Agfa box
The Agfa Box is a series of box cameras , mostly in negative format 6 × 9 cm . It was produced between 1930 and 1957 (or 1965 if you include the clack) by Agfa Gevaert in different versions.
Pre-war period
The first Agfa box
In September 1930 the following announcement came out: "Agfa IG Farbenindustrie AG has recently launched a small box-size camera for the 6 × 9 format, which is offered at a low price of RM 13 ..." In the further course of a bright lens (This was, however, an exaggeration), a resistant aluminum housing and a spring-loaded film pressure plate. There was even a special version of this box, which you could recognize by the silver-colored decorative frame on the front panel and which offered considerably better features for less than 2 RM surcharge: the standard model had to be satisfied with a simple rotation lock without a trigger reset and a matte target viewfinder, but the luxury model had it a two-blade shutter and a diamond viewfinder, as well as a more powerful lens and a distance setting. The latter consisted of a three-stage lever with the positions remote (from 5 m), group (2.5 m to 5 m) and portrait (1.5 m to 2.5 m); all successors waived this effort. The new device was already selling extremely well in the Christmas business, with both models still producing 44,000 units in 1930. (For technical details on shutter and viewfinder, see box camera )
England box
Promotion
The first Agfa box presented in Germany was preceded by a large-scale test on the English market. There the Daily Herald distributed a large number of cameras, which were followed by other daily newspapers and also cigarette manufacturers. The photo dealers were initially annoyed about the campaign, but shortly afterwards enjoyed the gigantic film sales: the suitable roll films were sold out very quickly.
Models
The devices given away were the oldest Agfa boxes. Contractors made them in England. Expensive aluminum was out of the question for a promotional gift; the housings were rather made of sheet steel. Further features were the two rather small viewfinders, they were both on the same edge of the housing, and the lack of a tripod thread - savings measures that were later taken over by the German campaigns. There were three versions in circulation: The England-Box 1 had black shrink varnish and, as version 1a, a frosted screen viewfinder, and as version 1b, already a brilliant viewfinder. Box 2, also equipped with a diamond finder, was made of grained synthetic leather.
School bonus
prehistory
Since the mid-1920s, Agfa had employed Richard Lange, a teacher, a "cultural representative for school work" and had excellent connections with the Prussian Ministry for Science, Art and Education . Long authored articles and gave numerous lectures on the educational aspects of photography. I.a. These activities contributed to the fact that in 1928 the ministry published a decree on the establishment of “photo working groups for schoolchildren”. It was a recommendation for teachers in higher schools to include photography in the classroom within the framework of working groups. The culture department of AGFA published accompanying this decree in 1929 a “Guide for photography lessons in schools. In addition to introductory pedagogical considerations and a detailed phototechnical part, the brochure contains a “material plan for photographic instruction”. The decree on the establishment of photo working groups ”was supplemented in May 1930 by a“ home photography decree ”. This decree with the title “Practical activity of the pupils in the field of photography” assumes that it “will first be about the valuable homeland that nature offers in the form of technically flawless and aesthetically satisfactory To recover recordings. ”The recordings should be made available to the general public, u. a. as part of a nature conservation exhibition planned for 1931 in Berlin. The following information can be found in the above-mentioned AGFA cultural department's brochure on the dissemination of photography in schools and among pupils. According to this, in autumn 1928 there were 19073 pupils taking photographs at 592 German vocational schools. According to surveys of around 1,600 higher education institutions, there were photo working groups at 350 of these schools during the same period.
action
In January, Agfa announced that it would be giving away devices: “The camera will be given to students who have excelled in some area.” Together with the Prussian Ministry of Culture, it was decided to give a camera to the 10-14 -year-old best in class, the two best of the last years of middle school and the last year of elementary school. Since most of the other German countries joined the action, a number of around 50,000 cameras came about. They came into the hands of students with the certificates in February 1932. The campaign met with enthusiasm, and the specialist magazine Photo-Woche wrote about it: “A hymn of praise for Agfa's enthusiasm for culture will be launched.” And it turned out that the students were able to take excellent pictures.
camera
The school bonus was a particularly simple box on which numerous cost-saving measures reduced production costs. In particular, it did not have a sheet metal case, just a cardboard case, as was already known from Kodak . Furthermore, only these cardboard parts (blue) were leather-covered, while the front and rear walls were made of sheet metal painted in dark blue. Of course, the only possible shutter was the simple version without reset shutter release, there was no tripod thread and the small viewfinder were on one edge, i.e. the one for portrait format. The lettering "School premium" was embossed in the handle.
