Agfa Isolette 4.5 Photos

[chubasco]

Using Kodak Portra 160VC and for focusing I used a shoe-mounted
Watameter II:

Converted last shot to BW because of the flare. Was suggested to use
polarizer and ND filter to help control flare. Will try that next time, or
avoid pointing it at backlit subjects. lol

Lens is the Apotar, and I did all the repairs on this camera myself. The
only things I didn't do is change out the bellows and dismantle and clean
the shutter which is Compur Rapid to 1/500 and seems to work great.

Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

Using Kodak Portra 160VC and for focusing I used a shoe-mounted
Watameter II:
Lens is the Apotar, and I did all the repairs on this camera myself. The
only things I didn't do is change out the bellows and dismantle and clean
the shutter which is Compur Rapid to 1/500 and seems to work great.

Bill

Nice photos! I like your subjects too. I'm wondering why you didn't change out the bellows though? It's easy, and there are some low-cost ways of doing it.

 

[chubasco]

Nice photos! I like your subjects too. I'm wondering why you didn't change out the bellows though? It's easy, and there are some low-cost ways of doing it.

Thanks, I'm not aware of any low-cost ways, please inform, as I have a
1937 Bessa RF in need of new bellows. I have 4 Isolettes with good bellows
I can change out for the Agfa (got these from Certo6 and use meters for
distance scale which is why he sold them in a bunch).

Thanks for your comments.

Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

Thanks, I'm not aware of any low-cost ways, please inform, as I have a
1937 Bessa RF in need of new bellows. I have 4 Isolettes with good bellows
I can change out for the Agfa (got these from Certo6 and use meters for
distance scale which is why he sold them in a bunch).

Thanks for your comments.

Bill

Lowest cost way of replacing 6x6 Isolette bellows: Find a Kodak 66 and use it as a donor. The Kodak 66 was a horrible plastic camera sold mostly in Europe. The lens was a little better than a Holga, but not much. In fact, pretty much the only good part of the whole camera was the bellows. This is a Kodak 66:

As you can see, if you just take out 4 screws and carefully cut through the glue, you've pretty much got it out. Since this was the very last bellows camera Kodak made, the bellows are going to be newer than pretty much anything else you will find still in service, and since the cameras were so bad, they didn't get much use. I've never seen one with bellows in less than pristine condition.

Edit: This is an Isolette with Kodak 66 donor bellows:

As for the Bessa, I've got half a dozen old but never used replacement bellows lying around ("new old stock"). Measure the dimensions at both ends and I may be able to supply a bellows at cost. I got them back when they were cheap and plentiful.

 

[Windscale]

Using Kodak Portra 160VC and for focusing I used a shoe-mounted
Watameter II:

Converted last shot to BW because of the flare. Was suggested to use
polarizer and ND filter to help control flare. Will try that next time, or
avoid pointing it at backlit subjects. lol

Lens is the Apotar, and I did all the repairs on this camera myself. The
only things I didn't do is change out the bellows and dismantle and clean
the shutter which is Compur Rapid to 1/500 and seems to work great.

Bill

All you need is a good lens hood. Polarizers and NDs will only complicate matters. Also it would be time to start thinking about replacing the bellows. Even if theyare still OK now, they won't be for long. This is a reality all Agfa owners may accept. A thread on this subject is still running in RFF 120 folders. Take a good look and start doing something. I love the Apotar very much myself.

 

[FallisPhoto]

BTW, here are a few Kodak 66s I found on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Immaculate-Vint...ryZ11717QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/KODAK-66-model-...D2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

http://cgi.ebay.com/kodak-66_W0QQit...D2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em122

 

[chubasco]

FallisPhoto, thanks for the info and links, will see about winning one of
these Kodaks. I'll measure the Bessa when I get home tonight. Another
issue with it is the VF window (front one) came loose and am wondering
how tough it is to remove the top to reglue it back in place, don't want
to screw up the rangefinder.

Windscale, I did use a lens hood in all of these. The dodgy look I'm getting
from the subject is when I attached the hood to make the shot.😀 I tried
toning down the flare in PS using Shadows and Highlights but it didn't help
much. Had we changed places the photo would've come out much better.

