what film for an Agfa Clack?

I want to put a film in my Agfa Clack after seeing all the photos here with such ancient gear. But I wondered

what would be most suitable for it. I started to grab for a roll of Portra 400 but on second tought something

less sensitive might be better suited. I just bought some Adox 50, more for the container it came in but

maybe that would do?

I am pretty sure it was to be used with ISO50 or slower on a bright day. Perhaps you could get away with 100 on an overcast day.

 

I am sure someone else will have some first hand experience.

I tought that 400 would be too fast. Inside there is a label with a picture of a roll of Agfa ''Isopan IF 17'' on it. So the Adox at 18ﾰ it will be. As it is ''summer'' over here I'll try it out when the rain stops.

I have used Ilford Pan F (ASA 50) and Ilford FP-4 (ASA125) and prefer the FP-4 under a variety of light conditions.

A 400-speed film would probably be ideal for a rainy day. We don't have many of those where I live, so I've always used TMAX 100 in my Clack, and all the photos on the <a href="http://mconnealy.com/vintagecameras/clack/index.html" target="new">Agfa Clack</a> page of my web site were shot with that film.

TMAX and Delta both have more latitude than traditional emulsions, I'd use one of them in 100.

As Mark says, modern films are forgiving; exposure really isn't critical. What is important with the Clack, or any old box camera with a shutter speed in the neighborhood of 1/30 sec., is holding the camera really still when you make the exposure. The Clack, unlike the Hawkeye Flash and some others, does have a tripod mount and a cable release socket, so there isn't really any excuse for blurry images. Even if you don't put the camera on a tripod, I think it is worthwhile to use the cable release.

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The Clack is capable of producing extraordinary images. I'd really like to see what you and others are doing with it.

Exposure is critical if you want to capture shadow detail. I'd chose film based on the lighting conditions. If the shutter speed really is 1/30, try an ISO 50 or ISO 100 film in bright sunlight (I'm assuming that the shutter isn't all that precise).

Interesting about the cable release - I have a Clack and didn't realise that was what that particular hole was for :)

 

However, I've just tried it with my cable release (standard, Pentax-branded, works fine in other cameras), and it's triggering the shutter, but it doesn't return to it's original position - it sticks, and I have to manually unscrew the release and push the shutter lever a couple of times to be able to remove it.

 

It's almost as if the Clack's shutter mechanism was designed for a shorter cable-release pin so it wouldn't stick - but if I don't push the release all the way down, the shutter doesn't trip.

 

Is there a trick to this, or do I just have a dud Clack (it works fine without the cable, though)?

Never mind - after some more playing it turns out I didn't have the cable release exactly aligned in the socket, which was causing it to go in at an angle, which was making it jam (I thought the socket was just a bit sticky from years of unuse before I bought it - silly me :)

Same here, I never even tought that a Clack would have something as advanced as a cable release socket.