Old Equipment

People who enjoy photography not just for taking pictures, but also for the equipment easily find pleasure in older type cameras. Being older, these cameras usually cannot match the quality of newer equipment (if it's any good), but the technical intricacy of older cameras is a treat in itself. One has to remember that in their day these cameras were considerably more expensive in relative purchasing power than cameras are today. For example, in the late 1930s, an "inexpensive" camera such as the Baldina would have cost the equivalent of 2 weeks' worker wages, while a Leica would have cost around 10 to 15 weeks' wages (without lens)--unbelievable. My old Agfa Isolette is one of the less expensive cameras of prior years. It takes 120 roll film and has a 85mm/4.5 Apotar lens and Pronto SVS shutter. It cost me around $80 and is in astonishingly nice shape, fully functional. So, how good are the pictures? I have used my Isolette only for color pictures, which its lens was not really made for. Neither is the lens coated, nor does it have much flare protection. Here some results (with 100 ASA color negative film). The shown images are 400 x 400 pixels. You can click on them to see a 1600 x 1600 image. The images were scanned with a low-end scanner from 8 inch by 8 inch prints. They have not been altered in any way, not even with the unsharpen mask.
	This picture shows an early morning with the sun just rising behind the mountains. The colors are a little "washed out", but not too bad. Sharpness is acceptable as well.
	This picture was taken on a rainy day. Here the lens nicely reflects the mood of the environment.
	This is my most favorite picture. It shows a pond with lots of nice reflection in the water. also a little moody, but nice color rendering of the greens. Note the reflection from the sun, which unfortunately creates some flaring in the top right corner, at about the 2 o'clock position. Have a look at the large scan for more detail.