The Purma Camera Book: A Vintage Camera Guide – Using and Buying Purma Cameras

Purma Book Front Cover

Purma manufactured three very innovative cameras between 1936 and 1959. The Purma Camera Group explores how to use these cameras, how to buy them and the history fo the company.

The book has lots of diagrams, images captured with the cameras and more general information about using a vintage film camera.

Picking up a camera that is 50 or more years old, understanding how it works, using it in the field and obtaining a set of unique photographs can be very rewarding. There are many how to books whether they are original camera manuals or photography technique books, but I found few books that help a photographer get the most from using old and vintage cameras in today’s world.
I chose to use Purma cameras as they are a somewhat eccentric series of cameras, relatively easy to use and readily available at a reasonable price from auction sites, car boot fairs, Facebook Marketplace, etc. The shutter mechanism, lens and body are all simple and it is therefore usually possible to understand whether a Purma camera is usable upon first inspection. The only issue that photographers may need to navigate is the supply of 127 film. It is available from some film suppliers or sourced by adapting 120 film.

This book is a compilation of information from several out of print publications, web resources and my own observations and experience of using Purma cameras. I have taken the opportunity to update both the content and grammar of the out of print publications to make them more readable and helpful to photographers using a vintage camera in the twenty twenties.
Source printed materials:
Focal Press – The Purma Guide (1952)
Purma Cameras – Purma Special instruction manual
Purma Cameras – Purma Plus instruction manual
Purma Cameras – Purma Speed instruction manual
Also includes:
The Purma Camera Company history & marketing
Using the Purma Special & Purma Plus
Photos taken with Purma Cameras
Appendices

Where to buy the Book

The Purma Camera book is available from all Amazon stores and Lulu – which distributes books across the world. Currently, it is only available as a paperback.

  • The Purma Camera Book
    The Purma Camera Book: A Vintage Camera Guide – Using and Buying Purma Cameras

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“I just received my Purma Camera Book and was pleased to find that it successfully integrates the history and unique mechanics of the three Purma models with contemporary photographic reality, technique and technology. Well done!

Thank you very much. LR – Rochester, NY USA”

You may also like to visit the Purma Camera Link page

Find the camera you are looking for on eBay

Etsy is also a great place to find vintage cameras and lenses.....

Find Books by Richard W Jemmett the author of this website on Amazon

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