35mm Agfa Karat and Rapid film cartridges

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I found an old Agfa Karat at a local thrift store for on $10. I had to do some research on what kind of camera it is. I discovered that it used Afga Rapid cartridges. Does anybody have experience loading and unloading the cartridges?

 

[ic-racer]

Did you see this: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/messages/6790/19361.html?1280332061

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Thanks for the link! Also on the Internet, someone suggested reloading them my stuffing 35mm film in them.

 

[Luc More]

Hi!

If you don't have 2 empty cassettes, just go to some dark place or in a changing bag to cut a 12exp 35mm roll and put the film in the camera, rolled at the giving end), pass it over the film plate area and close the back. You should be able to shoot it just for checking that the camera works fine. Don't forget to NOT open the camera until you're again in the dark though.

If you have the cassettes, loading them from fresh 35mm stock is not difficult at all. Just cut leader with some round shape, it helps to insert into the cassettes. The cameras I have (Agfa ISO something RAPID, Agfa Silette Rapid, ...) will work only with short films (12exp, or 16exp if the camera does 24x24mm) so I load them with 12exp rolls or with the equivalent length of bulk film.

The Agfa ISO Rapid are plenty and cheap to buy, just ask the seller if they come with at least one or two cassettes. I'm not 100% sure that these are the same as/compatible with the Karat ones though.

Luc

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Luckily, mine came with cassettes. When I first saw them, I was puzzled. I think I'm limited to 12 shots ? But thanks for the great tip. I got the camera at a thrift store for $10. The helical focus is gummy and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. Looked up some pics on Flickr taken with Karats and the lens are pretty good.