The Perforetta is a 35mm camera made by Birnbaum in Czechoslovakia, of which many versions are known.
Perforetta and Nová Perforetta[]
The first generation models have a rounded body. The bottom plate, back and body sides slide out together for film loading. The lens and shutter assembly is usually mounted on a collapsible tube.
The early model, released around 1935,[1] has cassette-to-cassette film advance and no rewind knob. The exposure counter dial is hidden beneath a flap at the right end of the top plate, as seen by the photographer. It is said that the earliest versions have a folding optical finder, soon replaced by a tubular finder.[2]
The middle model, released around 1936,[3] has a top housing containing the viewfinder. It sometimes adds an uncoupled rangefinder driven by a wheel at the rear. The exposure counter disc appears under a crescent-shaped window in the top housing, at the right end.
  
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| Nová Perforetta, Birnbaum Rumburg Doxanar 5.0cm f/4.5 lens. Pictures copyright David Young at www.furnfeather.net. (Image rights) |
The Nová Perforetta or New Perforetta, released around 1937,[4] has a rewind knob and a tubular finder directly attached to the top plate, with no top housing. The exposure counter is visible through a small round window on the right of the viewfinder; it is numbered every five exposures and has no provision for exposure no.36. The body shell is held in place by crude spring locks at both ends; the removable pressure plate is aligned on two screw heads atop the exposure chamber, and must be held in place by hand when sliding the back on.
The example pictured in this page has a front-cell focusing Birnbaum Rumburg Doxanar 5.0cm f/4.5 lens and an unknown everset shutter giving T, B, 100, 50, 25 speeds, mounted on a rigid barrel.
 
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| Left: spring lock, open and closed. Upper right: Birnbaum Rumburg Doxanar 5.0cm f/4.5 lens. Lower right: exposure counter. Pictures copyright David Young at www.furnfeather.net. (Image rights) | |
Super Perforetta[]
The Super Perforetta, released around 1940,[5] has a new die-cast angled body, with an opening back hinged to the right. It has the same top housing as the 1936 Perforetta with uncoupled rangefinder. The collapsible tube is sometimes replaced by a fixed barrel made of aluminium, chrome-plated metal or even wood. Some examples have a 7.5cm lens, but it is not known if the field of view of the viewfinder is accordingly modified.
Notes[]
Bibliography[]
- McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). P.140.
Links[]
In Czech: