Pictures with old cameras (3): enter the Agfa

[heqm]

<p>I now present the camera I've had the longest. After two Instamatics, this was the first 35mm, adjustable camera I owned, bought used for $35, or roughly a quarter of what the lowest-price SLR was going for at the time. The Agfa Super Silette has a nice, big, bright veiwfinder/rangefinder, something I didn't appreciate until I'd used others not so good. The lens is better than one would expect in such an inexpensive, clearly consumer-oriented camera, and at 45mm is just slightly wider than the standard 50mm. Shutter speeds go up to 1/500. I used the bulb setting a lot, trying to get good pictures of stars.</p><div></div>

[Rick Helmke]

<p>I've got two or three of the Agfa Sillette cameras. An Ambi-Sillette was what my Dad used for many years for family photos and I have one loaded with a nice slow film for that 1/200 top shutter speed. It's an interesting series of cameras and was started me down this path.<br /><br />Rick H.</p>

[heqm]

<p>It came with an instruction booklet for the Agfa Super Silette Automatic, which had a built-in exposure meter. Both are fairly simple cameras. Below shows the back open, a useful pressure plate to keep the film flat, a standard loading and advancing arrangement. The exposure counter at the bottom of the back counts down. There's a standard tripod socket and sprocket disengage for rewinding. I've never been able to get the film speed reminder, there on top of the rewind knob, to move.</p><div></div>

[heqm]

<p>At the same time, I purchased an exposure meter: a Weston Master II, shown below. Although silenium meters have the reputation for being unreliable and simply failing to work after many years, this one's fine. It's calibrated in one-third f-stops, which may be too fine for most work, but it's nice to have the precision if you need it. I also bought a flash unit a few years later (along with a cord to plug into the socket on the front of the body--that's not a hot shoe). I find, though, I almost never use flash, and I'm not sure the flash synch works now.</p><div></div>

[heqm]

<p>Unfortunately, a few years after I bought it and near the start of a week-long hike in the wilderness, the shutter broke. For a long time I could not get it fixed; everyone said it was not economical to repair, and wouldn't touch it. (That's a disadvantage of having an older, less-expensive camera.) Finally I found someone who would work on it, and the shutter works now. But some parts are just not available, leaving the rangefinder with a lot of play and the exposure counter only decrements sometimes. About the same time I sent the meter, whose glass had cracked and whose pointer was broken, to Quality Light-Metric in LA for repair and calibration.</p><div></div>

[Robin Smith]

<p>My father also had an Agfa Silette, and I have one now. The Super Silette was the Rolls-Royce of the bunch, and I have fond memories of learning photography on the Silette. Mine has the 45mm f3.5 lens with a Prontor shutter 1-1/300th. Takes good shots if you have estimated the distance correctly.</p>

[heqm]

<p>I hadn't realized so many were out there! Anyway, mine is just a bit large and klunky to use, compared (for example) with its successor, an OM-1. The rangefinder needs to be handled carefully; the rewind knob can be hard on the fingers; and not knowing how many shots I have left on the roll adds a certain excitement to a photo expedition. But it can do a good job, and I have no hesitation about using it for just about any 35mm task. For instance, the above shot is a print made (commercially) from Fomapan R, a black-and-white transparency film I was curious about. As is the one below, which shows that even the commercial scanner has trouble with the highlights of this kind of film.</p><div></div>

[heqm]

<p>I've used it for several projects as well as just taking pictures. It would be a bit easier to use if the plastic and leather case had not disintegrated long ago, though.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Great presentation, <strong>Alan</strong>, featuring a camera from a series that seems to have passed into oblivion. That Apotar lens is sort of mid-range, but quite competent, as you've shown. Like you, the Ambi-Silette is one of my favourites, though it belongs to an era before this example, when Agfa cameras were very nicely constructed and finished. I seem to have accumulated quite a number of the Agfa consumer-grade cameras, and while many of the earlier little Sillettes still work perfectly, very few from this later era are problem-free. The construction had become much lighter, with bits of trim falling off and the shutters and rangefinders prone to malfunction. As for the "Auto" versions, I've yet to find one that still works. But they are nice-looking cameras, with excellent viewfinders, as you've pointed out. I attach a pic of an outfit I acquired a while ago; though it appears to be virtually unused the shutter on the Optima is frozen and I just haven't been inspired enough to dig into it.</p>

<p>As for the Weston, you just can't beat them for reliability. I use a Euromaster and a Lunasix, depending on my mood, and I wouldn't like to choose between them, in terms of accuracy. The Weston is certainly more pocketable... Thanks for an interesting post.</p><div></div>