Review: Agfa Karat IV

[bmattock]

OK folks, here it comes again!

Bill Mattocks' Camera Review: Agfa Karat IV (http://www.growlery.com/agfa_karat_iv/)

I put a lot of work into this one - I'm changing the format, and it took me most of the day today. Please let me know if you see anything untoward or deserving of improvement - my eyeballs are swimming!

My wife and I are going out to dinner to celebrate the new job becoming 'official' so I'll check back in later tonight.

Thanks!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[Rich Silfver]

Wow, EXCELLENT review and GREAT looking format!
I actually read it all - and really enjoyed it.
Now I may want one...

Great stuff!!

[bmattock]

Originally posted by rsilfverberg
Wow, EXCELLENT review and GREAT looking format!
I actually read it all - and really enjoyed it.
Now I may want one...

Great stuff!!

Richard,

Well...

Karat IV with Solagon 2.0 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3803512466&category=297&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWN%3AIT&rd=1)

Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy!

And thanks for the kind words, I'm really glad you liked the review! I'm also glad that I've found this forum - everybody here is terrific and I just get excited sharing and learning from everyone. My way of giving something back.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[JohnL]

I'm new here but I would like to endorse Bill's comments. This is a great forum, eduational, interesting, and the friendliest I ever encountered.

John

[back alley]

another fine job bill!
i barely have time to read reviews and here you are writing them.

i too agree that this is a great place to come and share with other like minded individuals, a wonderful, friendly bunch.

joe

[Oldprof]

Bill, those pictures you took with the Agfa Karat are outstanding! Some people say you can't judge the quality of a lens by viewing small images on a computer monitor, but they look very sharp to me.

[bmattock]

Originally posted by Oldprof
Bill, those pictures you took with the Agfa Karat are outstanding! Some people say you can't judge the quality of a lens by viewing small images on a computer monitor, but they look very sharp to me.

Thank you very much! I can assure you that the photos are quite sharp in their natural state before I shrank them. I would be happy to make them available for download to anyone who wanted them - but they are about 22 megs each. Still, I have server space and bandwidth, I can set up an ftp account for anyone who would like them.

I happen to agree - I think the lens is very sharp as well. I can't wait to get the Karat IV with the Solagon 2.0 lens I just bought on eBay - hopefully it is in good shape - they say it is even sharper than the Xenon; I'm prepared to be dazzled.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[oftheherd]

As everyone else said, good job! And, thanks. Great review. Not that I approve of such good reviews. I have mentioned before that I have a Welta Welti, and it is the reason I can't make myself buy a rangefinder. But reviews like that get the "I wanna" juices flowing.

And just to keep this consistant, yeah, I like this forum a lot too (even if my only claim to rangefinder fame is my Mamiya Super Press 23). This forum may not get as many posts as other photo forums, but they (eidt: the ones here I mean) are probably better content wise, well thought out, and friendlier. Thanks Jorge Torralba for the forum.

[pshinkaw]

Bill:

Very nice review. This is a great little camera.

I have a couple of Karat 36's. It was one of my first cameras when I was a teenager.

The best lens I've used on them is the 50/2.8 Solinar, the Tessar clone.

On the Karat 36 with the Compur shutter, never try to change to or from 1/500 of a second with the shutter cocked. You can damage it that way. Any other shutter speed changes are OK.

-Paul

[bmattock]

Originally posted by pshinkaw
Bill:

Very nice review. This is a great little camera.

I have a couple of Karat 36's. It was one of my first cameras when I was a teenager.

The best lens I've used on them is the 50/2.8 Solinar, the Tessar clone.

On the Karat 36 with the Compur shutter, never try to change to or from 1/500 of a second with the shutter cocked. You can damage it that way. Any other shutter speed changes are OK.

-Paul

Paul,

Interesting information! How did you manage with the split-screen rangefinder that the Karat 36 uses? I've got one with the Xenon 2.0 lens and I found it unmanageable - I just can't get used to the entirely-split viewfinder image. On the plus side, the 36 at least HAS a 1/500 speed - the Karat IV lacks that, going only to 1/300. I believe also that the Synchro-Compur shutter is superior to the Prontor-SVS, but I could be wrong about that.

Thanks for the kind words!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[pshinkaw]

Bill:

The split field rangefinder is a challenge. You tend to look for a lot of straight lines on your subjects to focus on, like neckties and such. I was 14 and didn't know it could be better.

The Synchro-Compur is very, very smooth and very, very quite, but it was the Solinar lens that made the camera worthwhile.

I made a bracket out of a piece of aluminum bar, some coat hanger wire and a 1/4X20 tripod screw in order to attach a neckstrap. I carried the camera under a jacket or sweater with the strap set so the lens would be at elbow hight. (In the crook of my arm)

It made quiet surreptitious shooting easier. I still have the set-up.

-Paul

[taffer]

Bill, my sincere thanks for writing all that great stuff and share it with us here.