Price box
prehistory
Although the advertising campaigns in England were a great success, they could not be adopted for the German market. Here every retailer made sure that shops from outside the branch did not offer their products. When, for example, the photo dealers added illustrated books and photo literature to their range, the Reich Association of Booksellers caused a huge outcry. Under these circumstances, the Agfa director Bruno Uhl implemented a completely new campaign against all odds. To this end, he introduced authorized dealers who were allowed to attach an Agfa ray crown over their entrance with the label "Authorized Agfa Sales".
action
From June 9, 1932, at lunchtime, there was a radio advertisement with the question: Do you know the German mark pieces? If you brought mark pieces with the embossing A - G - F - A to the authorized Agfa dealer, then there was the box of type 44. The letters are a code for the embossing point, A stands for Berlin, G for Karlsruhe and F for Stuttgart. At that time the cheapest camera, the Balda Poka 0, cost 10 RM, so that 4 RM seemed extremely cheap; the dealer's profit was 40 pfennigs. Agfa stocked its dealers with 100,000 cameras, but the campaign was such a gigantic success that the cameras were sold out after just two days. In the end, Agfa was only able to guarantee that at some point it would give a camera to all customers who had returned the mark pieces to their dealer by September 15th. In mid-October the last cameras went over the counter, a total of around 900,000.
Balda was unable to stand idly by and copied the Agfa campaign. However, you could not use the mint code, neither a B nor an L was available, so you simply asked for four mark coins from the year of minting 1932. There was a barely changed Poka 0, i.e. a device with a sheet metal housing, which appeared to be a better purchase compared to the price box. The Balda activities were very surprising, as this company did not produce any films that could subsidize the camera program. The Balda went over the counter in particular with unauthorized Agfa dealers, these were typically opticians and druggists who also sold photo equipment.
Balda continued its advertising campaign in Austria in October 1932, whereupon Agfa was forced to follow suit with the prize box in November. Both companies were unsuccessful with this - boxing cameras were more something for the summer half of the year. For Agfa, you had to bring a 10-schilling note to the dealer, the control number of which contained two fours, matching the factory designation Box 44.
camera
Box 44 had a cardboard case corresponding to the school bonus, but it was usually black and had a leather-covered sheet metal lid. There were also versions in blue or black with lacquered lids, but rarely. The handle was also embossed in accordance with the school bonus, the Agfa diamond with the words “Agfa” was more rarely embossed with the “Agfa box”. In addition, at least two variants are known: one without a trigger lock, apparently the older model, also recognizable by the upper Y-metal clip clasp on the rear housing cover, and the version with a trigger lock, whereby the clip for the rear housing cover is rectangular.
A number of accessories appeared for the price box, both from Agfa itself and from external companies - including Balda. This included tripod holder (there was no tripod thread on the box), portrait lens for the range between 1 m and 2 m, yellow filter and self-timer, the latter was - measured on the camera - technically quite complex.
More promotions
Until June 3, 1933, the photo dealers took back a price box at full purchase price if the customer bought the Billy Record folding camera, which cost 26 RM. The mostly rarely used devices were used by Agfa for a large advertising campaign in the summer of 1934: “Glücksflieger” dropped balls printed with the Agfa logo on the beaches of the North and Baltic Sea . Anyone who found a specially marked ball could exchange it for a prize box until August 31, 1934.
The “isochrome steamer” also drove along the coast. The passenger ship headed for destinations worth seeing, whereupon megaphone announcements informed the guests taking photos of the appropriate exposure setting. Box owners also got good picture results. Agfa gave the tickets for this free of charge.
