The Agat 18K vs the Kodak Ektar H35

Huss

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I had just loaded the 5th roll of film in my Kodak, when I decided to take it out and shoot it in the Agat instead.
I wanted to refresh my memory on how the Agat handles C200, because the pics I dug up shows the Agat really has a special lens.
While the Kodak is sharp in the middle, it gets smeary to the edges. The Agat's lens just flat out rocks - also helped by the fact that it can be focused.



So is the Agat "better"? Not if you just want a very simple easy to handle camera that makes good pics and is easy to use. The Agat can make sharper pics, and you can adjust the exposure (and focus) but those virtues make it less care-free and much harder for someone inexperienced/no experience to use. For the novice who just wants to shoot film, the Kodak is the choice. It also has a clearer VF that is naturally set in portrait mode. The Agat if held as designed, will create images in the landscape mode.

But man does the Agat have a remarkably good lens!
 

Nicholas Lindan

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Yeah, funny how those Roosky Commie Bastards (hey, I was brought up in age of "Duck & Cover") thought that lens performance in a camera was important, and by God (er, Marx) the Proletariat was going to get an acceptable triplet lens whether they wanted it or no. Also witness the Smena 8. If only they had put the optics guys in charge of shutters and wind mechanisms.
 
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Huss

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So many times I've 'almost' bought a Smena because of the lens, then I read comments like yours and back away slowly!

Fedka is still selling them new! But a new 20-30 year old camera has a very high chance of everything being gummed up and if shutter and wind failures are common place already, adding non-use to that just ups the ante.
The other thing that has stopped me pulling the trigger is the USPS $26 shipping charge. That is $10 over USPS priority medium box rates which kinda bugs me as USPS provides the boxes etc. And USPS will pick up for free from your location.
 

nosmok

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Those Smena lenses surface from time to time on eBay, modified for LTM focus distance. I bought one and am glad I did. They are even more frequently sold unmodified, but as the mount is 39mm anyway, I wonder how hard the mod is to do yourself.
 

Minolta93

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Since the AGAT is mostly plastic, does anyone know if the mechanism can be 3D printed or replicated somehow?
 

Nicholas Lindan

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Huss said:
So many times I've 'almost' bought a Smena because of the lens, ... But a new 20-30 year old camera has a very high chance of everything being gummed up and if shutter and wind failures are common
Click to expand...
My comments were about FSU cameras in general, Feds & Zorkis in specific. I haven't put enough rolls through my Smena 8 to judge reliability.

If you want a reliable camera with a triplet then an Agfa Silette/Solina isn't a bad bet - though figure you are going to have to deal with the green goo/glue problem in the helicoid.
 
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Huss

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aah I thought u were talking about the Smena.
 
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Huss

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4season said:
Since no one else has asked, why are those people standing on the wall?
Click to expand...

That there is the historic train yard.

General Information - California State Railroad Museum

Home to 225,000 square-feet of exhibits and beautifully restored railroad cars and locomotives which illustrate railroad history in California and the West.
www.californiarailroad.museum

They keep all sorts of very pretty locomotives in a semi-circular hanger, and have a giant lazy susan type device which is rotated to pull trains out, and put them away. There is a track right there that is used by these trains for a short ride.
As it is a show, there is a fee to be in there to watch. As there is a fee, many stand on the wall outside and pull down on the fencing so they can get a free peek.
 

xkaes

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Huss said:
So is the Agat "better"? Not if you just want a very simple easy to handle camera that makes good pics and is easy to use.
Click to expand...

So the Agat is not a "LOMO". That's not NEWS to Agat users. Just because a camera is tiny and simple doesn't mean it creates "LOMO" results. The Agat isn't just a great camera because of the lens, it has what the BIGGER BOYS have -- great optics, focusing lens, DOF scale, hot flash shoe, f-stop & shutter speed adjustment, etc.

But with a little effort, even "LOMO LOVERS" can figure out its easy-to-use weather icons.
 
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Huss

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LOMO was not mentioned in this thread. Please pay attention.
By the way do you use an Agat? If so, post some pics to this thread with it.
 

xkaes

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Hence the use of " ". The H35 certainly qualifies by any definition.
 

henryvk

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Huss said:
Fedka is still selling them new! But a new 20-30 year old camera has a very high chance of everything being gummed up and if shutter and wind failures are common place already, adding non-use to that just ups the ante.
Click to expand...

If you get a Smena Symbol or a BeLOMO Vilia there's little that can go wrong. The Symbol in particular is pretty robust.

Out of the dozen or so Soviet cameras I've owned I had exactly one lightly sticky shutter and one complete failure, and that wasn't even the mechanism itself but the end of a shutter curtain coming off a roller. They are pretty robust and instances of failures are imho overstated.
 

ciniframe

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Toyed with getting an Agat 18 but was held back by reports of fragile cameras. Anyway, my Pen original it finest half frame what could be. That bold statement will make Hess ask for pictures…sorry, don’t even know where to begin, computer stuff crushes me and I must have some energy field because the
the digital world hates me.
 

xkaes

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All of the rangefinder Pen cameras are great. I love my D3, but most Pens are strictly automatic -- OK, you can set some for flash use which sets the shutter speed at 1/30 and then you can set the f-stop -- but the Agat, like several other half-frame cameras, allows you to change the shutter speed and the f-stop.
 
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Huss

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One thing I dont think I’ve mentioned before are the film counters. Yes 72 shots are plenty but I still like to know how many I have left.
The Agat is fantastic in this regard, the Kodak is pretty much invisible.


 

ciniframe

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I have a question about the Agat. Are the shutter and aperture settings completely independent of each other? Can you set any combination of shutter speed and aperture? Also does it have a ‘B’ setting on the shutter. Although I’ve looked at photo swap meets never have actually found one to handle.

Edit; Should have done my due diligence. Found my answer on Mike Ekman’s site.
 
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xkaes

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The AGAT is like many other half-frame cameras, most notably Canon, where you change the aperture and the shutter speed together -- often to match a needle. On a few cameras you know exactly what you are getting/setting, on others you know approximately what you are setting, and on other you basically guess. With the AGAT, you know the aperture, but the shutter speed is set by the film speed -- so you could figure that out.
These approaches were used on other film format cameras as well, such as the Minolta 16mm MG -- it's match needle and tells you approximately what the shutter speed and aperture are.
 

xkaes

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CALLING ALL PROCRASTINATORS!!!

I was right. The EKTAR H35 cameras are now showing up on EBAY -- starting at $29.95, NEW, IN THE BOX with free shipping -- about the same price as the smaller, more functional and useful AGAT.

Don't worry -- I will not be bidding against you.
 
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Cholentpot

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Where you finding an Agat for $30 shipped?
 

ciniframe

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Yeah, same info on the site I visited. Thanks. Don’t know why this simple camera interested me, can use my Pen anytime I want. The Pen is 13 oz. okay for a cargo pocket, otherwise I just have it on a neck strap.
And, although the Agat 18 natural orientation is landscape it’s never been a problem to use my Pen in the same manner.
 
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