Voigtländer Perkeo II1952

History

Voigtländer introduced the Perkeo in 1952 specifically to address the market for a truly pocket-sized 6×6 medium-format camera. The Agfa Isolette and Zeiss Ikonta were established competitors but both were larger in the folded state. The Perkeo's radical size reduction — achieved through careful optical and mechanical engineering — made it the smallest 6×6 folder of its era.

The name "Perkeo" was borrowed from a famous court jester of Heidelberg, a tiny figure known for outsized capacity — a nod to the camera's deceptively large film format in a small body.

The Perkeo I and II were produced at Voigtländer's Braunschweig factory, the same facility producing the Bessa and Vito lines. The Color-Skopar lens fitted to the Perkeo was a step below the premium Apo-Lanthar or Heliar used on top Voigtländer folders, but well above entry-level Vaskar lenses; it is genuinely sharp at f/5.6 and above.

The Perkeo II was discontinued in 1956 as Voigtländer shifted its medium-format investment toward the rangefinder-equipped Bessa II and eventually the Vitessa line. No Perkeo with a built-in rangefinder was ever produced.

Why It Matters

The Perkeo II offers something genuinely unusual: a 6×6 medium-format negative — 55 × 55 mm effective image area, roughly 15× the area of a 35mm frame — in a camera that slips into a jacket pocket. For photographers who value the tonal range and enlargement potential of medium format but are deterred by the bulk of system cameras, the Perkeo II is a compelling proposition.

The absence of a rangefinder limits it to subjects at measured or estimated distances, but for landscapes, architecture, and street work at mid-distances (3–10 metres), the scale focus is adequate. The Color-Skopar at f/5.6–f/8 provides depth of field comfortable enough to cover scale-focus imprecision at these distances.

Lenses & Accessories

Lens fixed (Color-Skopar 80mm f/3.5). Accessories: Voigtländer clip-on close-up lens kit; filter adapter for 28.5mm front thread; PC flash sync cable; leather ever-ready case (original; reproductions available). No interchangeable-lens option in the Perkeo series.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• The Perkeo II was popular among European travel photographers in the 1950s who needed medium-format quality without the bulk of a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad.
• Amateur photographers graduating from 35mm to medium format adopted the Perkeo as an entry point — the operating idiom was familiar, and the size increase over a 35mm compact was minimal.
• The compact Perkeo design influenced subsequent folding medium-format camera design at Agfa (Super Isolette) and Franka (Solida series).

References

• Camera-Wiki: Voigtländer Perkeo II
• Wikipedia: Voigtländer Perkeo