Favorite Film Cameras: The Agfa Optima sensor electronic 1035 (1976)

Bauhaus style?

Like all of these pieces, I am interested in the experience of using film cameras. I like to learn about the history they represent, the age in which they were made, the effort to make them competitive. I admire the workmanship that went into these small objects. Here we have a truly small object, the Agfa Optima sensor electronic 1035. Black. Plastic exterior. Compact shape. Design by Agfa’s go-to company Schlagheck Schultes, reminiscent of the iconic philosophy of Dieter Rams and Braun. 4-element Solitar S 40mm f 2.8 lens (multi-coated). 255 grams. Shutter speed 15 seconds to 1/1000 of a second.

Baroque Facade. (Kodak Pro Image 100)

Fantastic clear viewfinder. Classic Agfa Red-orange Sensor shutter button. Prize-winning camera. Something to wear. Reminiscent of a later design philosophy by a Cupertino company.

Steel cover of a pumping station (Kodak Pro Image 100)

Curious rewind system – the film advance lever becomes rewind lever. When I used this the first time, I was apprehensive – could this actually work? Would I not again spoil precious film? But no, everything worked out fine. Have confidence in the mechanics.

Splash of Color (Kodak Ultramax 400)

The exposed film is pushed into a light-safe chamber so that even if you open the back, your images are safe. A smart idea, and one of those that makes you wonder why it took decades for an engineer to think of it.

Storm along the Rhine river (Kodak Ultramax 400)
Raised tree branches in winter (Kodak Ultramax 400)

Made in Munich. You had to pay 298 DM at the time. What impresses me is the design philosophy, the ability to re-invent age-old mechanisms, the courage to offer bold solutions, and all of this in a neat small frame. Classic.

Bad Muenstereifel, detail. Kodak 200
Bad Muenstereifel before the flood. Kodak 200.
Bad Muenstereifel. Kodak 200.

Links:

https://www.edition-oldenburg.de/agfa_optima.html

Classic Berlin

A brief stop in Berlin to survey the landscape and check out the photography stores. I visited fotoimpex, click&surr and, in a neighborhood shop selling laundry machines and other technical gear, managed to snag a perfectly working Kodak Retina IIa from the early 1950s. It was fun bargaining with the owner of the store! Great discovery. Renting a three-speed bike was definitely an experience, but also a wonderful way to get around and slow down.

Favorite Film Cameras: The Rikoh XR-7M (1989)

By the 1980s, the development of the SLR had advanced to produce solid cameras with a remarkable list of specs. Some companies lead the market by spending tons of money on commercials, magazine advertisements and endorsements, others sought to offer good value for money. Now that these bodies are affordable and collectable, it is fun to check out what different design concepts could achieve. The Rikoh XR-7M is one of the unsung heroes of the age.

Skinny parking garage. Kodak Pro Image 100.

Ricoh itself dates back to 1938. In the 1980s, their range of SLRs included beginner, advanced amateur and professional models. The XR-7M features aperture priority with full manual override. The shutter speeds range from 8 seconds to 1/2000. You can use any of the Pentax K-Mount lenses on this typical 1980s style camera body. It handles well and the body is sturdy and durable. Although constructed to last, it is lightweight and quite ergonomic to operate. What I like in particular is the easy multiple exposure switch and therefore the ability to produce in camera double, triple, and multiple exposures.

The Ricoh’s double exposure function tested with expired “Farbwelt 200” film.

Like many of these models, they get little love: They don’t have the cache of big brand names and often fly under the radar of collectors. Which makes it easier to acquire them at a decent price! I would recommend investing in a deal involving a few lenses and a bag, this will not set you back very much.

Overpass from below (Kodak Pro Image 100)

Bargain price, good ergonomics, and plenty of potential to experiment: now wonder I enjoy using the 1980s SLR’s! With demand and prices increasing, it is still fun to seek out affordable mechanical machinery from the “golden age”. However, some of the camera may soon reach their natural demise, so if you have them in your collection, take them out for a spin and enjoy them.