Thank you both for your comments.

Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

FallisPhoto, thanks for the info and links, will see about winning one of
these Kodaks. I'll measure the Bessa when I get home tonight. Another
issue with it is the VF window (front one) came loose and am wondering
how tough it is to remove the top to reglue it back in place, don't want
to screw up the rangefinder.

It isn't particularly tough, but there is a screw (or maybe two) hiding in the film chamber.

Windscale, I did use a lens hood in all of these. The dodgy look I'm getting
from the subject is when I attached the hood to make the shot.😀 I tried
toning down the flare in PS using Shadows and Highlights but it didn't help
much.

You might check the inside of the lens hood to see if it needs a new coat of flat black.

 

[chubasco]

FallisPhoto, good call on the inside hood coating: found several spots
(near lens) some are over 1mm across down to the bare aluminum metal.
Sheesh. Plus I'll take a look at the inside of bellows to see if it's dark enough.
The Bessa bellows is 4.25" long and there seems to be two screws in each film
well that will need to be removed to take the top off. Would this affect the rangefinder
in any way (if I'm careful. lol)?

Thanks for your help.

Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

FallisPhoto, good call on the inside hood coating: found several spots
(near lens) some are over 1mm across down to the bare aluminum metal.
Sheesh. Plus I'll take a look at the inside of bellows to see if it's dark enough.
The Bessa bellows is 4.25" long and there seems to be two screws in each film
well that will need to be removed to take the top off. Would this affect the rangefinder
in any way (if I'm careful. lol)?

Thanks for your help.

Bill

Glad to help. All the photos look just a little bit "misty, and muted" (if you know what I mean) so I thought you might be picking up a little extraneous light from somewhere. I figured you'd already plugged the holes in the bellows. That the lens hood might have a few reflective spots was the main thing that occurred to me.

Those screws shouldn't effect the rangefinder, unless you somehow were to reinstall the whole top crooked.

The dimensions of the bellows I need are the length AND the width and height at the base and the width and height at the narrow end. The width and height of the base opening can vary among medium format cameras by as much as 3/4 inch, both ways.

 

[Windscale]

chubasco,

Check also for internal reflections inside the camera. Again best to do this at night with the lights all out and a powerful torch. Then just paint over all the reflections with matt black paint. And then, even better, as with all my cameras, their interiors (including the two side chambers where the spools situate) have all been lined by a layer of velvet paper. If you have plugged all the bellows holes already, you still have to check the bellows everytime before you intended to take the camera out for use. These temporary pluggings don't usually last very long and fresh leaks may develop. A reality all Agfa owners must accept! until you replaced the bellows. When you have done all the above, I can confidently say that you will have a good workhorse for life.

If you still have any problem, FP is your man.

 

[chubasco]

FallisPhoto, sorry, should've known you'd need more than just length of
bellows: narrow end is 1 and 3/4" by 1 and 7/8" and wide end is 2 and 3/4"
by 3 and 7/8" (I have a measure in mm at my shop in town if needed).
Will be taking the Bessa and Agfa there to do the work. I agree about
your comment of the pictures looking misty and appreciate your advice
and help. Thanks.

Windscale, thanks for your advice and info as well, it seems I was too
complacent about reflections inside the camera.

I hope to get well, soon.😉



Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

FallisPhoto, sorry, should've known you'd need more than just length of
bellows: narrow end is 1 and 3/4" by 1 and 7/8" and wide end is 2 and 3/4"
by 3 and 7/8" (I have a measure in mm at my shop in town if needed).
Will be taking the Bessa and Agfa there to do the work. I agree about
your comment of the pictures looking misty and appreciate your advice
and help. Thanks.

Windscale, thanks for your advice and info as well, it seems I was too
complacent about reflections inside the camera.

I hope to get well, soon.😉



Bill

I have three bellows very close to that size (1 and 5/8 x 1 and 11/16 at the small end and only 1/16 inch short both ways at the base end -- it shouldn't cause a problem), and you have a private message.

 

[chubasco]

FallisPhoto, thanks, answered your PMs.