The West German company that manufactured this handsome camera made twelve others all based on the same design. Each has a screw-out lens and makes 6x6cm images on 120 film.
They are closely related to the Pouva Start
This model (modell) was available only in green with gold metal trim.
McKeown’s says that the lens is coated but I don’t see any evidence of it.
Crappy cameras are like blind dates. You never know what you’re going to get until you push the button or something like that.
I don’t go on dates and haven’t in a number of decades but I can still push a button.
Crappy camera shutter speeds are generally in the 1/30 – 1/60 range. There are usually no more than two iris openings and yet I like to shoot ASA 400 film in them. I’ll use 200 if it’s very sunny, but that’s not carved in stone.
I adjust development times according to the conditions that existed when I exposed the film. I do the same thing when using my uncrappy cameras but
I’m not as anal when processing film shot with a crappy camera. I have a rough idea what the final product will look like when I trip the shutter.
It’s a testimony to the wide exposure latitude of modern black and white films and developers and years of mistakes on my part.
The oddities that show up in the print keep me coming back to plastic cameras. If you spend all your time fussing with f-stops and shadow detail, you’re missing out on something.
Littleton, Ma
