Kuribayashi Petri Micro Compact
Introduced in 1976, the Petri Micro Compact is essentially an all-black version of the Petri Color 35E (which itself as a simplified, all-auto exposure version of the Petri Color 35). The Micro Compact will feel strangely familiar as well to those who have previously encountered the Rollei 35, as it is roughly the same size and weight and share some similarities in terms of function.
The Micro Compact is a full-frame 35mm compact camera. It features a collapsible 40mm f2.8 lens and a fully automatic exposure system governed by a built-in CdS light meter. Incidentally, this meter is meant to be powered by a 1.3v PX657 (or equivalent) battery. These batteries are difficult to find these days and a 1.5v SR44 battery ought to be a suitable replacement but will likely cause the camera's meter to skew toward constant underexposure. A handy way to offset this is to set the camera's ISO to one stop slower than what you are actually loading thereby causing the meter to expose one stop over, counteracting the stop of underexposure incurred by the extra battery voltage. Or... have a camera technician recalibrate the meter for you.
Anyway...
The Micro Compact is another entry into the category of 1970s full frame 35mm cameras designed to be easy and ultra portable. This was a large and popular category of cameras at the time with Olympus, Yashica, Petri, Minolta and several other manufacturers producing models for this target market. The Micro Compact fits this bill quite well. Exposure is entirely automatic with no provision for manual override. The camera's meter will set shutter and aperture with speeds between 1/30 to 1/200. The lens has a maximum aperture of f2.8. Focusing is done via distance scales on the lens barrel, which become visible once the lens is extended. There is a four-zone picture system or printed distances in both feet and meters to choose from. It is not at all obvious with the Micro Compact that the lens needs to be extended for use, but luckily the shutter will not fire with the lens retracted and a red warning flag is laid over the viewfinder window to remind you. The Micro Compact has a hot shoe on its top plate, which is a nice inclusion, but does have a pretty slow 1/30 flash sync. The camera also lacks a PC socket for any kind of off-camera flash syncing.
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