Purma special

[Dany]

Hello !
Browsing between the stands of a local vintage camera sale I discovered this nice display box with its camera inside.
A Purma special, made in England between 1937 and 1951

Heart stroke ! I had a bit of a hard time showing my most accomplished "poker face" to bargain the purchase in my best interests.
This Purma was really a very special Bakelite camera as it offered three shutter speeds according to the way the camera was oriented during the shooting
No need for further description. Everything is clearly printed inside the box.
In the small cubic box, a bakelite lens hood and a close up lens dedicated to the camera

 

[webestang64]

Nice one Dany. What a sleek and elegant design.

 

[zulu42]

Fascinating shutter control and a classy design. "These speeds are not exaggerated"... okay! Was it common practice to exaggerate shutter speeds?

 

[cgw]

Lucky you, OP! Something of unicorn but a lovely piece of industrial design.

 

[IanG]

They have a very sophisticated shutter, two speed depeding on the whether the camera is hel in portrait or landscape mode, note it's a square frame I have a later Aluminium bodied Purma

Beck never quite made it into the major league of British lens manufactuers, they made a big effeort after WW1 with some excellent new lens designs after WWII only the Purma used their lenses, However having said that Beck Optronic Solutions still make lenses including some x10 zooms largest shown is 53mm - 533mm for SWIR use.

Ian

 

[Dany]

In fact three speeds are offered as depicted inside the box. I suppose the shutter mecanism uses gravity force

 

[IanG]

Yes it is a simple gravity shutter, I'd forgotten it was 3 speeds not 2

Ian