These great cameras show up everywhere in Europe. Flea markets, second-hand shops, car boot sales, you name it. AGFA cameras were sold for decades, in many models, much like the Kodaks. I've had the pleasure of using two of them. And I own three. The magic shutter buttons! The AGFA Compact. It's an auto exposure compact camera with manual focusing! The lens retracts when you shut the camera off. AGFA Silette LK which has full manual exposure control and a built-in light meter. The lens is super duper sharp with pleasant out-of-focus areas. It does not have a rangefinder. Nor does the... ... AGFA Optima 335 which has auto-exposure and manual focusing. The aperture numbers you see are for flash photography with 1/125th of a second fixed shutter. I will not write much about these my cameras now, but will in the future. The Compact isn't working properly, so I am in search of advice on how to repair it. It (auto-) winds the loaded film to its end, without giving me an opportu
My Two Camera Month Project - #7, November 2021: Fomapan 400 ASA Film, AGFA Silette LK & AKA Akarette
Each month for a year I will use one pair of cameras, then next month switch to another pair. They are all fixed-lens compact cameras. I will use the same film stock in both cameras. Each month I will share my impressions from using the cameras, while showing the photographs I make. Part #7: November 2021 Film type: Fomapan 400 ASA exposed at 1600. The first camera is the AGFA Silette LK There's not much to say. There is full manual control of everything needed to make a photograph. Plus a selenium lightmeter which works just fine, as it turns out. This camera I have not used before. I did use a sibling a year before - a similar model, but with automatic exposure. Next up: AKA Akarette This is actually where I diverge from my own simple set of rules. The Akarette is a system camera. There are at least a 45, a 50 and a 75 mm lens for it. I have used a 50 mm Schneider-Kreuznach in the past, but here I used my 45 mm S-K. Why did I diverge? I only own the 45 lens and the camera h