I desperately need to find some more free time to enjoy all this, I'm loosing all the fun here lately :bang: !

Best !

Oscar

[ZeissFan]

Bill, excellent job on the review. Very well written, thoughtful comments. Loved the caution about the scissor struts. I hope that didn't come from personal experience.

Great photos too, especially with an uncoated lens. Does the Xenon use the same design as the Zeiss Sonnar?

[pshinkaw]

This photo was taken with an Agfa Karat 36, the predecessor to the Karat IV. It has a different shutter and different style rangefinder, but the lens is the same. New Orleans, LA, February 1968.

In this case it was a 50/2.8 Agfa Solinar (Tessar formula). Plus-X Pan, developed in D-76, scanned from the negative (in 2004, not 1968).

-Paul

[wblanchard]

I just love how sharp the lenses are on the camera...it does give you a 3d sensation.

[lynn]

I'd gotten into the habit of occasionally revisiting this superb article, reading the (very interesting) review, and admiring the sample images, but the link seems to lead nowhere these days. Will it be back?
I hope so!

[bmattock]

Lynn,

I fixed it, sorry about that! And thanks for the kind words, this is still one of my favorite cameras and totally overlooked by enthusiasts.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[lynn]

Well. I was certainly inspired after reading your review, and "watched" several on ahem*bay (even bid on one or two on the German and Swiss sites: go to the source, I figured..), but they always sold for WAY more than I could pay, so there must be enthusiasts somewhere. :-)

[Fred]

Bill.

One word sums this up, and that is "brilliant". The shots are fantastic and the words so readable and full of information. Well done indeed!

[FrankS]

Bill, the link in your first post still doesn't work for me. I get this message:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/growlery/www/www/agfa_karat_iv/index.html on line 1

[outfitter]

FYI Aktiengesellschaft means stock company (i.e. similar to an American corporation). Agfa was formed in the 19th century as a German aniline dye manufacturer but joined forces with, Gevaert a Belgium photo company. Aniline dyes were just part of the revolution in the chemical industry resulting from the synthesis of coal tar; a chemical company is a natural to join with a photo paper manufacturer like Gevaert.

During WWII Agfa’s American assets were seized as enemy property and renamed ANSCO (which was a 19th century American photo company - Anthony & Scoville Co - that merged with Agfa in the 1920s). Later ANSCO was renamed General Aniline & Film (GAF),

I have a Karat 36 with the Solagon 2/50 ($5 at a flea market) and my impressions of the fine quality of the lens are similar. A press on Kodak 1 ¼ inch series VI adapter ring with a Kodak series VI “A” type lens hood (easy to find a camera shows) helps a lot.

[bmattock]

FYI Aktiengesellschaft means stock company (i.e. similar to an American corporation). Agfa was formed in the 19th century as a German aniline dye manufacturer but joined forces with, Gevaert a Belgium photo company. Aniline dyes were just part of the revolution in the chemical industry resulting from the synthesis of coal tar; a chemical company is a natural to join with a photo paper manufacturer like Gevaert.

During WWII Agfa’s American assets were seized as enemy property and renamed ANSCO (which was a 19th century American photo company - Anthony & Scoville Co - that merged with Agfa in the 1920s). Later ANSCO was renamed General Aniline & Film (GAF),

I have a Karat 36 with the Solagon 2/50 ($5 at a flea market) and my impressions of the fine quality of the lens are similar. A press on Kodak 1 ¼ inch series VI adapter ring with a Kodak series VI “A” type lens hood (easy to find a camera shows) helps a lot.

Thanks for the information, I keep learning! For what is it worth, I have several of the Agfa Karat IV's with various lenses, and I love them. I had a 36 and sold it, it was a fine camera but I could not get used to having the entire image split instead of a center spot as in more traditional rangefinder cameras.

I think the 36 & IV Karats are overlooked and undervalued pocket-cameras. Well-made and easy to work on, the exemplify the best German workmanship of the period - at a price anyone can afford.

I'm a huge Agfa fan - but you can tell that, can't you?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[kendle]

Hi Bill,

I just recently joined this forum, and at the same time purchased an Agfa Karat IV with the Solinar lens. The camera is in almost mint condition except for the usual grease-locked focus which I easily repaired using your information. I also freed-up the advance lever by the same method. The problem now is that since then, the shutter does not cock when the advance lever is pulled. All of the linkage works correctly, but the shutter does not fire. What did I do wrong, and how can I fix it? Any help that you or others can offer will be greatly appreciated, Thank you and Regards, Ken.

[RANDALL]

Hello Bill...I notice the original post was March of '04. Since then- now Jan 08- have you indeed been able to compare the sologon lens with the xenon lens in this Agfa camera? What is your personal take on the tessar v biogon? BTW I loved your review and purchased a IV based soley on it. Thanks...RANDALL

[RANDALL]

Hello again.. answered my own question by rumaging in the archive section. Thanks