Agfa Silette Pronto: An Old Camera Captured My Heart

One month ago, I held the camera for the first time in my hands and now I don’t want to give it back.

Camera Specifications:

Shutter speed: 200 ; 100 ; 50 ; 25 ; B

Focus (in meters): 1 ; 1.1 ; 1.3 ; 1.6 ; 2 ; 3 ; 5 ; 10 ; ∞

Aperture size: 2.8 ; 4 ; 5.6 ; 8 ; 11 ; 16

Tripod thread: available

Self-timer: available

35mm film

weight: ~ 470 g (fits comfortably in the hand)

One month ago I held the camera for the first time in my hands. Stephan aka. mephisto19 let me borrow the camera on a lomo-meeting in Steinhude/Hagenburg/Lindhorst. I shot a first test-film with it there. I have asked many questions about the shutter speed and other things. Hundreds of questions later, I began with the first film. I was unsure because before I just shot with my Diana Mini and Holga 135 BC, and on these cameras, you can’t set so many things like shutter speed or aperture size.

This are my first Agfa-photos:

I was surprised because the photos are well (in my opinion).

This is why I borrowed the camera for a longer time and I did a little European tour with it.

Paris

London

Antwerp

Amsterdam

And now, some basic rules:

Aperture size on 2.8 → large aperture ← much light ; shorten the shutter speed! The focus is on only one zone.

Aperture size on 16 → small aperture ← less light; extend the shutter speed! The focus in on the whole photo.

A wise man once told me:

when the sun is shining, take the 8

But rules need not be followed, but broken.

This rules are for Germany (and maybe also Northern Europe). Please adjust it to your country.

I was surprised that you can also do double-exposures with the Agfa Silette Pronto, though it should not be possible. The trigger is coupled with the wind forward of the film. I think it is a mistake due to age.

With the flash and PC Flash Adaptor and the right settings, you can also do nice portraits in low light conditions.

Maybe you find this camera on a flea market or you see it in the Internet. I can recommend it to you.

written by brommi on 2011-06-29 #gear #review #camera #old #heart #lomography #film-camera #user-review #agfa-silette-pronto