This Agfa Super Silette is not a first string camera in my book. It
is solid and seemingly well made, but it has the charmless bulkiness
of early '60s Agfas. It has a Color Apotar lens, a rangefinder and a
Prontor SVS shutter. The Color Apotar lens, apparently a "triplet"
and not a Tessar, is well-regarded, but something of an also ran
when stacked (and piled) on the shelf beside many others of more
exalted pedigree. I've actually had very nice results from a Color
Apotar on a single lens reflex.
However, what's the point of acquiring an old camera if you're not
going to give it a spin at least once? Jay Leno probably owns an old
4-cylinder Porshe 912; surely he's willing to forsake a ride in a
400hp turbo once to take the old 912 around the block.
I went downtown today, in nasty weather, to catch the Modigliani exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario before it closes. This shot was taken while heading up the stairs from the subway. No, not much of a shot.
Before heading into the AGO, I tried to take another shot out of doors, but the shutter jammed. It advanced but would not fire.
I went through the Modigliani exhibit wearing my down vest and my bulky down coat, with the Agfa stuffed in a pocket and a small bag for another camera - a Contax 139 Quartz with a Yashica ML f/1.4 50mm lens. And a sheaf of papers, for reading on the subway, rolled in my hand. Abominable snowgeek.
After going through the Modigliani, I headed further along the main hall to the large room devoted to Henry Moore sculptures. There photography is permitted. I tried the camera again, and could see the rewind whatsis turn when I advanced. So I took more photos. some turned out, but some had spacing problems.
