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] and the series of cameras continued until about 1960.
Some of the series were sold (and some made) in North America by Ansco as Speedex models.
The cameras are as follows:
- The original Isolette (1938-42)
- Isolette 4.5 (1945-50)
- Isolette V (1950-52)
- Isolette I (1951-58)
- Isolette II (1950-60)
- Isolette III (1952-58)
- Isolette L (1957-60)
There was also the Super Isolette (1954-60), a coupled-rangefinder camera.
Isolette
First model Isolette. image by Raúl Sá Dantas (Image rights) |
This first model (1938-42) 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
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). Like most of the post-War Isolettes, the camera takes 30 mm push-on hood and filters.
- 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
The Isolette V, made from 1950 to '52, has Agfa's entry-level f/4.5 Agnar triplet lens, and only low-specification shutters (Pronto or Vario).[3] 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).[3] 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
The Isolette I (1951-58) 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, showing the characteristic wide raised centre of its top housing. The thick knurled disc on the right (of the picture) is a film-type reminder dial. image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights) |
Isolette II
The Isolette II (1950-60) 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 (for at least some time) with coated 85 mm f/4.5 Agnar or Apotar or 75 mm f/3.5 Solinar lenses;[4] however, most examples seen have the Apotar. 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.[4] 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.
Unlike the Isolette I and all the preceding models, the film advance knob is on the right. The camera still has a swing-out spool-holder on the supply side of the film chamber.
There is a double-exposure prevention interlock; this engages after releasing 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.[5] 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) |
Isolette III with f/4.5 Solinar lens and Synchro-Compur shutter. image by Hans Kerensky (Image rights) |
Isolette III with f/3.5 Solinar lens and Synchro-Compur shutter. image by John-Henry Collinson (Image rights) |
Isolette III
The Isolette III (1951-60) is the best-specified Isolette, with an uncoupled rangefinder (device). The rangefinder is operated with a small knurled thumb-wheel on the right hand of the raised part of the top housing, and the distance is read off and transferred to the lens, which has front-element focusing like all the Isolettes. The lens is either an 85 mm f/4.5 Apotar, with a Pronto or Prontor SV or SVS shutter (all of these are synchronised), or a Solinar, which can be either an 85 mm f/4.5 with a Synchro-Compur shutter in earlier cameras, or a 75 mm f/3.5 with a Prontor SVS or Synchro-Compur in later ones. Some of these f/3.5 Solinar lenses take 32 mm accessories, not the 30 mm ones that fit other Isolettes.
Later cameras also have a film reminder on the left side of the top housing, where the older model has a depth of field indicator.
Examples: One from 1952 (Mark I):
- Objective: Agfa Solinar 1:4.5/85
- Shutter: Deckel Synchro-Compur type MX/CR00-126
One from 1954 (Mark I):
- Objective: Agfa Apotar 1:4.5/85
- Shutter: Pronto
Late model production run (Mark II):
- Objective: Agfa Solinar 1:3.5/75
- Shutter: Prontor-SVS
Depth of field indicator on an Isolette III (early type, with Apotar) image by Dustin McAmera (Image rights) |
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images by Hans Kerensky (Image rights) |
Isolette L
The Isolette L (1956-2002) is a viewfinder camera. It has an uncoupled match-needle selenium lightmeter mounted in the top housing. The lens is a coated 85 mm f/4.5 Color-Apotar, suggesting that the provision of a lightmeter was intended to cater for users of colour film, especially transparencies, concerned to achieve the more exact exposure this might demand. The shutter is a synchronised Pronto, giving speeds 1/25 - 1/200 second, plus 'B'.
The camera has some of the features of the Isolette II and III; the film advance knob is on the right, and has a double-exposure prevention interlock, with a red indicator spot in a tiny window. There is a film-type reminder on the other end of the top housing. Like other models, the camera has a swing-out spool holder on the left (supply) side of the film chamber. The button to unfold the camera is a smaller button on the left end of the top housing; presumably to make space for the meter in the top housing.
Like the original Isolette, the L has hinged blinds mounted on the film roller spindles, allowing it to be used for two different formats. However, the second format of the L is a very unusual 3×6 cm (strictly, a little smaller: 1×2¼ inch). The viewfinder can also be masked for this format, with a small lever beside the cold shoe. Perhaps it was intended that users might cut their films down and mount them as 24×36 mm slides; but the full panoramic format would be attractive to some .
The camera has a red window for normal 12-on-120 frame numbers; advancing the film accurately for the half-frame format might be difficult.[6][7]
Succeeding models
Agfa made a coupled rangefinder camera, the Super Isolette, whcih is clearly based on the Isolette series, and this in turn is the basis of the Automatic 66.
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 V at Richard Urmonas' homepage. The last page is a correction slip regarding the specifications of the two shutters, and the position of the accessory shoe, which had moved since the manual was produced. Interestingly, the slip gives the company as Agfa Camera Werk, München, US Administration; the Bundesrepublik (West Germany) had only just been formed.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 User's manual for the Isolette II at Richard Urmonas' homepage.
- ↑ Depth of field indicator on an Isolette II, at Roland and Caroline.
- ↑ Andrew Yue, in his notes on the Isolette L at his site at the University of Texas suggests that one can use the first warning dot between frame numbers, but warns that different makers' films have different markings.
- ↑ Hans Kerensky, in the caption to his picture of the Isolette L (shown above), speculates that Agfa may have marked some of their own film with frame numbers (or with other appropriate marks) for this format.
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
- Agfa Isolette III at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr
- Isolette III at Roland and Caroline (including camera repair tips)
- Isolette III at Andrew Yue's site