New half frame camera from Agfaphoto

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

NEWS: Double the Fun with AgfaPhoto's New 35mm Half Frame Film Camera

Lupus Imaging & Media, the company now behind the AgfaPhoto brand and APX black and white films, has brought us a new fixed-focus half-frame camera with a 50mm F5.6 lens. The AgfaPhoto Half Frame 35mm camera is similar to what we have seen in the Kodak Ektar H35 from the Reto Project, but for...

www.35mmc.com

It is cheaper than the Kodak version. And by version, I’m pretty sure it is one mfg that makes all these cameras and packages them in how the final retailer see fit, to make it seem like it is ‘their’ camera.

Interestingly Agfaphoto claims it is a 50mm f5.6 lens. I don’t believe that for a second as it is physically exactly the same size as the full frame version they sell w the 31mm f10 lens. And as it is a fixed focus lens, 50mm 5.6 would not show the DOF that this lens seems to. The exposures, seeing that the author is using ISO 400 film, also do not seem to match up to an f5.6 lens.

Unfortunately none of that is addressed in the article.

Don_ih · Mar 6, 2023

Do these look like a 50mm lens on a half frame?

They don't to me.

foc · Mar 6, 2023

Don Heisz said:
Do these look like a 50mm lens on a half frame?

View attachment 331622

They don't to me.

Neither does it look like that to me.

On a half frame camera the "normal" lens would be between 28 - 35mm (approx)
A 50mm lens on a half frame would be the equivalent of a 70 - 75mm (approx) on a 35mm camera.

BTW I wish them all the best. Any new camera is more than welcome.

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

Don Heisz said:
Do these look like a 50mm lens on a half frame?

View attachment 331622

They don't to me.

Nor do the exposures look f5.6 @ 1/120 @ ISO 400.

I posed the question to the author at the site - who now appears to be a regular contributor/part of the staff - with no answer.
I like the site and Hamish, but it seems to me that maybe a staff member, if inexperienced, should perhaps research answers to questions posed?

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

retina_restoration said:
Get yourself an original Pen FT, not this plastic junk.

I already have a Pen FT. And my plastic junk Kodak H35 has given me some pics I really really like.

Don_ih · Mar 6, 2023

The writing around the lens on this AgfaPhoto camera reminds me of every "Optical Lens" camera I've ever seen.

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

retina_restoration said:
I didn't say that you cannot get good photos from one of these plastic half-frame cameras. But if you think they're going to survive more than 20 rolls of film run through them, think again. That's why - if someone is looking for a half-frame camera, I recommend a "real" camera like a Pen FT, which is potentially going to last longer than the user. Ultimately, these cheap plastic jobs are disposables, but with a slightly longer expiration date.

Not every new camera is worth investing in, certainly not just for the fact that its new.

Ok. But off topic.
It's about these cheap plastic half frames, not if a Pen is a better camera.

reddesert · Mar 6, 2023

The market of potential buyers for these new (plastic, cheap, new) cameras is not the same as the market for Pen F SLRs (several times more expensive, nice, used, reputationally difficult to repair).

It is an unfortunate tendency to tell people that they need to buy a more complicated thing that is several times more expensive - it tends to drive off newbies (I know Huss isn't a newbie, just speaking generally).

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

The simple plastic cameras definitely attract newbies who just want to get started with fun film shots, w/o having to deal w the hassle of finding a working used camera. I have seen kids getting ripped off so many times by some a-h@les selling them a broken SLR claiming all is good.

And for experienced photogs (I'll lump myself into that group) they can be really fun as a casual sunny day take to the beach type thing. Where their miniscule weight and size make them a blast to bring along, can hand it to a friend, and just have fun with it.

This was taken with the Kodak H35, and wouldn't have been any better if I used my Pen FT.

xkaes · Mar 6, 2023

Don Heisz said:
The writing around the lens on this AgfaPhoto camera reminds me of every "Optical Lens" camera I've ever seen.

The writing around the lens does say "50mm f5.6" which is VERY odd for a half-frame camera -- especially since they sell the same camera in a full-frame version with a 31mm f9 lens.

A 31mm would make more sense, but a 25mm would be GREAT.

Huss · Mar 6, 2023

xkaes said:
The writing around the lens does say "50mm f5.6" which is VERY odd for a half-frame camera -- especially since they sell the same camera in a full-frame version with a 31mm f9 lens.

A 31mm would make more sense, but a 25mm would be GREAT.

Exactly. No way it is a 50mm f5.6.

Bronson Dugnutt · Mar 6, 2023

foc said:
Neither does it look like that to me.

On a half frame camera the "normal" lens would be between 28 - 35mm (approx)
A 50mm lens on a half frame would be the equivalent of a 70 - 75mm (approx) on a 35mm camera.

BTW I wish them all the best. Any new camera is more than welcome.

