Company[]
AGFA was the abbreviation for Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation, given in 1873 to a company that had been founded in Berlin in 1867. It produced chemicals for photography. Most famous is the film developer Rodinal, introduced in 1892 and continued for 115 years. When Agfa obtained the Rietzschel camera works in Munich from Bayer in 1925, it badged all Rietzschel products with its Agfa rhombus. In 1926 it introduced the first real Agfa camera, the Standard. In 1927 the name Rietzschel disappeared from the products. In that year the successful Billy camera series was introduced, and Agfa licensed Ansco to manufacture its products for the American market.
In 1930 the first Agfa Box camera for 6×9 cm exposures on roll film was produced. In the following year it popularized photography in Germany by dumping the Box 44 for 4 Reichsmark, easily recouping its losses afterwards by selling Agfa 120 roll films. In 1937 it brought out its first camera for 35mm film.
After WWII Agfa improved its prewar models and introduced the new 35mm Solinette. In 1954 it modernized its camera design with the Silette series; 1956 saw the introduction of the medium format Automatic 66. In 1959 a 35mm viewfinder camera with autoexposure button followed, the Optima. In 1964 Agfa introduced the Rapid system as an answer to Kodak's 126 film. The company debuted cameras accepting 126 film in 1967.
In 1968 Agfa introduced its red sensor point, a round membrane made of red foil and framed with a metal ring. Depending on the camera type, either a mechanical or an electromechanical shutter release button was hidden under the flexible membrane. Since then this touchpad-like shutter button was used on most of the company's models and became a familiar feature.
In Germany Agfa had a huge success with its popular "Ritsch-Ratsch" pocket cameras, which accepted 110 cartridge film. A whole series of these Agfamatic cameras was launched twice, the first series using magicubes and the second, flipflash. Of course these cameras had the red sensor point as shutter release button.
In the early 1980s Agfa produced its last film cameras. The new models of the Selectronic series were manufactured by Chinon. Agfa gave up camera production in 1983. All later Agfa film cameras were OEM products.
In the early days of digital photography Agfa sold low end compact cameras under the Agfa ePhoto name. Today the AgfaPhoto brand is licenced by German photographic company Plawa which sells a modest line of AgfaPhoto Sensor compact digital cameras.
35mm film cameras[]
Folding[]
- Karat
- Memo
- Solinette
- Super Solinette
Fixed lens[]
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| Agfa Optima 1535 sensor by alf_sigaro (Image rights) |
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| Agfa Silette LK Sensor c.1970 by Süleyman Demir (Image rights) |
- Isoly 100
- Optima series
- Optima Sensor series
- Selecta
- Agfa Silette series
- Super Silette series
- Agfa Solina
- Agfa Super Solina
Fixed lens, half-frame[]
Rangefinder, interchangeable lens[]
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| Agfa Ambi Silette, c.1957 by Süleyman Demir (Image rights) |
SLR[]
- Colorflex
- Ambiflex
- Selectaflex
- Agfaflex
TLR[]
27 film cameras[]
Folding[]
- Agfa Billy 0 (Zero)
- Agfa Standard
120 film cameras[]
Folding[]
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| Agfa Isolette/Jsolette (1937) by Süleyman Demir (Image rights) |
- Agfa Automatic 66
- Agfa Billy
- Agfa Billy-Clack
- Agfa Billy Compur
- Agfa Billy I
- Agfa Billy Jgetar 8.8
- Agfa Billy Record
- Agfa Billy Record I
- Agfa Billy Record II
- Agfa Billy Record III
- Isolette, also known as Jsolette or Isorette
- Agfa Isolette I
- Agfa Isolette II
- Agfa Isolette III
- Isolette V
- Isolette L
- Agfa Record I
- Agfa Record II
- Agfa Record III
- Super Isolette
Rigid[]
Box[]
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| Agfa Clack c.1959 by Süleyman Demir (Image rights) |
- Trolix (also known as Box 14)
- Box 44
- Box 50
- Synchro Box (also known as Agfa Synchro Box 600)
- Box 94 (also known as Agfa Box B-2
Plate cameras[]
Rapid film cameras[]
- Iso-Rapid I
- Iso-Rapid IF
- Iso-Rapid Ic
- Iso-Rapid C
- Isoflash Rapid
- Isoflash Rapid C
- Isomat Rapid
- Isomat Rapid C
- Moto-Rapid C
- Optima Rapid series
- Silette Rapid I
- Silette Rapid F
- Silette Rapid L
126 film cameras[]
- IsoPak
- IsoPak C
- IsoPak Ci
- Autostar
- Autostar X-126
- Agfamatic
- Agfamatic X-126
- Agfamatic 126
- Agfamatic 50
- Agfamatic 50S
- Agfamatic 55C
- Agfamatic 100
- Agfamatic 108
- Agfamatic 200
- Agfamatic 208
- Agfamatic 300
110 film cameras[]
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| AGFAMATIC 2000 Pocket (1973) image by Girolamo (Image rights) |
The series 1000/2000/... accepted magicubes.
