Chris Dodkin
West Coast Correspondent
My good friend Larry has a real knack of finding bargains at garage sales, and he's found some interesting cameras over the years. He now emails me photos when he finds something, so I get first right of refusal.
The other day he emailed over photos of an AGFA camera in it's leather case - it looked old, but the price was $35, so I said yes
When I picked it up, the camera was a little dirty, but otherwise in excellent condition - It had clearly been well stored in it's leather case, and appeared to have been little used.
I did some research online, and found that the camera was originally sold in the early 40s - most likely 1941 - and was a cheap consumer bellows model, with fixed focus, a single shutter speed (around 1/50), and a variable aperture between f/14 - f/32.
It also had a bulb mode (TIME) for longer exposures - but other than that there were no other controls or adjustments that could be made.
Basically everything from 10' to infinity was in focus!
With a click of a button, the front clamshell opened, and the bellows could be extended.
I was surprised to find them in excellent shape - very supple, and with no obvious holes.
The camera came with it's instructions, which suggested that the user buy a copy of Better Photography Made Easy - a booklet published by AGFA, for the princely sum of $.25
The camera was made in a number of different models, to accommodate the various film sizes available at that time. Mine was the PB20 model, which used 620 film to give a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negative - 8 shots per roll.
Not being familiar with 620 - I did some online research, then contact my local specialist (@Brian Moore ) for advice.
620 was the same film size as 120, but on a smaller spool - and is no longer in production.You can see the spool size difference here, 620 on the LHS.
Fortunately, Brian was able to explain that you could wind your own 620 film, using 120 film and a 620 spool, with a changing bag or darkroom, or you could buy it pre-done from Film Photography Project - http://filmphotographyproject.com/store/620-roll-film-kodak-portra-160-1-roll
The lack of darkroom decided it for me - I ordered a roll of Ektar 100 (at Brian's suggestion) from FPP for $12.99
I cleaned up the camera with glass wipes and cotton buds, and when the film arrived, I loaded it up ready for a test run.
The camera is very simple to use - being of simple construction.
The bellows lock in position, you pop up a viewfinder on the top for framing the subject.
This is really simple in form and function - you sort of know what's in frame, but it's still rather random compared to a modern viewfinder.
If you're shooting in 'portrait' orientation, there's a nice little kick-stand that you can pop-out, which keps the camera level and pointing forwards.
You set the shutter to INST for the standard 1/50 sec exposure - or TIME for bulb mode - TIME means you press the shutter once to open, then time the exposure manually, then press the shutter again to close.
Aperture ranges from f/14-f/22 - with normal sunlight needing f/22 with 100ASA film loaded.
There's a handy chart in the manual to explain which f-stop to use in which conditions - no meter required!
You wind the film on using a lovely knurled winder knob
And use the red glass peep hole window on the back to align the film frame number correctly
There's a little sliding cover to keep the window shaded when not winding the film.
The shutter release has a mini soft-release built-in, but nowhere to attach a cable release.
The whole camera is really solid, the covering is nicely textured for grip, and the metalwork and chrome is all heavy duty, and built to last.
There's a little leather hand strap to make it easier to hold - and the leather case is thick and stout - I guess they used to make quality stuff back in the day!
Off to the Mission I went, for Dia de Muertos, using my hand-held meter to confirm the f/22 exposure once the sun had come out to play.
I expected to get a reaction from people when using the camera, but everyone just ignored me/it - so clearly it's an excellent street camera
Here are the results from the Ektar 100 - processed at my excellent local lab (North Cost Photo) in Carlsbad.
Exposure seems good with the white walls of the mission exposing well without blowing highlights.
A quick play in NIK Silver FX, and I get a nice IR style image from the Ektar
You can see how slow the shutter speed is here, with the people walking by already blurring with movement
Focus seems to be optimized for medium distance - with the cars appearing nice and crisp, but the background starting to de-focus slightly
I'm seeing signs of possible light leaks - or maybe just poor rolling-up of the film roll after exposure here - but no big deal in this case.
Images start to really go soft towards the edges - but that's expected from a cheap optic, and adds to the ambiance I think.
All in all I'm really happy to have been able to get the thing to work at all. It's definitely the oldest working camera in my collection at this point.
You begin to realize why old photos look the way they do, both in quality and composition, when you shoot with the same camera, and can see the restrictions placed on the photographer by the design.
It's probably 70+ years since the camera was used - yet here it is doing a great job in 2013.
