AgfaPhoto 35mm Reusable Camera Manual: Load Film, Change Batteries, & Take a Photo

[@museonfilm8919]

I don't have any problems with 'fun cameras'. But I think the most pressing issue today is the lack of photo labs. Yes, I know home processing is an option, but for those who just want a bit of retro-style fun, paying over the odds for some rather inconsistent photos could be a bridge too far!

[@DavidHancock]

Yeah, for me at least, about $15 for film, same for developing and scanning, and the cost for one or, at most, two acceptable photos is very steep.

[@RickMahoney2013]

I use The Darkroom in Ca. I wish I had gotten into developing my own film when I was young.

[@murraykriner9425]

Seems the Universal Point-n-Shoot still exist, long after the initial Insta-Matic set vanished from our view. I find novel that Three different labels used the same bare-bones approach to playing Lazarus with film photography. Have a great week, and safe travels.

[@DavidHancock]

Thank you and it's actually at least nine labels using this same camera with slight variances, and some of those labels have multiple versions of this camera. There may be more than the ones that I know of.

[@murraykriner9425]

@@DavidHancock I'm certain they will hire their services to any company that will pay them to do so. Global Markets being what they are. Just fond of Agfa after resurrecting some of their early film cameras from Thirties. Gotta love that Golden Age of Film Cameras.

[@U.Boonmee]

When I load the camera with film, should I do it in a dark room, or can there be any little light so that I can see something?

[@DavidHancock]

@@U.Boonmee There's no need to load it in the dark. Just load it and then advance to frame 1. Now, if you're in the sun, shade the camera with your shadow to help protect the film.

[@U.Boonmee]

@@DavidHancock thanks for the info!

[@tayyiba.c]

Just ordered my first film camera, the AgfaPhoto Reusable but the Half -frame version. Was planning on getting an ISO200 film since I'm taking it on holiday in sunny conditions, but would you not reccomend going that low? Not sure if it being half-frame makes a difference to what film to buy

[@DavidHancock]

Nice! Any 35mm film will work, but a 400 ISO film is best if you're shooting in full sun. Indoors, you'll need 400 or 800 ISO film AND the flash. Anything slower than 400 will not yield good image results.

[@Bigfarmer8]

Hi David, I have both the Ilford as the Agfa variant of this little camera. These cameras should be the same but strangely enough the Agfa gives quite a bit better results than the Ilford. What are your experiences?

[@DavidHancock]

I ended up not using any from this crop. I have the ultra-generic one that doesn't even have a brand name, the Vibe 501F, One Shot Half, and Nicono Half. I did use the Dubblefilm Show and made a video review with lots of photos from it. I would expect a high degree of variation in these because they lenses are just set in place and if they shift or if the mount isn't affixed to the camera perfectly inside the mechanism, then the focal point could be off. Also, there's a bit of variation on the aperture placement in these worth some being more off-center than others. That could also play a role.

[@Bigfarmer8]

@@DavidHancock Thanks so much David. I also thought the back plane may be spaced to much (if that is correct English). If I forget to tension the film during loading the effect is worse. Still I think it is great fun with these cameras as the are basically the modern Kodak Brownie. My Brownie gives better results though 🙂

[@joiahmusic]

This became asmr all of a sudden

[@DavidHancock]

I have had a lot of feedback over the last year that I have a subscriber base who like that aspect of my videos, so I'm trying my best to lean into it.

[@RickMahoney2013]

If you have a flash and it’s lens is 31mm I would think you could use 160 film 200 film even 100 speed film.

[@DavidHancock]

Possibly 160, yes, if your subject is within about eight feet. The flash isn't particularly bright. It can work as daylight fill flash with 400 ISO, again on close subjects, so there's not a whole lot of juice.

[@RickMahoney2013]

@@DavidHancock so if you even closer doing head shots 100 iso will work

[@DavidHancock]

@@RickMahoney2013 no. Any closer and nothing will work because this lens is fixed focus and can't focus close up.

[@RickMahoney2013]

@@DavidHancock ok thanks so with that lens like any other lens it has a distance that is the minimal that is will work am I correct ?

[@DavidHancock]

Yes, so any lens will have an infinity focus point -- the focal length. For a traditional lens design, a 50mm lens focuses light at infinity (200-400 times the focal length, depending on engineering and design tolerances) at the imaging plane. As that lens moves outward, the focus moves closer. So move a 50mm lens forward 15mm and the focal point might be around two feet in front of the camera, as a hypothetical. These cameras use a lens that's labeled s 32mm (some of these say 28mm, 35mm, and a few even say 50mm, which is nonsense.) The 32mm lens is positioned so that the point of sharpest focus is around six feet in front of the camera, but what's at infinity focus is also in suitable resolution. The closest focus point is probably about 4.5 feet. Anything closer will be very blurry. If you use the flash, the aperture opens wider than without it, and that reduces the depth of field. With the wider aperture on these, much less is in suitable focus as these lenses are very soft.

[@MultiSciGeek]

What the hell is this brand? It's like neo retro stuff?

[@DavidHancock]

Yeah, the resuable cameras have a retro-ish design now.

[@Дмитрий-н9л3ь]

f-9 and 100 shutter speed seems like one hell of an AWFULL terrible camera

[@DavidHancock]

LOL, yeah, Yeah.

[@Дмитрий-н9л3ь]

@@DavidHancock I was always for "go ahead and shoot on whatever u like all that techno nerds are just obsessed with absolutely unimportant staff in photography, but this one is direct marketing rip off hipsters and basically the waste of good film and lab efforts, want point and shoot - buy a used camera from 80-90-s there are tons of them and they been working perfectly fine for the last several decades. Here just because my sister got one, and asked why pictures came so terrible from the lab, and I think it's the first case in history of mankind when it's truly about the camera and not the photographer)