Agfa Karat 6.3

1936 Art Deco Karat        -        1938 karat

 In many ways this is a very attractive camera.  It is small (22cm wide, 17cm tall and 14.5cm thick), not too heavy (for a metal camera) and simple.  It has two downsides - it uses a different cassette to other 35mm cameras and it is cheaply made.  The body is made from cast aluminium which is painted gloss black.  The controls all seem to grate a bit and although this camera is now around 70 years old, Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander cameras of this age do not grate.  The Karat 6.3 was introduced in 1936.  Two years later Agfa introduced an improved version - still called the Karat 6.3

Aesthetically, the camera is attractive.  It has a rounded body and has an Art Deco front panel on the lens board. Focussing and aperture controls are on the lens panel.  While these work well, I find them difficult to use.  The focussing knob is below the lens and moves from about 4 o'clock (infinity) to 8 o'clock (3.5 feet).  The aperture control is a milled ring around the lens with apertures from f6.3 to f22.  One of the problems I have with this camera is that altering the aperture means my finger hits the focussing knob making it difficult to move the aperture ring.  By the by, the maximum aperture of the camera - f6.3 - gives the camera its name "Karat 6.3", later models were Karat 3.5 and Karat 2.8.

The lens is a three element Igestar lens (Sometimes with a fancy "I" which makes the name look like Jgestar).  The view finder is a reverse Gallilean finder which gives a small image (the 'reverse' part of reverse Gallilean means it is like looking through a telescope the wrong way with a smallified image).  On the original Art Deco version, this viewfinder is not only rather small but is low down on the body, making it hard to use.

The camera is a folding camera - the lens pops out on a short bellows , it only moves two cm - released by a button on the top plate to the left of the viewfinder.  The lens panel simply pushes back in  when the camera is finished with.  The top plate of the camera is dominated by the film wind-on knob and the shutter release is very close to this.  Next to the shutter release is a sliding lever which can engage the shutter release when the B setting is used to hold the shutter open.  However, this is difficult to set while your finger is on the shutter release and almost certainly impossible to do without jarring the camera to some extent.  Also on the top plate is the frame counter.  This is quite small and recessed making it less than easy to see.  The frame number is rest by a small knurled knob next to the counter - the start of film is set to "A" and then the film wound on until frame "1" is reached.  There are also two strap lugs on the top plate - one of which is missing on my camera.

The back hinges open to allow the loading of film.  The film for this camera must be in one of Agfa's Karat or Rapid cassettes.  The original format was the Karat cassette.  This was revived in the 1960s as the Rapid cassette.  There is only one difference between them - the later Rapid cassette has a film speed indicator on the cassette in the form of a metal "T".

Karat cassette (left)        Rapid cassette (right)

Film loading is easy - insert the film in the left-hand chamber and fix the film leader under the two clips.  Close the back and wind the film on to frame 1.  Unloading the film is even easier - there is no need to rewind the film, you just take the cassette with the exposed film out of the camera.

The 1938 improved version is basically the same.  It has a raised viewfinder  - no bigger but easier to use.  It also has an external frame counter rather than a window to an internal counter.  The front fascia is plain and when extended has a lock to prevent the camera from being closed accidentally.  There is also an improved catch to the back and the strap lugs have been removed.  To off-set the lack of strap lugs, the case has been changed to an ever-ready type case where the camera can be used while in the leather case.  In the original Karat, the case was a drop-in case.

1936 original Art Deco case      -      1938 improved case

This blog

This blog is about the many old cameras that I now own. I shall be describing each and giving my impressions of using them. I shall also be uploading sample pictures from each. I actually own all these cameras and if you have any specific queries about any of them, please ask.

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Voigtlander Bessamatic

Voigtlander Bessamatic - 1961

This is Voigtlander's answer to Zeiss Ikon's Contaflex range and Kodak's Retina reflex range.  It was developed sometime after the Zeiss Ikon and Kodak models and this allowed Voigtlander to learn from its competitors' mistakes.  The most obvious lesson learnt is that the entire lens assembly is detachable rather than just the front element as in the Contaflex range.   The main advantage is that better quality lenses can be added.  It also has the advantage that you can access both the mirror and the focussing screen and so can keep them clean.  This is a major fault with the Contaflexes as after fifty years of use there is a build up of dirt which can be very annoying when looking through the viewfinder - although, to be fair, I don't suppose Zeiss Ikon were thinking about  a fifty year life span for their cameras.

This is a very heavy camera - significantly more heavy than a Contaflex Super.  It is similar to the Contaflex Super.  It has a coupled light meter with match-needles in the viewfinder.  Moving the match needle also moves the aperture ring - the shutter speed must be set first.  This can only be set to a value within the current exposure range.  If the shutter speed is already set to an unacceptable value (as in moving from the shade into bright sunshine) it is not possible to align the match needles.  This can be overridden by a lever on the lower right of the shutter housing.

The shutter is a Synchro-Compur - the same as on a Contaflex Super.  The speed range is 1 second to 1/500th second and B.  The lens is a Voigtlander Color-Skopar 1:2.8 50mm lens made in 1961 (going by the serial number).  These are superb lenses and are Voigtlander's version of a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar.  Focussing is from 3.5 feet to infinity.

Voigtlander Bessamatic

A nice innovation is a couple of red pointers that move apart or together as the aperture is changed.  These mark out the depth of field on the focussing scale.  Focussing is by the whole lens assembly moving rather than just the front element so image quality should be maintained throughout the focussing range.

I have run one film through this camera, and, alas, there is light leaking into the back from three different places - without replacing all the light seals, this camera is useless.  I have now replaced the light seals but I have yet to test it with another film.