Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Introduced in 1937, the Purma Special was one of the first affordable, plastic-bodied point-and-shoot cameras manufactured and sold in the UK. What made the camera unique, however, was its innovative shutter mechanism, whose speed could be altered by changing the orientation of the camera.

0:00 Introduction
1:08 Origins of the Purma Company
2:08 Purma Speed (1936)
2:35 Purma Special (1937)
3:25 Exterior Features
5:25 Gravity Shutter Operation
6:11 Disassembly
6:55 Shutter Operation: Gravity
7:29 Shutter Operation: Cam Wheel
8:50 Purma Plus (1951)
9:23 The End of Purma
10:15 Outro

Pseudo TLR Cameras Video: youtu.be/Yy7IdUirDXc

SOURCES
mikeeckman.com/2021/06/purma-special-1937
http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=642
vintagephoto.tv/purma.shtml
artdecocameras.com/cameras/purma/special
earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C63.html
licm.org.uk/livingImage/Purma_Special.html
camera-wiki.org/wiki/Purma
twisted.org.uk/~moondog/127/cameras/purma
web.archive.org/web/20130909011049/http://www.gbcameras.org.uk/Purma/Purma index.htm
cameramanuals.org/pdf_files/purma_guide.pdf
cameramanuals.org/pdf_files/purma_plus_booklet.pdf