I guess the repair guy down in Namdaemun really knows his stuff. When I dropped this camera off the focus ring was stuck as if someone had super glued it. Who knows what else was wrong with it. But, for $80 USD it was delivered back to me as good as when it came of the assembly line back in the early 1950's.
The Agfa Karat IV is a 35mm film camera that features a Solinar 50mm f/2.8 strut-folding lens. They are relatively hard to find in the USA and when you do find one they are usually not in working condition. It's a heavy camera which feels solid in your hands. The rangefinder / viewfinder is relatively small and the film advance operates in the opposite direction compared to other cameras. It took a little getting used to but by the end of the day I kind of liked it! I really enjoy shooting film cameras not just because of the unique look of film photographs but also for the simple pleasure of operating the film advance. I like to hear the sound of the shutter, always different and unique to each camera.
I loaded it with a roll of cheap Kodak ISO 200 color film and took it to work one day. Lucky for me, it happened to be a day when I would get to fly around in a Blackhawk helicopter. Hard to believe that a camera that is more than 60 years old can still take quality images like these... I will definitely take this camera out again soon!
The Agfa Karat IV is a 35mm film camera that features a Solinar 50mm f/2.8 strut-folding lens. They are relatively hard to find in the USA and when you do find one they are usually not in working condition. It's a heavy camera which feels solid in your hands. The rangefinder / viewfinder is relatively small and the film advance operates in the opposite direction compared to other cameras. It took a little getting used to but by the end of the day I kind of liked it! I really enjoy shooting film cameras not just because of the unique look of film photographs but also for the simple pleasure of operating the film advance. I like to hear the sound of the shutter, always different and unique to each camera.
I loaded it with a roll of cheap Kodak ISO 200 color film and took it to work one day. Lucky for me, it happened to be a day when I would get to fly around in a Blackhawk helicopter. Hard to believe that a camera that is more than 60 years old can still take quality images like these... I will definitely take this camera out again soon!