Isochrome box
The isochrome box was introduced to introduce the isochrome film. You could put the new film on all cameras, but Agfa introduced it with a gigantic advertising campaign; so it had z. B. 1933 was the only company to place an advertisement for Isochrom-Farbfilm on the back of a paperback Baedeker ( Berlin and Potsdam, small edition ). The isochrom box had an aluminum front with silver-colored decorative strips, large ground glass viewfinder (left and right, i.e. not arranged across a corner), a protective glass in front of the shutter release, hinges for the rear cover, a release lock and a notch for switching between Snapshot to time recording. But there was neither a tripod thread nor a blind option. This box was mostly exported, and its 7.50 RM retail price was not well received on the German market.
Cardboard family
The price box was actually supposed to remain a one-time special offer, as the announcement said: “The Agfa price box is a box camera specially made for this purpose. ... It does not appear in the Agfa list and is not regularly available for sale as a branded item. ”After all, a cardboard housing appeared quite primitive even when Agfa used the term“ cardboard ”for it. But Balda and Eho continued to offer competitively priced models and the expensive Isochrom box was not selling well, so Agfa kept cardboard models in its range until the end of 1938:
In the so-called eyebrow box (BOX 84), the decorative lines in the form of eyebrows ran over the two entry openings of the diamond seekers. The following box 94 differed with a front in Art Deco design. It was also called B 2 after the German name for the type 120 roll film, so it could be distinguished from the Cadet A 8, the only Agfa box for the small roll film, type 127 (corresponding to A 8). The equipment of the two models did not differ. Box 04 is also one of the cardboard constructions; it could be used for two formats by folding two flaps on the film platform; accordingly, the counter consisted of two viewing windows, one for 6 × 9 and another for 4.5 × 6. All cardboard constructions were dispensed with on a protective glass in front of the shutter.
Trolix box
Box 14, released for the 1936 Olympic Games, had a Trolitan case. This is the trade name for the brown-black plastic bakelite from Dynamit AG in Troisdorf , a company that also belongs to IG Farben . With modeled vertical stripes, this camera came in an - albeit quite strict - Art Deco design. The two diamond finders were sunk to avoid reflections and there was a retractable metal handle on top. The housing was first cast in a mold, then hardened. The Agfa catalog advertised its resistance to water, dilute acids and alkalis, heat and cold and praised its good durability. In fact, Bakelite was characterized by its brittleness, which made this material seem unsuitable for camera housings and the great era of plastic housings only began after the war, with Agfa with the clack. It also led to the higher weight of 540 g. Despite its high price of 9.50 RM, the Trolix also had only a single lens, the simple shutter without return, no cable release connection and only a tripod thread for portrait format. Also, because of their rounded bottom, they couldn't simply be placed on the table for long-term exposures. The nickel-plated rotary wheels on the front, one for the shutter speed, the other for the smaller aperture (f / 16) and, for the first time, also for a built-in yellow filter, appeared progressive. Although the Trolix already belonged to the hard-to-sell upper class, it was still in production for four years, well into the war.
Box 45
In 1938, a modern sheet steel box ended the Papp era, it is the first sheet steel box since the first all-metal model from 1930. It replaced the 94 model and also featured the double-acting lock (see box camera ) compared to the Trolix that was still being built. much more advanced. Its spring force generated a steel string with which it ran extremely smoothly. The lens was protected by a pane of glass, the well-known and 1 RM expensive portrait lens could be re-attached for close-ups in the range of 1 m to 2 m. A yellow filter and the f / 16 aperture could be swiveled into the beam path, but this was done with a lever - not with a rotary knob, as with the Trolix. There was - according to the successful cardboard models - a decorative front, but the other side parts were covered with the plastic Robusit. This resulted in a decidedly modern look. There were two tripod threads in the housing. Agfa was able to produce this camera until 1941.
After 1945
Box 50
After the war, experts considered the single cameras for the large 6 × 9 format to be antiquated, but Agfa continued to rely on them. It was announced: "Agfa has deliberately kept the large, classic 6 × 9 format, it knows that the amateur will always achieve the best result with it". If the adherence to the format could still be understood, it was at least surprising that the important company reissued the last pre-war box technically largely unchanged. Outwardly, it only differed in the front panel in the new design and the "English" tripod threads (" 1 ⁄ 4 instead of 3 ⁄ 8 "). Inside there was a small step backwards, the lock was now driven by a coil spring, which was no longer as smooth as it used to be. Despite its rustic appearance, this device was a huge success.
