The Ultimate Optimas

In the mid 1970's, with the sale of European cameras diminishing in the flood of Japanese innovation, Agfa-Gevert AG Munchen must have decided to make a last-ditch attempt to face up to the competition. Bravely, they discarded most of their current designs and created an entirely new range of cameras, featuring the distinctive red "Sensor" shutter release, a soft membrane covering a very sensitive trigger. I've chosen to feature the Flash because it's design included a built-in flash, an innovation shared by few cameras of that era, that set the pattern for a generation of point-and-shoot cameras to come. This flash lifts up high enough to reduce the red-eye potential which plagued later compact cameras, but had the disadvantages of clunky operation, increased size and manufacturing complexity.

The Optima Sensor cameras were designed from scratch, possibly by the same team who produced the beautiful Plaubel Makina, and represent a marvelous era of German industrial design, with the emphasis on ergonomics and performance, combined with the minimalist beauty that practical and efficient design bestows upon a product. Comparisons with the Rollei 35 are sometimes made, and I can see a similarity of thought, and build quality. This Flash was manufactured in Germany, but apparently many of the other models were made in a designated Optima plant in Portugal.

There were several Optimas in the range, of which I have three. The most sought-after model is the 1535 with it's coupled rangefinder, but I suspect I'll never own one. An international search I mounted on the big auction site over a period of several months turned up very few for sale, and none with a start price of less that $150... I have a 1035, virtually the same specifications as the Flash but without the flash, and the "Sensor" or 535, with a slightly less advanced shutter and reputedly lesser-grade lens coatings.

Here are some of the specifications of the Flash, mostly shared by the other Optimas in the range.

Huge reverse Galilean viewfinder with brightlines, probably the best I've encountered. It's like looking out of a window at the world beyond. A red LED in the viewfinder indicates underexposure.

Fully coated Agfa 45mm Color-Solitar lens, an extremely sharp 4-element f2.8, and a programmed Paratronic shutter with speeds from 1/45 to 1/1000. Other models provide an increased range of lower speeds, but I guess the designers figured that the flash would take over when the going got tough.

An excellent film quick-load system with the bottom spindle dropping down as the back opens. Agfa borrowed a Rapid design feature and the film leader is inserted into a covered take-up compartment where it coils itself and is protected, albeit briefly, in the case of the back being accidentally opened. A little rewind button on the top deck reverses the direction of travel of the winding system, so the advance lever then becomes the rewind lever. Smart, space-efficient, and practical.

Zone focusing with people and mountain symbols and feet/metres, and a clever little film counter which changes the number when the shutter is tripped. Another nice design feature is the rotating strap lugs that help prevent strap hang-ups and twists; how cunning is that! It's a very small camera, measuring 118x86x59mm with flash folded, and weighs about 350 grammes.

The build quality is just great, with an all-steel chassis, and plastics used only where they do the job better than metal, not as a cost-cutting measure. It's a heavy little nugget of a camera, finished in a pleasant sort of matt crackle texture. It has the charm of all small, well-built cameras, sitting beautifully in the hand. From my point of view, it's the street-shooter par excellence, the shutter being practically inaudible. The Flash runs on two AAA batteries., while the others in the range use three 1.5 volt button cells. As an ironic footnote, when the production run ended, the production tools were sold to a Chinese company and a slightly modified Flash reappeared as the Quingdao 6.

How does it perform? Impeccably, in my experience; the lens is truly excellent, the Paratronic shutter, developed over a decade of earlier Optimas, is well-nigh infallible, and it's just about the most reliable and fuss-free camera I own. Not far short of brilliant; here are a few pics from a Superia 400 film, but this size really doesn't do them justice. Scans from an Epson V700.

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