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... :bang🙂. 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).