Ghostlike apparition (Agfa APX 400)
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The lenses (made in Japan) are suitably sharp. I like the film “look”, and I do think sharpness is overrated, just like bokeh. Although I like the testing of “new to me” camera, I also enjoy investing a bit more time in producing better images. It is indeed satisfying to experience the ability of these contraptions to capture an image at all, yet it gives me pleasure to add a little spice and push them to the limits. And although I do experiment with expired film, I think the best way to do the vintage cameras a service is to honor them with fresh film to bring out their full potential.

Layers (Fuji 200)

The Ricoh XR-7m is a great vintage SLR from the best age of SLR camera manufacturing. The company and this particular model seem to have been underrated throughout their life span. A real discovery. It is one of these camera bodies I have on my “grab and go” shelf – these are the no-nonsense, reliable film cameras that perform and do not get in the way. (I also have another shelf of “slow down” cameras – these are the mechanical masterpieces that have quirky features or unusual operations you have to keep in mind in the field – or look into the manual to find out about this mysterious switch).

Double vision (Farbwelt 200 expired)
Sculptural look (Agfa APX 400)

Link:

http://www.fotolaborinfo.de/foto/ricohkamera.htm#Ricoh_Kauf

Tony Cragg’s Peaceful Forest

High above the city of Wuppertal lies a tranquil stretch of forest. The name Waldfrieden (Forest peace) reminds visitors of a cemetery, but instead there is plenty of lively art scattered around the pathways. The sculptor Tony Cragg has made this retreat his own, showing off his impressive jelly-like sculptures and inviting friends to display their creations in several large halls, or simply in between the trees. Don’t touch the artwork, the visitor is told. But few can resist exploring the textures and shapes, ranging from fiberglass and bronze to stone and glass. It’s a perfect getaway, and there is a cafe with some vegan dishes for the art connoisseur of today.

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Grotesque Faces in Mainz

Although the ancient bishopric of Mainz was destroyed in the air raids of the Second World War, the old town has been restored, including some interesting features from the early modern era. Before someone came up with numbering houses, they carried names. In the Augustinerstrasse, one of the half-timbered houses displays a row of faces – they frown, look at you in disgust or laugh eerily. Provoking a smile from any passer-by, the grotesque contortions seem to suggest they are a mirror -“see, this is what you look like when you are angry”. We may wonder who was the model for this row of faces, and if they are proud to have been immortalized in this fashion!

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Covering New Ground

Fresh Takes

Sculpture Re-Imagined

A metal sculpture in the middle of Aachen looks inviting for my project in serkalography – interpreting the world through symmetry. Refreshing our vision of our environment. Seeing through a mirror to discover what was hidden inside. Juxtaposing elements and inverting their position in space.

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Circles and Goggles

Prayer in Concrete

Churches employ visual language to impress, mobilize, focus and express ideas. Post 1960s modern church architecture often utilized concrete to show fresh ways of designing places of worship. While they still get mixed reviews, I found they are uniquely able to serve as foils for my project of serkalography, meaning discovering new visionary angles. This church, actually a well-known place of pilgrimage, can be refashioned as a special object: a spaceship, an abstract pattern, a medieval fortress, a mysterious artefact.

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More Serkalography

Exploring the technique, seeing with a split-mirror eye: Trees, a small chapel and a sculpture are in focus today. Sometimes the results seem alien, misaligned unbalanced. Yet the symmetry needs to be there. And then something new appears, something unseen before.

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Changing the Static

Churches offer sanctuary. Sometimes the structures resemble tall imposing halls, sometimes deep comforting caves. The varied architecture displays a sense of continuity amid a sea of change. But what happens if the static gets challenged, the bricks become movable? Built in the 1960s, St. Engelbert in Cologne has earned the nickname “citron press” because of its shape. If you apply a mirror, however, the edges turn upside down, and faces appear. Similar special effects appear in rotating fences and structures at St. Theodor in the suburb of Vingst.

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