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Pouva Start |
 Version française |
Manufactured or assembled in Germany from 1951 to 1956.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 15481
See the complete technical specifications
Chronology of cameras Pouva
The Pouva Start is a medium format 6 x 6 camera made of bakelite. It was manufactured in the German Democratic Republic, in Freital near Dresden, by Karl Pouva AG, a company that operated under this name from 1939 to 1972 and was incorporated into VEB Kamerafabrik Freital in 1972, known as Beier.
The first version (from 1951/1952 to 1956) has a fixed folding external viewfinder. A new version replaced it from 1956 onwards, featuring an integrated viewfinder. Like its predecessor, it has a fixed focal length lens mounted on a helical ramp. The shutter can only be released when the lens is properly positioned after a complete turn. The shutter release button is located under the right index finger. A pivoting metal piece serves both to lock the shutter to prevent accidental exposure and to hold it in the down position for long exposures. Subtly, it is along the axis of rotation of this accessory that a second, very discreet shutter release is located, onto which a cable release can be screwed.
There is a choice of two apertures, and the shutter allows for bulb mode or instant exposure. A lever, sharing the same axis as the film advance knob, opens the back by simple fitting.
This version has a flash contact located at the front of the helical ramp and is visible when the lens is extended. No other accessory or indication suggests that a flash can be used.
It is known in two variants: one is all black, and the other has a black body with certain elements (viewfinder, film advance knob, and front part of the lens) in cream color. Some other color combinations are occasionally mentioned.
Slightly improved versions of the Pouva Start were also produced under license in the Federal Republic of Germany, in Bavaria, by Apparatebau und Kamerafabrik GmbH. They are marked "Made in West-Germany." The Modell P 56, for example, included a flash shoe and a front indication of where to connect the flash, and the lens was of higher quality.
Between 1951/52 (first version of the Pouva Start) and 1972 (end of production), this camera, including its licensed counterparts in the Federal Republic, was sold in more than two million units.
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