The Agfa Karat 36

      It's always interesting to consider vintage cameras in the context of history. Consider, for example, a 1950s Leica, Agfa, Canon, Contax, Voigtlander, or any of the many different brands that were manufactured during those years. I've always wondered about the owner of some of the cameras in my collection. What were they like? Where did they live? What kind of images did they produce? What did they look like? What were their thoughts about politics, religion, and life in general?

      Manufactured in Germany, The Agfa Karat 36 was produced between 1948 and 1952 while that country was still occupied by the Allies. Like many other European countries, Germany was still devastated by World War Two. The German economy was in a shambles; many of its cities had not yet recovered from repeated bombings; and its people struggled to find enough food and other necessities. Despite those handicaps, however, many German camera companies were able to produce beautifully designed, mechanically sound instruments.
     Agfa made its first camera in 1926 and continued producing cameras until the 1980s. This company also manufactured Rodinal developer and Agfa film. The Agfa Karat 36 is probably the earlier of two versions produced just a few years after the end of World War Two.
      Although its finish is much duller than that of a contemporary Leica, Canon, or Voigtlander camera, it is, nevertheless, a beautifully crafted, dependable camera that has a few features that are lacking in other cameras of the late 1940s. For example, it had a film advance lever (black dot) instead instead of a knob.
       It also had a lever (yellow dot) that you can adjust to hold the shutter open for extended periods of time while the shutter is set at T. And it had a swing back for easy loading (not shown in photo).
      The film advance lever (black dot) is shown elevated. To operate it, you place it in the horizontal position and pull it toward you. Note that the viewfinder and rangefinder windows aren't on the same level. That's because the rangefinder presents a split image rather than the rangefinder patch found on most cameras. Truth to tell, I prefer the split image to the more modern RF patch.
       The green dot marks the shutter release linkage that's activated by the shutter release above the yellow dot. The violet dot indicates the aperture adjustment pointer. The red dot shows the focusing knob, and the blue dot rests on the speed adjustment dial (B-250).

     The controls at the top of the Agfa Karat 36 are arranged in traditional fashion. From left to right: rewind knob (red); accessory shoe (blue); depth of field scale (yellow); shutter release (green); film counter (violet); film advance (black), shown depressed. In this view (left) the lens is shown retracted.

      The red dot in the photo (below) marks the catch that releases the lens to its extended position. The bellows isn't visible. At the base of the photo you can  see a second catch (blue dot) that allows you to open the swing back of the camera. The swing back is a feature that wasn't found often on other cameras of the time. Note that the eyepiece is positioned just to the left of center on the rear of the camera's back plate.                                                                                  

     I really like the Agfa Karat 36 with its f2.0-f16 Schneider Kreutznach 50mm lens. Although some photographers would find the relatively slow 1/250 shutter speed and the lack of flash synch to be inconveniences, they weren't problems for me. My only complaint would be that the camera lacks strap lugs.

COMING SOON: Nicca Type 5 and Leica IIIg