Yep, ~50mm is almost certainly the effective focal length rather than the physical one; the camera is half-frame mirrorless, after all.

There's a waterhouse-style stop in place, probably around f10. It reminds me a bit of the two cameras below; the aperture slides out of place when the flash is engaged.

(Hanimex 35SE)
(Hanimex 35S)
TL;DR - 38mm (full-frame), fixed shutter @ 1/125; f16, f10, and f5.6/f4. Fully mechanical, save the capacitors, and the S has a coated lens.

A 31mm in the agfa seems likely, as per OP. Much more FOV than in a 25mm 14x10mm frame, imho.

Don_ih · Mar 7, 2023

Bronson Dugnutt said:
~50mm is almost certainly the effective focal length rather than the physical one

But has anyone ever seen a camera with an "effective" focal length written on the lens? 1/2 frame is the format, so the effective focal length would be whatever the actual focal length is.

Nitroplait · Mar 7, 2023

Don Heisz said:
But has anyone ever seen a camera with an "effective" focal length written on the lens? 1/2 frame is the format, so the effective focal length would be whatever the actual focal length is.

They are likely catering to a crowd that grew up with digital cameras where it is common to write the 35mm equivalent focal length on the lens.

Don_ih · Mar 7, 2023

Nitroplait said:
They are likely catering to a crowd that grew up with digital cameras where it is common to write the 35mm equivalent focal length on the lens.

I don't think I've ever seen a digital camera lens with anything other than the actual focal length written on it, though.

xkaes · Mar 7, 2023

Don Heisz said:
I don't think I've ever seen a digital camera lens with anything other than the actual focal length written on it, though.

Just because you haven't seen them, don't mean they are not there. For example, the Minolta A1, A2 & A200 digital cameras have a great 7.2-50mm zoom but the zoom scale is only marked 28-200mm.

Don_ih · Mar 7, 2023

xkaes said:
Just because you haven't seen them, don't mean they are not there. For example, the Minolta A1, A2 & A200 digital cameras have a great 7.2-50mm zoom but the zoom scale is only marked 28-200mm.

Yet the front of the lens is marked for its actual focal length. Their zoom scale is noted to be "equivalent".

I just wonder if there is any digital camera with its lens identified by equivalence rather than its actual focal length.

MattKing · Mar 7, 2023

An example - just because this twigged my memory:

Admittedly, it does add (Equiv). I vaguely remember that this was fairly common back when digital cameras were starting to become commonly available.

Don_ih · Mar 7, 2023

MattKing said:
Admittedly, it does add (Equiv). I vaguely remember that this was fairly common back when digital cameras were starting to become commonly available.

That is a good example, but I doubt you'll find any digital camera made in the last 15 years that's been marked in such a way. At that time, they had to explain it in terms people familiar with 35mm would understand. They no longer need to do that.

xkaes · Mar 7, 2023

Don Heisz said:
At that time, they had to explain it in terms people familiar with 35mm would understand. They no longer need to do that.

The digital forums are full of questions from users confusing focal lengths and results for APS (half-frame) and full frame cameras.

I bet the 50mm marking is intentional, but I have my doubts about the f5.6 marking. Wishful thinking on their part, perhaps.

Huss · Mar 7, 2023

xkaes said:
I bet the 50mm marking is intentional, but I have my doubts about the f5.6 marking. Wishful thinking on their part, perhaps.

It's just weird, because their other camera has the correct marked focal length. And it makes no sense to the avg buyer, because frankly they don't care about if it says 50mm, or 31, or. They'll just look through the VF and think 'ok.
The 5.6 is a bigger deal IMO, cuz that is just not true on any level.

I find it a shame that on 35mmc they don't question that. Normally that site is pretty good and the reviewer is on staff.

reddesert · Mar 7, 2023

On the 35mmc blog, the picture of the camera where you can see the focal length marking is courtesy the distributor (Lupus Imaging) and looks like a digital rendering, or at least a cleaned-up Photoshopped version of a photograph (For example, the drop shadow looks added).

So it's not even clear what the physically-existing camera says on the lens - 35mmc published a couple of photos taken with the actual camera, which is perhaps more useful than a stylized picture of it. I don't think it's worth obsessing over the lens marking until one sees a true picture of the thing.

Don_ih · Mar 7, 2023

From Instagram -- that says 50 5.6.

Huss · Mar 7, 2023

Don Heisz said:
View attachment 331789

From Instagram -- that says 50 5.6.

And you can also see that at any place selling them!

Huss · Mar 7, 2023

FYI, I am not knocking the camera as a camera, just the description of it. And the lame review that buys into it.

I am sure this camera is the exact same as the Kodak H35, baring slight design differences. And I would now buy the Agfaphoto version because it is cheaper.

New half frame camera from Agfaphoto

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