Agfa Isolette I

[Rage]

I had an Agfa Isolette I since I was 5 years old. An uncle gave it to me because it didn't work anymore anyway. And because I was only 5 I killed the rest of the poor thing. Murdered beyond repair, as I found out last week when I took apart what was left of it.

Yesterday I went to another flea market and I found the exact same Agfa Isolette I. It seems to be in a minty mint never used (!) condition. There was even a hand typed manual that came with it. I have a test roll of Ilford b/w 100 ISO in it to check if the bellows are as good as they seem to be.

But the weirdest thing is this: I payed only 6 (six! ) euro's for it.

[lynnb]

Nice find, it looks like a new one. I bought a user in quite good condition on fleabay for AUD17. Nice to have a simple camera with a big neg.

[Rage]

Yes, without the leather bag it fits right in the inside pocket of my jacket.

[hanskerensky]

Agfa Isolettes are nice cameras.

I always check the bellows with help of a strong LED-lamp. Even the very good looking bellows develop many times pinholes in the corners of the folds.

[Steve M.]

If by some miracle the lens focus isn't frozen, you got yourself a great deal.

[jnoir]

Simpler is almost always better

I'd however go for at least an Isolette II with Apotar on Prontor-S, I like the extra performance of the lens (yours looks like an Agnar) and the extra set of speeds (yours looks like a 4-speed Vario).

I have come to pay as less as 2 Euro for an Isolette like yours, mostly for parts (damned tiny screws in the focus ring, how easy they become lost... ). The advance knob however is not interchangeable with later models (they are positioned in opposite sides and turn right the other way...)

[Rage]

Focus is not stuck and the bellows seem fine. A handheld lightmeter and a better scanner wouldn't be a luxury though.

Here's a couple of shots I made with the Isolette.

[chris00nj]

Nice deal on the Isolette. I wonder if there is one small light leak. The images have a certain look to them that is different and reminds of some very slight fogging. You may want to leave it as it creates an old look.

[Rage]

Yes I noticed that too. But it might also have something to do with the way I scanned them: I put a couple of desk lamps over my flatbed scanner. I need to build a proper lightbox with a good tube lamp for it (is that the good word in English? We call it TL light).