Pouva Start

Whenever my wife and I travel, I'm always looking to see if the country we're going to has a flea market or someplace where there might be a possibility to find cameras. It might be in a run-down antique store in Vietnam where I found a few cameras. One of my all-time favorite places was a flea market outside of Prague, Czechoslovakia.

My Pouva Start original model with sport finder opened and lens out.

The flea market itself was a wild experience. The people-watching and the different items at the vendor's tables was pretty fantastic in itself. I didn't know how many cameras I would find but figured there'd be a good mix of Russian and European cameras. I was correct on both counts, and one of my favorite cameras found there was the Pouva Start. In my opinion, this is a classic 6x6 format Lomography camera. Something compact, well built, and extremely simple to use. Let me tell you a bit about the camera and the company that made it.

Karl Pouva

The Pouva Start camera was built by Karl Pouva AG, who first started his company making simple Bakelite slide projectors in Freitel, a city near Dresden, Germany, in 1939. After the war, that area of Germany was a part of East Germany. In 1951, with his experience with Bakelite, he decided to build a simple camera. Something easy to use, low cost, and a camera to get the youth started to take photos. At the time, the camera cost 16.50 Deutsche Mark (east), which was very affordable for young people.

There have been several different changes in the Pouva Start camera over the years. I am starting with the camera I have, with the pop-up sports finder. Later, in 1956, they updated the design to incorporate an optical viewfinder into the camera and symbols for aperture settings. A sun symbol for smaller aperture settings, and clouds for larger aperture settings. The one thing that stayed constant on the cameras was the screw out lens, which acts as a locking mechanism for the camera.

The Camera

This camera has a very classic design, with a spiral threaded lens system, which is very similar to the Kodak Bullet cameras built in the early 1930s. When the lens is threaded back into the camera body, the shutter mechanism is locked so you cannot take unwanted photos. Once you wind the lens into the taking position, the shutter firing system engages with the shutter button, and the shutter now fires.

On the lens are just four settings, two for the shutter and two for the aperture settings. There is a toggle switch on the shutter side that goes from "Zeit" for timed exposures and "Moment" for a regular shutter speed of 1/30 second. On the aperture side, there is another toggle between "Sonne" Sunny or F16 and "Trub" Cloudy F8. In the later versions, as stated, they used symbols for sunny/cloudy. The camera incorporates a Duplar F8 lens, which has two elements in two groups for simplicity.

On top of the camera is the pop-up sports finder, the shutter release button, a cable release button to thread a cable release into and trigger the shutter: the film transport winding knob, and two metal levers. One of the levers is next to the shutter release button, which you can slide over to lock the shutter for time exposures. The second is by the film winding knob. This lever opens the back of the camera for film loading.

That lever is the one that stumped me for the longest time. I kept wondering how to open the back to load the film. I pulled and twisted several different areas without success. Then I pressed the lever forward, and the back started to come off. The back is held into place by friction and seats tightly onto the camera very well. The lever is attached to a small piece of Bakelite that, when pressed forward, separates the back from the camera, allowing you to take the back off. Ingenious!!!! I love this. So simple.

Photos from the camera:

Conclusion:

The camera is enjoyable to use and doesn't take a horrible photo. I was surprised at how the pictures turned out. They're not the sharpest photos I've taken, but for a simple lens, they're not bad. If you like the Lomography style of cameras, I search out this camera and try it out, as I think you'll enjoy using it and the photos that come from it too.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to read this post. I always enjoy it when I hear from you, so please feel free to email me any questions or comments about this or any other camera I've written about. Until next week, please be safe.

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Voigtlander Superb

The Voigtlander Superb is a camera I owned for a short time, almost thirty years ago. At that time, I was buying and selling cameras rapidly and not using them. To me, at the time, it was more of a commodity. The Superb I owned also had a more rare lens, and someone was willing to pay me handsomely for it. At the time, with growing children, It's something I needed to do. Things have changed, and I've evolved in my appreciation for cameras.

My Voigtlander Superb.

Company Background

In my post about the Voigtlander Vitessa, I made a brief history of the camera company that you can see here. The thing that amazes me about Voigtlander is how early they got into the photography industry and the names and products associated with them.

