Isolette II / Apotar 85mm f4.5

The Agfa Isolette was made over a number of years, sold in the US under the Ansco brand, and is a rather nice camera overall. The issue many of the later ones have is the fact the bellows have deteriorated. Apparently the later models had plastic bellows which developed pinholes and creating, of course, light leaks. I bought my Isolette II from Certo6, from whom I have purchased a number of vintage folding cameras and accessories. I have never been disappointed with the quality of cameras I have from Certo6, so here is a plug for Jurgen Kreckel!

I don’t know about you, but I wander around with my interests – sometimes sewing or knitting, painting, spinning, then on to photography or drawing. It varies, in part with the weather, in part with my mood. Photography has taken a long time out of late, but with summer coming in and a pleasant spring ending, I decided it was time to re-evaluate and re-explore photography. So, with a new-to-me red skinned, black bellowed Agfa Isolette II, a roll of 120 Ilford XP2 Super 400 film, I spent a day wandering around the house and neighborhood, guestimating exposures as well as using a light meter. I got the images back a couple of days ago. All were usable, but below are the best of the lot (I think).

Up front, these photos are not SOOC – I did work on them in post. The Apotar lens is not in the same league as a Tessar, but it is a rather sweet lens. I think the issue more than anything could have been my fault in exposure. The details visible are the result of editing with LR and such, working to bring out detail, increasing contrast, and changing the image to meet my desired goals. Altogether, I like being able to take a folding camera with me – I had it in my pocket while I was oot-and-aboot.

The Apotar lens is uncoated (I believe) and as a result is prone to flare. You can see it in one of the sunflower pictures. I did not use a filter at all. In particular, I think the last one of the Dill Flowers would have benefited from a yellow, orange, or red filter; the dill flowers are yellow and similar to the foliage of the plant. When I looked for pictures to make, my goals were to look for small details, such as the dill leave, strong contrast, as with the trees, and texture, as in the bark.

Altogether, the camera worked beautifully, was simple and direct. Aperture, time, and distance all need to be determined by the user. I used the Sunny 16 rule for the most part and guestimated the distances. Outdoors the usual exposure was f/11, 1/100, and about 6-20 feet (2-6 meters). Inside, most likely f5.6, varying distance, and about 1/50.