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Lot Essay
The Corfield range of cameras represented a new and successful attempt to develop and sell a range of 35mm cameras. K. G. Corfield Ltd for a time was Britain's only major producer of 35mm. cameras. Kenneth Corfield was the engineer and businessman behind the venture and he continues to be involved with photography after a long and successful business career with his own company producing the Architect camera and as the owner of Gandolfi.
Corfield's first success was to design an enlarging exposure meter which he called the Lumimeter and were supplied to the London retailer R. G. Lewis. A range of other photographic accessories followed. Corfield toyed with the idea of developing a 16mm. subminiature camera but abandoned this as he felt the future lay with 35mm. The British camera market was still controlled by import restrictions and there was an unsatisfied demand for an inexpensive British 35mm. camera. Corfield's sent a preliminary advertisement to the British Journal Photographic Almanac in 1953.
The Periflex camera was announced in Amateur Photographer (20 May 1953). In the words of the magazine 'demand was exceptional' and the company had to quickly step up production from around 25-30 units a week. The BJP stated 'Designed to provide versatility at a highly competitive price, the obvious functionality of the Periflex will appeal to the general worker'.
Around the first 200 examples were produced with a pigskin body covering which was impractical from a production point of view being difficult to handle and keep clean. It was replaced with a black body covering. In 1954 Corfield stated that the camera was selling 2500-3500 a year and foresaw selling 50,000 a year. In 1955 the black Periflex was suersceded by a chrome top model and additional lenses and accessories and, later, new models were added to the range. The original (or Periflex I) camera was replaced by the Periflex 3 in 1957.
Corfield's first success was to design an enlarging exposure meter which he called the Lumimeter and were supplied to the London retailer R. G. Lewis. A range of other photographic accessories followed. Corfield toyed with the idea of developing a 16mm. subminiature camera but abandoned this as he felt the future lay with 35mm. The British camera market was still controlled by import restrictions and there was an unsatisfied demand for an inexpensive British 35mm. camera. Corfield's sent a preliminary advertisement to the British Journal Photographic Almanac in 1953.
The Periflex camera was announced in Amateur Photographer (20 May 1953). In the words of the magazine 'demand was exceptional' and the company had to quickly step up production from around 25-30 units a week. The BJP stated 'Designed to provide versatility at a highly competitive price, the obvious functionality of the Periflex will appeal to the general worker'.
Around the first 200 examples were produced with a pigskin body covering which was impractical from a production point of view being difficult to handle and keep clean. It was replaced with a black body covering. In 1954 Corfield stated that the camera was selling 2500-3500 a year and foresaw selling 50,000 a year. In 1955 the black Periflex was suersceded by a chrome top model and additional lenses and accessories and, later, new models were added to the range. The original (or Periflex I) camera was replaced by the Periflex 3 in 1957.