 In 1839, publications introduced photography to the public; Voigtlander's optics were the first mathematically calculated optics made by mathematics professor Josef Petzval. Peter Voigtlander gave technical advice regarding these lenses, which cut down exposure times to about one minute. That was revolutionary. By 1840, they were not only producing cameras, the all-metal Voigtlander Daguerreotype camera, they also introduced the first Petzval photographic portrait lens, with a maximum F stop of F3.6, know as the fastest lens of the time.

Camera and case

In 1923, Schering AG's photo division purchased Voigtlander, and by 1925, they started mass production of cameras and photo equipment. Voigtlander introduced such everyday items as the zoom lens, the 36–82/2.8 Zoomar in 1959, and the first 35mm compact camera with a built-in flash, the Vitrona in 1965. Voigtlander introduced the Superb model from 1933 until 1939. There weren't many modifications during that time. The early cameras had "bunny ears" as camera strap holders and the later years had a winged slot for the strap. You can see a version here, and there is an instruction manual here.

My Camera

Recently, a Voigtlander Superb became available to me, and the price was fantastic, so I immediately jumped on the offer. The seller stated it was in excellent working condition and also had the original case. Voigtlander made the Superb with two different lenses. The rarer and challenging to find 7.5cm (75mm) f3.5 Heliar, the one I owned previously. The more common lens is the 7.5cm (75mm) f3.5 Skopar, which this camera had. When I received the camera, there was no mold, mildew, or fungus on the lens, and indeed the camera was in fine working condition. Now it was time to take the camera out for a spin.

Using the Camera

It was time to get myself familiar with the camera again. Holding the camera is very comfortable. Popping up the viewfinder, I immediately noticed there's a bubble level in the upper right-hand corner. I liked that. The magnifier is held in place by a small clip, so it doesn't pop up when you press on the front of the hood like the Rolleiflex's do. At least mine didn't. You focus the camera by sliding a bar on the bottom of the taking lens. The focusing is very similar to the Minolta Autocord. I prefer this method as opposed to the focus knob on the side of the camera. It allows me to keep my hands under the camera when focusing. The viewing lens points down when you focus closer, which corrects for parallax. That's fantastic.

Looking at the shutter speeds around the Compur shutter, I noticed they are reverse. Then I noticed a small prism/mirror right next to the lens. Holding the camera and looking down allows you to see the shutter speed set in the window of the prism/window. That's genius. The shutter speeds go from 1/250 to 1 sec, along with 'T' and 'B.' The aperture settings are f3.5-22 and on a small dial to the right of the viewing and taking lens. When you're looking down from the top of the camera, you can see the shutter speeds and aperture settings without tilting the camera up to view them. You can easily see the focus distance, which you can see on the top of the viewing lens.

Here's where the camera gets fun, loading the film. The Voigtlander Superb has a horizontal loading and transport system. If not all other Twin Lens Reflex cameras, the majority use a vertical loading and transport system. On the left side of the camera is an angled bar that attaches to a metal nub on the back. Lifting the bar from the nub and opening it to the left exposes the take-up spool on the camera. Opening the back to the right reveals where you load the film in the camera. Put the fresh roll of film on the right, and pull the leader across the shutter area to the take-up spool on the left.

Viewing the shutter speeds.

Just above the film chamber is an advance lever. Wind the lever to advance the film. Close the back. On the right side of the camera is the red window. There is an inside cover for the window. It's opened/closed by the square knob above the red window. I watch until the frame number reaches #1. Then I close the window. Above the square knob is a switch. This switch resets the frame counter, which you can see on the back of the camera. The film advance lever doesn't automatically stop at the next frame, so you need to advance it until you see the frame number which is five cranks.

Images

I took the camera out a couple of times this week. Here are some of the images from the camera.

Conclusion.

The Voigtlander Superb is an 80-year-old gem of a camera. It's easy to load and unload. The ability to see the shutter speed and aperture settings when looking down on the camera is excellent. I enjoy the bubble level in the viewfinder, so I know my camera is level. It fits nicely in my hand and isn't too heavy. The viewfinder is just a bit dark, but nothing to deter me from using it in the future. Another oddity is when I processed the film, and the images are across the film sideways instead of running top to bottom. It just kind of surprised me, but putting the negatives in my sleeves, they work better that way. If you run across one for a reasonable price, buy it, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. A great camera.

 I truly appreciate you taking the time to read my post. It does mean a lot to me. If you have comments or concerns about the article or the camera, please drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you. Until next week, please be safe.

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