Agfa Super Isolette vs Certo Six

charjohncarter said:
Thanks, I think I'll cross that one off my ldream list. They are beautiful though.
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I wouldn't cross the Certo of your list yet:

The Certo Six is actually a pretty simple camera to work on. I've never worked on a Super Isolette but I have worked on Super Ikonta B's and C's, Retinas, Rolleiflexes, Leicas and my Telka.

I found the Super Ikontas hardest to work on because getting at the shutter requires removal of the lens and the focus mechanism.

My Certo Six had a few issues, when I received it. Most Certo Sixes have bad rangefinder mirrors, but this isn't hard to put right. The shutter is easy to clean without removing from the camera, and you just unscrew the lenses to clean.

The Certo; is by far the sharpest lens of any vintage folder. Wide open the f2.8 lens is sharp edge to edge. It seems to have the same sharpness and contrast as my Hassy 80mm. The rangefinder is relatively bright for a folder, and it will compensate for parallax. I have never seen a more rugged medium format folder with it's thick steel struts and solid body.

Some of the ergonomics of the camera leave a little to be desired like; you can't close the camera with the lens cocked, focus is weird since you use a little lever, as is the shutter release, which is also a lever.

You buy a Certo 6 for the images it can produce.
 
P C Headland said:
The Certo Six is a very well built camera with one of the best lenses you can get on an old folder. I feel it is better built than the Super Ikonta III / IV. The lens is parallax corrected too. Having a 40.5mm filter thread is very handy.
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You have some excellent pics taken with this camera somewhere here but I can't find them. Perhaps a link?
 
I just received an Agfa Super Isolette and have some questions:
1. Do I need to put a film in to try the film advance mechanism?
2. Is there a self timer?
3. Is there a soft release that will fit? I tried Tom A mini soft release and it does not securely screw into the socket.

Thank you
 
bwidjaja said:
I just received an Agfa Super Isolette and have some questions:
1. Do I need to put a film in to try the film advance mechanism?
2. Is there a self timer?
3. Is there a soft release that will fit? I tried Tom A mini soft release and it does not securely screw into the socket.

Thank you
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1. Yes, it needs film. You can pretty much take it for granted that all old cameras that are without red windows need film in them to work right.
2. I'm not sure. Agfas had some variations. If there is a little lever with a red dot on it sticking out the lower right side of the shutter as you face the front of the camera, that's the self-timer. DO NOT USE IT unless/until the shutter has been cleaned and lubed! If it's dirty, it can jam the shutter. If it does not have a self timer, there were accessory self timers available (from Agfa and Kopil, among others) and you can usually find one on ebay for under $10. Agfa: http://tinyurl.com/2cnqyjl Kopil:http://tinyurl.com/25xu8p2
3. It has a standard threaded PC (Prontor/Compur) cable socket, so I'd guess that (a) your soft release didn't have a long enough threaded shaft or (b) your soft release was not standard-threaded or (c) the threads are damaged. I've never bothered with soft releases. If it has to be held very steady, I use a tripod and a cable release. I'd suggest that you try your cable release in it first and see if it fits. If it does, then you'll know that the threads are okay and you can get a standard-threaded soft release. http://tinyurl.com/26za6cz
 
@FallisPhoto, thanks for the extensive information. Mine does not have a self timer, so I could use one of those mechanical self timer you suggested. As far as the soft release, the one i have has a short thread that fits in most of other cameras including super ikonta, but the Agfa socket is too deep for it, so I will have to make do without one. Now here is a question.

@chippy, mine does not have the V, only M and X, so I guess this version does not have the self timer. Thanks.
 
Super Isolettes initially came out with MX versions of the Synchro-Compur in the earlier units, while MXV versions were used afterwards.I don't have factory numbers, but based upon the units I have come across, serial numbers up to U07000 had MX, while higher serial numbers had MXV.

Which serials do your cameras have?
 
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