Isolette

The Isolette is the name of a series of compact horizontal-folding camera for twelve 6×6 cm (2¼-inch square) pictures or sixteen 4.5×6 cm (2¼×1⅝ inch) pictures, (only on the first model of the camera) on 120 film. It was made by Agfa Kamerawerk AG, Munich, Germany, starting in 1937, and resuming after the war (1947-48); 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 (1937-42) Isolette 4.5 (1945-50) Isolette V (1950-52) - Ansco Speedex 4.5 Isolette I (1951-58) Isolette II (1950-60) - Ansco Speedex 4.5 Special Isolette III (1952-58) - Ansco Speedex Special R Isolette L (1957-60)

Isorette image by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

There was also the Super Isolette (1954-60), a coupled-rangefinder camera.

Isolette

Isorette, with Solinar and Compur-Rapid shutter image by Mike Novak (Image rights)

Isolette, with Agnar and Compur shutter image by Raúl Sá Dantas (Image rights)

This first model (1937-42) 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 (2¼ inch square) format to 4.5×6 cm (2¼×1⅝ inch). 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 ), but the name was changed to Isolette (again, marked on the camera as JSOLETTE) within a year, with no significant change to the camera itself.

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. The Trolitan-topped camera also has metal 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: 1937
• Film Format: 12 exp. 6x6 or 16 exp. 4.5x6 on 120 type rollfilm.
• Shutter: Vario, Pronto, Prontor II, Compur or Compur-Rapid.
• Lens: 8.5 cm f/6.3 Igestar, f/4.5 Agnar, f/4.5 Apotar or f/4.5 Solinar.
• Viewfinder: reverse-Galilean viewfinder

The earliest cameras have Vario shutters which are not labelled and only have the AGFA markings.

Isolette, first model, about 1937, with Igestar anastigmat and Pronto shutter. Images by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

Isolette 4.5

Post-War Isolette image by Hans Kerensky (Image rights)

Isolette 4.5 with Solinar image by OZBOX (Image rights)

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). Early models still keep the Jsolette embossing on the front. 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. Some of the shutters available are synchronised. The camera offered an accessory shoe (above the viewfinder) in later models. 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

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)

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). 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. The embossing on the front of the camera has a V clearly visible under the Isolette denomination. Sold also as ANSCO Speedex 4.5 in the USA

Isolette I

Isolette I; second version with DOF scale on the shutter face-plate. image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights)

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.

Isolette II

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)

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. Top plate is different to the 'I' with a more rounded look. 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; 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 and availability of shutters 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. Also some Vario and Pronto shutters were only marked AGFA (white letters on black background). 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.

It was sold in the USA as Ansco Speedex 4.5 Special

fast Solinar lens image by Fernando Soares (Image rights)

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.

Under the modified top, 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. 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'.
Images by Dries van den Elzen (Image rights)
The Isolette II was sold as Ansco's Speedex 4.5 Special in the USA.
Image by Dirk HR Spennemann (Image rights)

Isolette III

Isolette III with f/4.5 Solinar lens and Synchro-Compur shutter, and with DOF calculator on the top housing. image by Hans Kerensky (Image rights)

Isolette III with f/3.5 Solinar lens and Synchro-Compur shutter, and with film-type reminder dial on the top housing. image by John-Henry Collinson (Image rights)

The Isolette III (1951-60) is the best-specified Isolette, with an uncoupled rangefinder. 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 (MX or MXV) 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) -Type 1351:

• Objective: Agfa Solinar 1:3.5/75
• Shutter: Prontor-SVS

It was sold in the USA as Ansco Speedex Special R

Depth of field indicator on an Isolette III (early type, with Apotar) image by Dustin McAmera (Image rights)

Isolette L

Isolette L image by Alf Sigaro (Image rights)

The Isolette L (1957-1960) 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.

Isolette L film chamber with blinds folded out for 6×6 and in for 3×6 format. images by Hans Kerensky (Image rights)

Related models

Agfa also made a coupled rangefinder camera, the Super Isolette, which is clearly based on the Isolette series, and produced at the same time as the Isolette I, II and III. This in turn is the basis of the Automatic 66, which has a coupled rangefinder and a light meter coupled to give aperture-priority AE.

Repair Notes

• The weak points of the Isolettes are the grease in the focus helicoid and the bellows:
  • Bellows tend to have many pinholes in the corners, especially in the post-war examples made of "shiny" material. Fortunately, replacements are still to be found and replacement is not difficult
    Please note if your camera has screws or rivets holding the film transport frame. Rivets found in the pre-war Jsolette and post war Isolette 4.5 make the replacement harder.
  • Grease of the focusing helicoid can become very hard and must be cleaned using a combination of heat and penetrant oils
    Be careful not to break the glass elements when applying force to unscrew the front and rear elements
  • Grease is also a problem in the Isolete III's rangefinder. It hardens in the focusing dial and in the pivot of the RF mirror, both need to cleaned and relubed.

Links

• Isolette article at German Wikipedia
• Isorette at Ken Lyndrup's website (archived)
• Agfa Isolette II at Matt's Cameras
• Isolettes at Roland and Caroline:
  • Isolette I
  • Isolette II
  • Isolette III
  • Isolette V
• Agfa Isolette II on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand (in French)
• Agfa Isolette II Camera Manual : Photo-Manuals.com
• Agfa Isolette II pictures at MFlenses.com
• Agfa Isolette III at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr (in French)
• Isolette III at Andrew Yue's site
• Camera Rebuilds and Repairs: Agfa Isolette (archived), by David Richert
• Agfa Isolette 4.5 PDF manual from www.OrphanCameras.com
• Agfa Isolette II PDF manual from www.OrphanCameras.com
• Agfa Isolette III PDF manual from www.OrphanCameras.com