Synchro box
camera
In 1951, the otherwise unchanged Box 50 was transformed into the Synchro-Box by receiving connections for a flash unit. There were two contacts on the top to which a special flash unit, the Vacu-Blitz, could be attached. This device cost 6.50 DM plus battery. It used flashbulbs and the battery provided the ignition voltage. However, this was not enough for reliable flashing, which is why the Agfa-Box-Speedlight K came out in the spring of 1955. It worked with a 22.5 V hearing aid battery and capacitor, but at DM 9.50 plus DM 3.50 for the battery it cost almost as much as the camera itself.
With their easy handling, the lightning bulbs brought a considerable gain in convenience. It was also possible to take photos when the ambient light was no longer sufficient; which did not work with the bag flash (see box camera ) because you had to keep the shutter open for a while.
Promotion
Even after the war, Agfa tried again for well-known advertising campaigns, although the price box campaign could no longer be outbid. In the summer of 1952 they advertised with the slogan: If you don't have a box, borrow one! The authorized dealers were able to order the Synchro-Box at their own expense and lend it for 14 days for 1 DM, naturally in the expectation that it would be bought afterwards. For this purpose, Agfa provided loan contract documents, pins and colored advertising posters. Success varied and depended entirely on the commitment of the individual photo retailer. There was also the photo competition with the box , for which Agfa offered 5,000 prizes and which was often mentioned in newspapers and on the radio. By the closing date on September 30, 1952, 53,000 photos had been received.
Clack
The Agfa Clack was usually seen as the last box, although with its plastic housing and see-through viewer it already looked like an ordinary camera. In the normal position, she also produces landscape instead of portrait format images. However, it also used a single-lens lens and the 6 × 9 format. The name Clack came from the sound of the shutter. To insert the film, the housing, the “camera jacket” as it was called in the instructions, had to be pulled off downwards. A special feature was the curved film plane, which adapted particularly well to the area of the best image quality of the simple lens. The lens was now in front of the aperture instead of behind the aperture (see box camera), so that there was a small tube at the front of the camera. On the left side there was a lever with three positions:
- f / 16, distance from 3 m
- f / 11, distance from 3 m
- f / 11 Distance 1 to 3 m through pivoted close-up lens
The late version of the Clack contained a built-in yellow filter instead of the f / 16 aperture. With another lever on the right of the tube, it was possible to switch from snapshot with 1 ⁄ 35 s exposure time to time recording as usual , the cable release connection required for this was right next to it. On top of the housing was the same lightning connection as known from the Synchro-Box. Agfa offered the Clibo speed camera for 9.50 DM. It could be folded up by swiveling its handle into the reflector. For the Clack there were ever-ready cases made of brown leather and - much more often found - made of soft plastic in the colors light brown, dark green and red. The modern housing, covered with black imitation leather with a grain reminiscent of crocodile or snake skin, did not fail to impress : Although the Clack was already extremely expensive at 19.50 DM for a device with a meniscus lens, its sales figures exceeded those of all other Agfa boxes. Another successful Click followed, but no longer counted among the box cameras.
Agfa Box today
On the Photografica market, the Agfa post-war models, i.e. Box 50, Synchro-Box and Clack, make up about half of the range of box cameras. The school bonus is very rarely found, regardless of the number of items worth mentioning. Due to the sensitive case, practically no flawless copies of the Trolix are available anymore. As with other camera manufacturers, flash units are extremely rare. At that time they were hardly bought due to the high prices (also for the required lightning bulbs).
