Murray’s Camera

We brought Murray’s Camera out of retirement. After who knows how long in the Pioneer Acres Museum (Irricana Alberta) collection, it’s time to dust it off for a fun photoshoot taking place in town. For old time’s sake. Murray used to be involved with the museum and well liked, so rather than have it just sit there looking pretty, why not shoot a roll in his honour? Not a good one, as it turns out, since we’re off our game, but a roll none the less.

This camera comes from a lesser known make, one we’ve heard of in passing at some point, but never seen in person. Until now. It’s Petri 7s 35mm (coupled) Rangefinder from the 1960s, a rig that has a faithful following among film street photographers today. We can see why and it’s quite capable – more in a moment. Rangefinder? Thought you’d never ask and it’s a focusing mechanism that uses a second viewfinder for this purpose. You merge two images on the screen and you’re good too go.

Still, even using the touted “Green-o-Matic” (foolproof focusing) system offered by the camera, we still botched more than a few photos and some when viewed are a bit soft. Then some parallax errors came into play when close focusing, but let’s not talk about that stupid oversight, okay? Of course you don’t know there’s been errors until the film’s developed. The feedback loop in this genre of photography is a big one.

We assumed the built in exposure meter was working fine and it seemed to pass a basic test, but it turns out something was a bit off (weak shutter perhaps?) and the photos as a result a little dark. Now we know to compensate for next time.

The camera has a fixed lens of 45mm @ f2.8 and when in proper focus (so when used by someone who actually knows what they’re doing – not us), it does appears quite sharp. Shutter speeds go up to 1/500 which for the time was pretty quick. The aperture ring has no hard stops so you can go between for fine tuning of the exposure.

The light meter (the “Circle Eye System”) uses no battery and instead powered by a selenium cell, a simple solar device. Overall it was and remains a pretty well rounded enthusiast-level rig and we’ll be bringing it out once in a while for shoots at the museum and elsewhere. It’s a joy to use.

In the mid-1960s when new, this camera would run you about eighty bucks (according to an Eaton’s catalogue of the era), a fair sum back in the day. That’s about $750 in 2022 dollars. Then add in accessories and such and you’ve eaten up a week’s wages for the time.

Petri, from Japan, was in the camera business into the 1970s before giving up the market. Never a volume producer compared to the big names, it seems they designed and built this one right. It’s hard to complete as a smaller manufacturer, so making an innovative and well built product becomes about the only option.

It only seems natural the first shot taken should be of the (looking a little run down) Irricana Hotel. The camera’s home is the museum in this town and we know the fellow who owned it is similarly from here, so why not? One of those Dymo-label things was stuck to the inside of the case telling us his name.

We just wandered the town and snap away – an old car, that ugly water town, downtown, that smug horse and the grain elevator playset. Then we head over to Pioneer Acres (closed for the season) and shoot through the fence style. The lens is just a little smaller than a chain link and so the Long House becomes our subject. Then there’s a photo of a photographer taking a photo of a photographer taking a photo of a photographer.

There’s no award winning images here, just some simple snaps and since most were some real stinkers we didn’t share many. For the first time in eons it was out being used as the camera gods intended and that’s what makes it special. Not the images that came of it, but instead the experience. Our group photo was out of focus (of course) – the self timer works though. What we learned here will be applied next time and the photos will rock. That’s a promise.

Our friend Byron joined us for the adventure and together we roamed the town unimpeded while terrorizing the populace. Or something like that. If not for Byron’s help this ongoing film project could not have happened, so let’s all thank him for his generous contributions.

You get thirty six pictures on a roll and soon we’re done. We wonder the outcome – remember, they have to be processed first and the anticipation almost killed us. There’s no instant gratification in film photography! Will they stink (probably), will they show a total lack of compositional and technical mastery (likely), but was it fun (most definitely). Till the next time we break out Murray’s Camera, enjoy the photos.

Stay tuned for more articles (and even events) stemming from the camera display Team BIGDoer built at Pioneer Acres Museum. The party’s just begun and now that Covid’s behind us we can really jump in.

Go further: (new tabs): Petri 7s Camera and Pioneer Acres Museum Irricana.

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They’re saying…

”I enjoy your pictures and write ups so much. They bring back a touch of nostalgia for things we used to know, or didn’t even know about. It’s all about keeping our history alive and vibrant. It’s about where we came from, and about the people that made today’s world possible. Today’s world is so fast paced and so focused on the future, which is all well and good, but it’s nice to remember too, how it was not so very long ago. Thank you Chris &. Connie.” Jan Cooper.

More museum fun…
Hanna Pioneer Village & Museum.
Wandering the Alberta Railway Museum.
Museum Tour: Viking Alberta.

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Date of Adventure: April, 2021.
Location: Irricana, AB.
Article references and thanks: Shelly @ Pioneer Acres Museum Irricana, Camerapedia.Fandom.com and of course, our dear friend Byron.

Murray’s Camera comes out of retirement – that smug horse.

Byron setting up for a group shot (that didn’t turn out).

Shooting the Long House at Pioneer Acres Museum.

Shot on film…and look for the BIGDoer-mobile to make an appearance.

The first shot from the “Irricana” Camera.

A grain elevator themed playground.

A thing of beauty…or maybe not so much.

The downtown view and there’s that car!

Old metal.

Old metal, front view.

Photographing a photographer.

Soft focus through the fence.