Agfa isolette

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Isolette was the name of a medium format camera from Agfa with bellows . Based on this, the first camera with fully automatic exposure control was created in 1956 in the form of the Automatic 66 , which was an aperture automatic.

Isolette

Isolette with Apotar 1: 4.5 8.5cm

Isolette

As a modern medium format folding camera for the formats 6x6 and 4.5x6 in the fall of 1937 that came Isorette out and was just a few months in Isolette renamed. In contrast to the Billy, the flap was hinged at the bottom of the housing, so when opened it moved down instead of to the side. The isolette cost at the beginning with the lens Igestar 6.3 38 RM, with Solinar 4.5 and the more complex shutter Compur Rapid 86 RM. The isolette has been changed many times during its construction; numerous upper parts and housing covers (with different labels) are known, but the work has not documented them.

The first models had a black cap made of Trolit, the same, easily breakable material from which the Trolix box was made, but the usual metal cap was soon adopted.

In the export markets, the camera was called Ventura .

Isolette 4.5

The Isolette 4.5 was a transitional model and was manufactured from 1946 to 1950. What is interesting about this model is the upper housing cover made of cast aluminum (Nüral) and the double exposure lock, recognizable by a window behind the shutter release.

Isolette V

The V in the name Isolette V indicated the Vario shutter, a simple shutter with only three times, namely 1 ⁄ 200 s, 1 ⁄ 50 s and 1 ⁄ 25 s, as well as long exposure. But the camera only cost 66 DM. Agfa presented it in Cologne in April 1950 at the exhibition of the German photographic industry , the forerunner of the Photokina .

As usual, this model was also built with several different optics and locks, so that later Isolettes V with Prontor lock are also available.

Isolette III

Agfa Isolette III, 1951 to 1959

In 1951 the Isolette III was added to the range; it could be recognized by two windows in the housing cap, one for the viewfinder and one for the range finder. The latter was uncoupled, so it had its own dial on which the determined distance could be read off and then transferred to the lens focusing.

Isolette I and II

The Model I and Model II are the best known. The three-lens Apotar f / 4.5 85 mm and the four-lens Solinar f / 3.5 75 mm were offered as lenses. In combination with the closure variants Pronto, Prontor and Prontor SVS, the offered variants resulted:

  • Apotar f / 4.5 85 mm with Pronto closure
  • Apotar f / 4.5 85 mm with Prontor S lock
  • Apotar f / 4.5 85 mm with Prontor SVS closure
  • Solinar f / 3.5 75 mm with Prontor SVS lock

Since the central locks were firmly connected to the optics, as usual, there was a simplification of the choice of four lenses.

Super isolette

The Super-Isolette, published in 1954, had a mixed image rangefinder that was linked to the lens setting. As a result, her viewfinder also had two windows. The Super-Isolette did not have the usual red window in the back wall of roll film cameras, but an elaborate transport mechanism that transported the film without having to pay attention to the image number, whereby the shutter had to be tightened extra as with the other Isolette models. It was produced until 1957 and was available for purchase until the early 1960s. The Iskra, manufactured by KMZ, also appeared in the USSR in the early 1960s as a further extension or replica.

Automatic 66

prehistory

Since Agfa was primarily interested in increasing film sales with its cameras, the photographic layman had been in view since the beginning of the Munich camera factory . Since they had great difficulty setting the aperture and time, they were often content with a simple box camera, even if they could afford a more expensive camera. With the increasing spread of color photography, precise exposure became more important, as the associated films had to be exposed more precisely, which was especially true for slide films. The main focus in the 1950s was on automatic exposure control, for whose development Agfa then made larger sums available.

At that time there was no thought of an electronic solution; one could only be brought out in 1970 with the Paratronic lock . So there was only the possibility of solving the problem with a selenium cell and a mechanically complex to develop.

camera

In 1956, Agfa brought out the first fully automatic camera, the Automatic 66 medium format camera, which was a sensation among experts. The camera was based on the Super-Isolette, so it was a folding camera and had a Color Solinar 3.5 , a four-lens lens with excellent imaging performance. The exposure control, an invention of the South Tyrolean engineer Julius Durst, was a time automatic. The photographer only had to set the film speed and aperture, and the camera automatically determined the corresponding shutter speed with its selenium cell and a patented pneumatic-mechanical system. The introduction to the instructions for use described the process as follows:

“With the construction of the Agfa Automatic, we have succeeded in making the pointer deflection of an exposure meter the starting point for automatic shutter speed control. The process can be compared to the way an air pump works, the air inlet opening of which can be regulated and the piston of which is under spring tension. At the moment of triggering, the pointer deflection is locked and at the same time regulates the air flowing into a cylinder. With a small pointer deflection, the air opening will be small and cause a delay in the closure process; if the pointer deflects larger, the air opening is enlarged and a rapid closure sequence takes place accordingly. "

distribution

Although Agfa offered the Automatic 66 for quite a few, but still acceptable, 498 DM, it was practically not bought at all. Medium format viewfinder cameras were completely out of fashion, but the system couldn't be accommodated in the confined space of a 35mm camera. Therefore, the production number was only about 5000 copies. Agfa had made good use of the five million marks in development costs, however, as the experience could be used for the extremely successful Optima with its automatic program.

The collector's value of the Automatic 66 is now several times higher than the former retail price of around 1200 euros.

gallery

  • Isolette V

  • Isolette

  • Isolette III

  • Super isolette

Web links

Commons : Agfa Isolette  - collection of images, videos and audio files