First Box camera, Agfa Synchro Box

[rob_murray]

This followed me home cheaply from an antique shop. Looks advanced

for its time with twin tripod sockets, twin viewfinders, two

aperatures and a built in yellow filter plus a cable release socket.

Pretty good for a box camera from 1949 or so. Just did a complete

teardown on it and everything(what little there is) is clean and

working. First box camera I could actually see thru the viewfinders

on. Will probably just sit on my mantle as a display piece but has

anyone shot with one? My guess is not too sharp...but maybe

interesting?

Rob

[connealy]

Not much to lose by throwing a roll of film in it. Quite a few people here have posted excellent pictures from more modest cameras.

[michaelging]

Rob, sounds like the perfect camera for the new photo contest for 50's cameras.

[msitaraman]

Rob, that was my very first camera, inherited from my oldest brother, and mine dates back to around 1956. I have no scans, but I do a ton of pictures I took from way back when, over a period of about 5 years.

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Give it a spin with B&W film (100 speed) outdoors, and contact print the negatives. You'll be pleasantly surprised-The yellow filtered pix, especially, are both snappy and quite sharp. The twin viewfinders (portrait and landscape) are very usable indeed, as you rightly point out.

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A great camera, don't just leave it on the mantle!

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:-)

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<a href=http://homepage.mac.com/mattdenton/photo/cameras/agfa_synchrobox.html> Here's a link.</a>

[david_richert]

The Synchro Box was made in the 50's which will make it eligible for the "50's Classic Camera Contest" that is just starting see a posting below with more to come. There were three models made one in Germany c1951-57, France c1951 and India 1959. The last contest had quite a few box camera entries even an Honorable Winner <a href="http://davidrichert.com/classic_camera_contest.htm"> Where I Live Contest</a>. I expect a lot more in the 50's contest. If you went to the trouble to get it ready to shoot take it out and fire a few rounds through it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

[rob_murray]

Thanks for all the replies! it is ready to shoot, now to find film and a subject..maybe get in on the 50's camera contest. Mine was made

in Germany BTW.After cleanup, inside and outside is in near new shape.

A long throw cable release works on it too...Remarkable something so

cheap and fragile looking has remained in such nice shape for nearly 60 years.Sure would like to see others pix from the camera to get an idea what it can/cannot do.

Rob

[connealy]

Matt Denton has a nice description and illustration of the camera on his site along with <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/mattdenton/photo/samples/agfa_synchrobox_sample.html">one photo made with it</a>.<br>James Suprenant has <a href="http://jsurp.tripod.com/synchrobox.htm">some color examples</a>.

[silent1]

Rob, those old box cameras look cheap and fragile, but they're suprisingly robust. The cardboard ones, like my Ansco Shur-Shot Jr., are so lightweight they take almost no damage even if dropped, and the cardboard won't take a permanent dent as steel or brass would. The shutter is so simple as to continue to function and even be reasonably accurate with visible rust on both the rotary disc and the base plate; it has only three moving parts and one of those is a spring. The lens is protected inside the body on the real classic box cameras, with the steel shutter in front.

 

A box camera is one of the finest examples of simple engineering making a product last better. And, of course, they were inexpensive when new, so there were a lot of them around, which makes the odds a little more favorable of finding a few in really good condition 50, 60, even 70 or 80 years later.