Isolette
The Isolette is a compact horizontal-folding camera for twelve 6×6 cm (2¼-inch square) pictures (or sixteen 4.5×6 cm (2¼×1⅝ inch) pictures, with the first model of the camera) on 120 film. It was made by Agfa Kamerawerk AG, Munich, Germany, from 1938.[1] It was the first of a series of cameras lasting until about 1960.
Contents
Isolette (1938-42)
First model Isolette. image by Raúl Sá Dantas (Image rights) |
This first model is a dual format camera. It has hinged masks in the film chamber (they pivot around the spindle of the film rollers on each side of the film gate), to change it from the 6×6 cm format to 4.5×6 cm. There is also a mask for the viewfinder, put in place with a selector lever by the eyepiece.
It first came on the market as the Isorette (embossed in the leatherette of the front door/lens bed as JSORETTE[2] ), but the name was changed to Isolette (again, marked on the camera as JSOLETTE) within a year.
One of the distinctive features of the camera is the top housing, made of a plastic called "Trolitan"; the post-War camera has a cast aluminium top housing. This camera also has loops to attach a strap, the only version of the Isolette to have these.
Different lens and shutter combinations were available, allowing a wide range of levels of specification. All have front-element focusing. The shutter release is on the body. Film advance is by a wide, flat knob, using a red window; there are two red windows in the back, one for each film format, and a swivelling cover for the upper (4.5×6 cm) one. There is a swing-out spool holder on the supply side of the film chamber. This model was called the "Soldatenkamera" (soldier's camera) in Germany during the War.
- Year of release: 1938[1]
- Film Format: 12 exp. 6x6 or 16 exp. 4.5x6 on 120 type rollfilm.
- Shutter: Vario, Pronto, Prontor II, Compur or Compur-Rapid.
- Lens: Igestar 8.5cm f/6.3, Apotar 8.5cm f/4.5 or Solinar 8.5cm f/4.5.
- Viewfinder: reverse-Galilean viewfinder
The earliest cameras have Vario shutters which are not labelled as such.
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Isolette, first model, about 1938.
Images by Süleyman Demir (Image rights) |
Post-War Isolette image by Hans Kerensky (Image rights) |
Isolette 4.5 (1945-50)
The first post-War model was made from 1945 till 1950. It is not adjustable to 4.5×6 cm format. The top housing of this model is cast from Hydronalium (Nüral: an aluminium alloy). There were less lens and shutter combinations, offering only the higher levels of specification (no Agnar, nor Vario or Pronto shutters). Most of the lenses are still uncoated.[1] Some of the shutters available are synchronised. The camera has an accessory shoe (above the viewfinder).
- Year of release: 1945
- Film Format: 12 exp. 6x6 on 120 film.
- Shutter: Prontor, Prontor-S or Compur-Rapid.
- Lens: Apotar 8.5cm f/4.5 or Solinar 8.5cm f/4.5.
- Double exposure prevention.
- Viewfinder: reverse-Galilean viewfinder
Isolette V, with f/4.5 Agnar and Vario shutter. The upright metal strip at the side of the shutter is the release. Note the control added to offer 'T' as well as 'B' shutter. image by Raúl Sá Dantas (Image rights) |
Isolette V (1950-52)
The Isolette V has Agfa's entry-level f/4.5 Agnar triplet lens, and only low-specification shutters (Pronto or Vario). However, the lens is now coated on many examples, and the shutters are synchronised, with a PC socket. The camera's top housing is now of pressed, bright silver metal: this finish is retained for the rest of the series. The accessory shoe is either on top of the viewfinder or to one side of it (on earlier examples). There is no body-mounted shutter release.
Isolette I; second version with DOF scale on the shutter face-plate. image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights) |
Isolette I (1951-58)
The Isolette I is, like the V, a rather low-specification model. It has a coated f/4.5 Agnar lens, and a synchronised Vario or Pronto shutter. Unlike the V, it has a body shutter release. There are two versions of it:
- 1951-54: the early version has a disc-shaped depth-of-field calculator, mounted in a position matching that of the film advance knob, but on the right of the camera.
- 1955-58: the depth-of-field calculator is now absent; some (but not all) examples have DOF brackets marked on the face-plate of the shutter, around the focus scale of the lens. This model also has a slightly different cold shoe.
Agfa Isolette II with Pronto shutter. The thick knurled disc on the right (of the picture) is a film-type reminder dial. image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights) |
Isolette II (1950-60)
The Isolette II was sold alongside the 'I'; it is an alternative model offering higher specification than the 'I', not a successor to it. The camera was available with 85 mm f/4.5 Agnar or Apotar or 75 mm f/3.5 Solinar lenses[3] McKeown gives a very wide range of shutters (Vario, Pronto, Prontor-S and SV, Compur Rapid and Synchro-Compur). This reflects changes in the specification over the period the camera was made (i.e. not all of these shutters were available at the same time): for example, a user's manual (of unknown date) only lists the Pronto and Prontor SVS.[3] The range of shutter speeds is therefore variable between examples. Some of the shutters have a delayed action. Most are synchronised (some have switchable M and X-synchronisation). On some examples of the camera, there is a shutter locking lever on the back of the top housing, to provide 'T' shutter by locking the release button down, where the shutter itself does not have a 'T' setting.
There is a double-exposure prevention interlock; this engages after relesing the shutter, and is disengaged by advancing the film. It has a red (locked) or silver (unlocked) indicator in a hole in the top-plate, next to the advance knob. Like the 'T' lock, this interlock acts on the body release button, so if the lock engages accidentally, or a double exposure is desired, it is still possible to release the shutter by pressing the linkage on the shutter itself (or with a cable release, on versions of the camera on which the cable attaches directly to the shutter, not the body release; they vary in this respect).
Like the Isolette I, early versions of the II have a disc-type depth-of-field indicator on the left of the top plate.[4] On later cameras this is replaced with a film-type reminder, and the DOF scale, if any, is on the shutter face-plate.
Isolette II with Compur-Rapid shutter (1 - 1/500 second plus 'B') |
Top plate, showing disc-type DOF scale and double-exposure indicator. |
The lever to the right of the viewfinder switches 'B' shutter to 'T'. |
The Isolette II was sold as the Ansco Speedex 4-5 Special in the USA. |
Images by Dries van den Elzen (Image rights) | Image by Dirk HR Spennemann (Image rights) |
<a href="" title="Ansco Speedex 4-5 Special nº 15 by heritagefutures, on Flickr"><img src="" width="240" height="180" alt="Ansco Speedex 4-5 Special nº 15"></a>
Succeeding models
After 1950, several different models of the Isolette were made at the same time, with different levels of specification:
- the Isolette III
- the Super Isolette
- the Isolette L
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p25.
- ↑ The name is written as Jsolette simply because the capital "I" resembles a "J" in German typography of the time. The embossing on the camera was changed to a modern "I" in 1937. See: Old German Letters
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 User's manual for the Isolette II at Richard Urmonas' homepage
- ↑ Depth of field indicator on an Isolette II, at Roland and Caroline.
Links
- an Isolette review
- in Wikipedia
- in Ken Lyndrup's website
- Matt's Cameras: Agfa Isolette II
- Roland and Caroline: Agfa Isolette II
- Agfa Isolette II and Notice on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
- Agfa Isolette II (Vario shutter) on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
- Agfa Isolette II Camera Manual : Photo-Manuals.com by Ben Squire
- Agfa Isolette II pictures