faster sister, the 1.7/50, only the diameter of the lens elements is smaller. And it is not marked with MC, so I assume it is really single coated.
Petri MF-101A
Petri MF-101A with Petri 2/50
(Cosina CT-1A with Cosinon-S 2/50)
At the end of the 1970ies Petri has ceased manufacturing own cameras, instead they sold Cosina cameras with their label. The identification of Cosina's CT series is not very difficult: MF-101(A) = CT-1(A), MF-102 = CT-2, etc.
The CT-1A is an entirely manual and mechanical camera. The exposure is displayed in the viewfinder with -/o/+ LEDs, while the predecessor CT-1 used a needle. The successor CT-1 super has a top shutter speed of 1/2000 s. The CT-1 models were very successful as OEM cameras, especially the CT-1 super was the base for many cameras of other brands.
So simple the camera may be, it is the essence of decades of camera manufacturing. With a minimum of effort achieve a maximum of performance, this camera has no individual features, its handling was proved on generations of cameras, it's the "generic" camera.
Many parts are made of plastic, so the camera was very affordable. In 1980 it cost DM 220 with that standard lens. Competitors were the Ricoh KR-5 for DM 300 or the Praktica L2 (with no exposure meter at all) for DM 200. With DM 650 the Canon AE-1 had a complete other level.
I don't have much information about the lens. It has exactly the same housing like its faster sister, the 1.7/50, only the diameter of the lens elements is smaller. And it is not marked with MC, so I assume it is really single coated.