Agfa Isolette or Equivalent?

Looking for my best and cheapest bang for the buck in MF.

I want something to re-enter MF, do some shooting, scan negs and print before I go for a more final

camera decision.

 

I've found I can find nice, fully serviced Isolette's for cheap (around $150 US).

 

Since I'm looking for a decent MF that's easy (VERY important) to carry around (my Bronica was not)

are there other alternative camera's that I should be considering?

 

Thanks,

Bob

If you can get one from a trusted source, an Iskra (similar to the Super Isolette) is probably the best bang for the buck. Great lens, and probably one of the best viewfinders on a folder. The Iskra is my favourite travel camera.

 

Another option would be a Super Ikonta III with a Novar lens - quite a bit cheaper than a Tessar equiped version, but from f8 down, you'd be hard pressed to pick the difference. Of course, if you can find a Tessar version for a decent price, go for it!

 

3rd choice for me would be a Certo Six. The biggest problem with these is the RF becoming very dim. If you can find one with a bright RF, grab it. Very nice lens and beautifully built.

 

Non-coupled RF folders are somewhat cheaper - you could get a very decent Mess-Ikonta 6x6 (looks like the SI III) or 6x9 for $150.

 

Good luck!

Rolleicord!

$150 for an Isolette? That's not even remotely cheap.

Agfa Isolettes were also sold as Ansco Speedexes. But not all Speedexes were Isolettes. And from misreading of the German font for I some are listed on EBay as Jsolettes. The Solinar is reputed to be the best of the lenses offered. A great pocketable camera.

The Voigtlander Perkeo is the smallest of the folding MF cameras; the color-skopar lens is a

four element tessar type. High quality level of construction, and very easy to carry around.

You can get a small auxiliary rangefinder that fits on top, and makes focussing more

accurate.

<br>

I had a Certo six, and while the lens was very good, I didn't care for the ergonomics and

handling.

I had an Isollete III for a while and there's a couple of points you should be aware of.

 

The Solinar is a marvellous lens BUT the Isollete has some features that can reduce it to little better than a milk bottle bottom. The first of these features is the design of the bellows, which are very nearly air-tight. As a result, if you open the camera suddenly, you'll suck the film through the film gate, far enough to render the image soft enough to pass for an impressionist painting. ALWAYS open the camera slowly, cushioning the flap with your hand to restrain its movement.

 

Secondly, the uncoupled rangefinder is very effective but beware of lenses that have been removed and re-installed incorrectly, so that the focus scale is slightly off. Luckily, I bought mine from a dealer and so got this sorted under guarantee.

 

Lastly, the viewfinder just isn't very accurate, so refined framing is a non-starter. Luckily, though, it errs on the low side, so you can trim your image down to what you thought you had in the first place.

 

Once you've come to terms with these issues, though, the Isollete is a nice camera to work with and extremely pocketable.

Hey, that Perkeo looks great.

There's even one on eBay.

 

Thanks, Bob

Hello Bob, If you haven't already, check out this website.

 

http://www.certo6.com/index.html

 

I found his site most helpful in terms of honest and mostly unbised (he loves Isolettes) information. And he's a super nice guy. I've had him service my 6x9 Zeiss Ikon Nettar folder and he did an excellent job.

 

Here are a couple issues with Isolettes that I found annoying (I've only had two and passed them on for others to deal with). One is the paralax problem H.P. alluded to above. You can compensate for the viewfinder and the lens seeing slightly different views by aiming the viewfinder a little over the head/top of your subject but I found it never was correct. The second is the material that the bellow is made from does not age well. Both mine, though in excellent condition overall, had many small holes in the bellows. Electrical tape to the rescue!

 

If I might add a second vote for another choice well worth looking at: Do take a look at the Zeiss Ikon Ikontas. In particular (as PC mentioned above) the "Mess" Ikonta 524/16. It has an excellent uncoupled rangefinder, comes with a vast array of lens/shutter choices and are almost always in very good condition when they come up for auction. I've had over a dozen Zeiss folders of one name or another, not one has had bellow problems, the workmanship is excellent, they are inexpensive to service, the paralax issue is much easier to deal with than the Isolette (more accurate machining, I suppose) and it's pretty hard to top a Zeiss lens, even the supposed "lesser" Novar is very respectable. I have a few Nettar and Ikonta photos in my portfolio should you wish to see the results produced by these cameras. The Nettars have Novar 3 element lenses and the Ikonta the Tessar, 4 element.

 

You should be able to get a Mess Ikonta 524/16 and send if off for servicing (if needed) for under your $150.00 limit. Or contact Jurgen an the above wbesite and see what he has to offer already serviced and ready to go.

You can find MF folders for $50 in fully serviced n working condition. Zeiss cameras are very nice, Voitlander Bessas are wonderful and have great lenses, Netars. There are hundreds to choose from. Some have coupled rangefinders and many are zone focusd. What flavor are you looking for?

 

Try contacting Susan who recently inherated her late father's huge camera collection and is selling it off a bit at a time. The cameras she is selling are all serviced, CLAed and are generally in excelent condition. Her father was very maticulous with his collection.

 

E-mail her at ... cpellp@bellsouth.net I am sure she can even recomend a nice camera.

Perkeo II with a Color Skopar was one of the nicest 6x6 folders I have owned. (no RF though)

 

After going through many folders and finding them lacking for various reasons, my philosophy is go big or go home. A 6x9 folder will always fill a niche in my collection of shooters. For 6x6 there's just too many excellent TLRs that knock the socks off the folders.

H.P. wrote: <i>"The first of these features is the design of the bellows, which are very nearly air-tight. As a result, if you open the camera suddenly, you'll suck the film through the film gate, far enough to render the image soft enough to pass for an impressionist painting. ALWAYS open the camera slowly, cushioning the flap with your hand to restrain its movement".</i><br><br>No it's the back that is too tight, not letting the air get in fast enough when you fold the camera open.

The Braun Norca is a very good 6x9 folder if you get the one with the best lens. It also comes with a built in mask for alternative format.

$150 is VERY expensive for a folder. $20-$25 is reasonable.

Thank you for your erudite and sophisticated response, Patrick.<div></div>

I've gotten into the habit of not winding the film to the next frame until I've opened the folder. Seems to help with dust and may help with the air pressure issue. I like my Isolettes (Solinar lenses) OK but admit that since I got a Fuji 645Zi they see little use.

I find the Iskra (copy of the Super Isolette), to be the best-bang-for-the-buck (but that was about 2 years ago) as it has a 4 element lens, coupled rangefinder, and a winding mechanism that can sense the presence of film and advances film correctly without the use of the "red window".

 

It is more expensive now, not as cheap as before (I got mine for about US$40 then).

 

However, note that most Iskras on Ebay will require servicing, I did all my own servicing so the cost was zero to me other than time.

 

Certo6 might be a good source, but I have seldom seen Iskras from him .