I wonder if my Fuji will still be sooting in 2083? I doubt it somehow!
Thanks again to Brian for the assist on the 620 Film
The other day he emailed over photos of an AGFA camera in it's leather case - it looked old, but the price was $35, so I said yes
When I picked it up, the camera was a little dirty, but otherwise in excellent condition - It had clearly been well stored in it's leather case, and appeared to have been little used.
I did some research online, and found that the camera was originally sold in the early 40s - most likely 1941 - and was a cheap consumer bellows model, with fixed focus, a single shutter speed (around 1/50), and a variable aperture between f/14 - f/32.
It also had a bulb mode (TIME) for longer exposures - but other than that there were no other controls or adjustments that could be made.
Basically everything from 10' to infinity was in focus!
With a click of a button, the front clamshell opened, and the bellows could be extended.
I was surprised to find them in excellent shape - very supple, and with no obvious holes.
The camera came with it's instructions, which suggested that the user buy a copy of Better Photography Made Easy - a booklet published by AGFA, for the princely sum of $.25
The camera was made in a number of different models, to accommodate the various film sizes available at that time. Mine was the PB20 model, which used 620 film to give a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 negative - 8 shots per roll.
Not being familiar with 620 - I did some online research, then contact my local specialist (@Brian Moore ) for advice.
620 was the same film size as 120, but on a smaller spool - and is no longer in production.You can see the spool size difference here, 620 on the LHS.
Fortunately, Brian was able to explain that you could wind your own 620 film, using 120 film and a 620 spool, with a changing bag or darkroom, or you could buy it pre-done from Film Photography Project - http://filmphotographyproject.com/store/620-roll-film-kodak-portra-160-1-roll
The lack of darkroom decided it for me - I ordered a roll of Ektar 100 (at Brian's suggestion) from FPP for $12.99
I cleaned up the camera with glass wipes and cotton buds, and when the film arrived, I loaded it up ready for a test run.
The camera is very simple to use - being of simple construction.
The bellows lock in position, you pop up a viewfinder on the top for framing the subject.
This is really simple in form and function - you sort of know what's in frame, but it's still rather random compared to a modern viewfinder.
If you're shooting in 'portrait' orientation, there's a nice little kick-stand that you can pop-out, which keps the camera level and pointing forwards.
You set the shutter to INST for the standard 1/50 sec exposure - or TIME for bulb mode - TIME means you press the shutter once to open, then time the exposure manually, then press the shutter again to close.
Aperture ranges from f/14-f/22 - with normal sunlight needing f/22 with 100ASA film loaded.
There's a handy chart in the manual to explain which f-stop to use in which conditions - no meter required!
You wind the film on using a lovely knurled winder knob
And use the red glass peep hole window on the back to align the film frame number correctly
There's a little sliding cover to keep the window shaded when not winding the film.
The shutter release has a mini soft-release built-in, but nowhere to attach a cable release.
The whole camera is really solid, the covering is nicely textured for grip, and the metalwork and chrome is all heavy duty, and built to last.
There's a little leather hand strap to make it easier to hold - and the leather case is thick and stout - I guess they used to make quality stuff back in the day!
Off to the Mission I went, for Dia de Muertos, using my hand-held meter to confirm the f/22 exposure once the sun had come out to play.
I expected to get a reaction from people when using the camera, but everyone just ignored me/it - so clearly it's an excellent street camera
Here are the results from the Ektar 100 - processed at my excellent local lab (North Cost Photo) in Carlsbad.
Exposure seems good with the white walls of the mission exposing well without blowing highlights.
A quick play in NIK Silver FX, and I get a nice IR style image from the Ektar
You can see how slow the shutter speed is here, with the people walking by already blurring with movement
Focus seems to be optimized for medium distance - with the cars appearing nice and crisp, but the background starting to de-focus slightly
I'm seeing signs of possible light leaks - or maybe just poor rolling-up of the film roll after exposure here - but no big deal in this case.
Images start to really go soft towards the edges - but that's expected from a cheap optic, and adds to the ambiance I think.
All in all I'm really happy to have been able to get the thing to work at all. It's definitely the oldest working camera in my collection at this point.
You begin to realize why old photos look the way they do, both in quality and composition, when you shoot with the same camera, and can see the restrictions placed on the photographer by the design.
It's probably 70+ years since the camera was used - yet here it is doing a great job in 2013.
I wonder if my Fuji will still be sooting in 2083? I doubt it somehow!
Thanks again to Brian for the assist on the 620 Film