The series 508/1008/... accepted flipflash.
The sophisticated models had a special hot shoe for the Agfamatic Lux flashes.
- Agfa Mini
- Agfamatic 508 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 1000 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 1000S pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 2000 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 3000 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 3000 Flash Pocket
- Agfamatic 4000 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 508 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 1008 tele pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 2008 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 2008 tele pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 3008 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 4008 pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 5008 makro pocket sensor
- Agfamatic 6008 makro pocket sensor
- Optima 5000 pocket sensor
- Optima 6000 pocket sensor
- Agfa Easy
- Agfa Autostar pocket
- Agfamatic 901 motor
- Agfamatic 901E motor
- Agfamatic 901S motor
- Agfa Traveller
- Snapper
APS film cameras[]
Digital[]
- Agfa ActionCam (1995)
- Agfa StudioCam (1995)
- Agfa ePhoto 1280 (1997 0.7 megapixel)
- Agfa ePhoto 1680 (1998 1.2 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto 307 (1997)
- Agfa ePhoto 780
- Agfa ePhoto 780c
- Agfa ePhoto CL18 (2000, 0.3 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto CL20
- Agfa ePhoto CL30 (1999, 0.9 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto CL30 Clik! (1999, 0.9 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto CL34
- Agfa ePhoto CL45 (2001; 0.7 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto CL50 (1999 1.2 mp)
- Agfa ePhoto Smile (0.3 mp)
Accessories[]
Japanese advertisements[]
 
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| Advertisements for Agfa products in Asahi Camera February 1930 and Shashin Salon January 1934. (Image rights) |
Bibliography[]
- Asahi Camera. Advertisement in February 1930 (p.A20).
- Shashin Salon. Advertisement in January 1934.
Links[]
| Camera industry in Berlin |
| Agfa | Amigo | Astro Berlin | Bermpohl | B W | Foth | Goerz | Grass & Worff | Plasmat | Rudolph | Rüdersdorf | Schulze & Billerbeck |
| Camera industry in Munich |
| Agfa | Deckel | Eder | Enna | Friedrich | Leitmeyr | Linhof | Niezoldi & Krämer | Perka | Rietzschel | Staeble | Steinheil |
In English:
- Orphancameras.com, with many Agfa camera manuals in PDF format. The site also includes old camera mail-order catalogues from the 40s and 50s listing prices and abilities.
- Flickr group agfa photography
- Agfa cameras in Andrys Stienstra's camera collection
- Picture Gallery using Agfa Isoly picturenoise.com
- Gallery of Agfa Synchro Box at f/6.3 Studio
- Gallery of Agfa Trolix at f/6.3 Studio
- Gallery of Agfa Clack at f/6.3 Studio
- Gallery of Agfa Billy Clack at f/6.3 Studio
- Agfa on Pocketable History by J. Noir
- Agfa Isolette on PicasaWeb Album AGFA Isolette by Gunther H.G. Geick
- Agfamatic Pocket Cameras on PicasaWeb Album by Gunther H.G. Geick
- Agfa Cameras on PicasaWeb Album Classic Camera Collection by Gunther H.G. Geick
- [1] Agfa Standard 254 by Ryszard Kobus
In French:
- Agfa page at Collection G. Even's site
- Cameras and User Manual at www.collection-appareils.fr
- Agfa Cameras Timeline at www.collection-appareils.fr
In Spanish:
- Agfa on Historia de Bolsillo by J. Noir