Models
Before the war
Box 54 and 64 "Box Special"
- Year of publication: 1930 or 1931
- Lens: f / 12.5; 105 mm or f / 11; 105 mm
- Housing: leather-covered aluminum sheet
- Front and rear cover: leather-covered aluminum sheet
- Selling price: 13.05 RM / 14.85 RM (later: 14.50 RM / 16.50 RM)
- Number of items: approx. 204,000
Box England No. 1 & No. 2
- Year of publication: 1930
- Lens: f / 11; 105 mm
- Housing: leather-covered sheet steel
- Front and rear cover: leather-covered sheet steel
- Number of items: approx. 250,000
"School bonus" box
- Year of publication: 1932
- Lens: f / 11, 105 mm
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Cover front and back: sheet metal painted dark blue
- Number of items: approx. 50,000
Box 44 "price box"
- Year of publication: 1932
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Cover front and back: mostly leather-covered sheet metal, rarely painted
- Selling price: 4 RM (4 individual Reichsmark pieces with the mintmark : "AGFA")
- Number of items: approx. 900,000
Box 24
- Year of publication: 1933
- Housing: leather-covered sheet steel
- Lid front and back: leather-covered sheet metal
Box 34 "isochrome box"
- Production time: 1933 to 1935
- Housing: leather-covered sheet steel
- Front and rear cover: leather-covered sheet steel
- Selling price: 7.50 RM
Box 84 "eyebrow box"
- Year of publication: 1936
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Front and rear cover: leather-covered sheet steel / decorative front
- Selling price: 5 RM
Box 14 "Trolix Box"
- Production time: summer 1936 to December 9, 1941
- Case: Bakelite (Trolitan)
- Selling price: 9.50 RM
- Lens: f / 11, 105 mm
- Number of items: 105,100
Box 94 "Box B-2"
- Production time: 1937 to 1938
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / leather-covered sheet steel
- Selling price: 5 RM
Box 04
- Year of publication: 1937
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / leather-covered sheet steel
- Special feature: two-format box for 4.5 × 6 and 6 × 9
Box 41 "Cadet A-8" or "Box A-8"
- Year of publication: 1937
- Housing: leather-covered cardboard (called "cardboard" by Agfa)
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / leather-covered sheet steel
- Special feature: only Agfa box for film type A 8 (Kodak designation 127)
- Selling price: 4 RM
Box 45
- Year of publication: 1938
- Housing: plastic-coated sheet steel
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / plastic-coated sheet steel
After 1945
Box 47 "Mithra Box"
- Year of publication: 1947
- Special feature: production Agfa-Switzerland
Box 50
- Production time: December 20, 1950 to June 13, 1951
- Housing: plastic-coated sheet steel
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / plastic-coated sheet steel
- Selling price: 9.90 DM
- Number of items: approx. 599,000
Box 600 "Synchro-Box"
- Production time: March 1951 to May 1957
- Housing: plastic-coated sheet steel
- Cover front and rear: decorative front / plastic-coated sheet steel
- Selling price: 14 DM
Box 620 "Agfa Clack"
- Production time: 1954 to 1965
- Housing: black plastic with sheet metal jacket
- Leather covering: imitation reptile leather
- Selling price: 19.50 DM
- Number of items: approx. 1.65 million
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Lichtbilder-Arbeitsgemeinschaften für Schule" - Decree of the Prussian Minister for Science, Art and Education of July 9, 1928, in: Zentralblatt for the entire teaching administration in Prussia, ed. in the Ministry of Science, Art and Education, H. 1/1928, p. 244 f. urn : nbn: de: 0111-bbf-spo-7785449
- ^ The photo working group. A Guide to Photography Teaching in Schools, ed. From the cultural department of IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft AGFA, Berlin 1929
- ↑ "Practical activity of the pupils in the field of photography" - decree of the Prussian Minister for Science, Art and Public Education of May 22, 1930, in: Zentralblatt für die entire teaching administration in Prussia, ed. in the Ministry for Science, Art and Education, H. 11/1930 , p. 178 goobiweb.bbf.dipf.de
- ^ The photo working group. A Guide to Photography Teaching in Schools, ed. from the cultural department of IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft AGFA, Berlin 1929, p. 2
literature
- Heinz FW Mänz: It 's child's play with the Agfa-Box (= small photography course for amateurs . Issue 3). Umschau-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1951 (50 pages).
- Hans-Dieter Götz: Box Cameras Made in Germany. How the Germans learned to take pictures . vfv Verlag for Photo, Film and Video, Gilching 2002, ISBN 3-88955-131-9
