Monday, July 31, 2017

1954 Agfa Solinette

This is the first camera I bought when getting back into analog photography. I liked the design, it looked clean, and it came with its original case so I snagged it off of Etsy. It's completely manual (no rangefinder, no light meter, no auto mode) so you have to figure out the correct settings--aperture, shutter speed, and distance from your subject. It's actually not as difficult as it sounds. Although I did underexpose quite a bit early on because I kept thinking "it sure is sunny and bright out here" so I would set the shutter speed to 300 out of fear.

Agfa Solinette
There are other Solinettes on the internet but they are all folding cameras. I'm not 100% sure where this fits into the scheme of Agfa cameras but I believe it to be from the 1950's. (Update 9/19/17--recent research has revealed that this camera is from 1954.) This camera most resembles the Agfa Silette but has a Prontor-SVS shutter instead of a Vario. The Solinette also has a full compliment of shutter speeds (topping out at 300) whereas the Silette is restricted to four--B, 25, 50 and 200.

I had to make a couple of leather straps for the case when the original ones broke. I was carrying it around for awhile after the strap broke but got tired of doing that so I made my own straps. The camera itself doesn't have any strap lugs but the case isn't too cumbersome so it's not a problem to keep it in the case and remove the top when you're ready to shoot.

All pics were shot on Kodak T-Max 100 film. Developed in R5 Monobath. Scanned using an Epson V550 Scanner.


July: Agfa Solinette 

July: Agfa Solinette 

July: Agfa Solinette

July: Agfa Solinette

July: Agfa Solinette

July: Agfa Solinette

July: Agfa Solinette

July: Agfa Solinette

Next month's camera: Ansco Color Clipper

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