Agfa Optima: the camera group
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L'Optima Signature est un gratte-ciel résidentiel de la ville de Chicago situé au 220 East Illinois Street dans le quartier de Streeterville. D'une hauteur de 179 mètres, le bâtiment comporte 57 étages et a été construit entre 2015 et 2017.
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461-034 na vozu 13141 ,,Optima express - Mandalin" Filah - Jedrene
eng: 461-034 on train 13141 ,,Optima express - Mandalin" Villach - Edirne
Ralja viaduct, Serbia
Am 26.10.2024 war der Optima Express der Grund für frühes aufstehen. Um 4:30 Uhr hätte der Zug in Bela Palanka sein sollen. Wie für den Optima allerdings typisch hatte der Zug gute drei Stunden Verspätung, weshalb es doch möglich war, den Zug in den ersten Sonnenstrahlen des Tages aufzunehmen und danach die Verfolgung zu starten.
ZS 666 001 hatte an diesem Tag die Aufgabe den Optima Express 13154 von Dimitrovgrad bis Niš zu bespannen.
LMM50 is slowing to the end of the siding at Optima to meet the eastbound ZLCG2. The west end of Optima siding was about where the autoracks were at, but this is one of the sidings that Union Pacific has extended to fit the longer trains of today.
Agfa Optima Reflex 35 mm TLR, a rather rare beast.
Shot with:
Leica MD (10101), made in 1965
Leitz Visoflex III with pentaprism and helicoidal focuser OTZFO
OTRPO adapter
Leitz Elmarit-M f=9cm 1:2.8 lens head
Ilford Pan-F Plus B&W negative film
Developed and scanned by www.meinfilmlab.de
A very popular camera by Agfa from the late 70s and a little marvel of industrial design. The "Optima Sensor" name had been used by Agfa for a series of simple electronic consumer cameras since the late 60s denoting the presence of a big, red, feather-touch shutter button (sensor) that adorned the top of the camera and was considered very hi-tech at the time.
This last series of the Agfa Optimas were marketed during the late 70s and production continued well into the 80's being hugely successful in the european market. At least 5 different models exist, including a rangefinder (Agfa Optima 1535) and one equipped with an electronic flash, aptly named "Agfa Optima Flash". The best online source of information regarding these cameras can be found here:
www.edition-oldenburg.de/agfa_optima.html
The Optima 1035 pictured here sits second from the top of the line-up feature-wise. It is a zone-focus camera with a fully automatic exposure system based on the Agfa Paratronic electronic shutter. Despite its introduction at a time when plastic was already being used extensively in camera manufacture, the littke Agfa is mostly made of metal with a very durable black coating. Some parts are made of plastic (like the film advance lever or the focusing ring) but the overall feel is that of a solid, durable camera.
The most prominent feature of the camera is the HUGE and extremely bright viewfinder which is a small revelation for first-time users. It is very close in size and brightness to the viewfinders found in premium rangefinders and makes using the camera a real joy. In the 1035 the VF features three distance symbols and a red needle that moves between them according to the chosen focus distance, the minimum being 0.9m. The frame line is illuminated and there are parallax correction marks for close subjects.
Another unique feature of the Optima is the lack of a rewind crank. With the help of (rather flimsy) toggle switch on the top plate, the film advance lever doubles as a rewind crank, a clever design that made the installation of such a bright finder on such a small camera possible.
Upon opening the film door, another clever feature makes its apperance: When loading the camera, the film is passed under a small shield on the winding side which protects film that has already been exposed from accidental opening of the film door.
The lens is a fast f2.8, 40mm four-element Solitar-S ("S" denoting multi-coating) which is quite sharp under good lighting conditions with good contrast and resistance to flare.
Shutter speeds go up to 1/1000s and in low light the Paratronic can stay open for at least one full second. The high top shutter speed combined with the minimum diaphragm opening of f22 ensure proper exposure of fast film even under the brightest conditions. The shutter is completely battery-dependent, it doesn't open at all if batteries are not installed. The feather-touch shutter release ensures minimum shake when taking the shot, reducing the chance of a blurry shot in relatively slow speeds.
Agfa engineers were clever enough to put the CdS cells of the metering system at the six o'clock position of the lens beauty ring, a fact that prevents shadowing of the sensors when a lens hood is used.
Not everything is good on the little Agfa though. For starters, the ASA setting stops at 400 which can be quite limiting if one wants to push fast film. Also, there is no backlight compensation provision, one has to change the ASA setting to deal with backlit subjects.
Additionally (and most annoyingly) the shutter produces an awful screeching sound when fired, probably the worst-sounding shutter I've ever come across, regardless of camera type.
Another ill-conceived feature of the camera (perhaps imposed by the necessity for small size) is the fact that the battery department is accessible only after opening the film door, so in case the batteries die mid-roll, the film must be rewound in order to change them. To make things worse, there doesn't seeem to be any means of knowing if the batteries are weak. The camera uses an uncommon arrangement of three 625 button cells, but at least its exposure system is designed for the common alkaline ones, not the obsolete mercury cells.
For some reason, Agfa deemed it necessary to equip the camera with a red LED lamp that sits above the lens barrel and lights up momentarily every time the shutter is fired, letting everyone know that you've taken their picture. It also blinks during countdown when the (mechanical) self-timer is activated.
As you can see from the picture, the Optima has no strap lugs, as Agfa chose to equip the camera with a proprietary screw-on neck strap that attaches on the left side, a solution that is a complete failure in my opinion. First of all, if you lose the strap there is no way you can replace it with a generic one. Also, the choice of a long neck strap is very poor for such a small, light camera which would benefit most from a short wrist strap, although a pair of scissors and a couple of rivets can easily remedy that. On top of that, placing the wrist strap on the left side is totally counterintuitive, as it virtually precludes secure single-handed operation of the camera with the right hand. According to the manual, the port for the screw-on strap doubles as the tripod mount, although this obviously implies that the camera can be used only in vertical orientation when on a tripod.
Overall, the small size and all-black color, combined with an accurate, fully automatic exposure system, a good semi-wide lens and an unsurpassed viewfinder, make this little Agfa very attractive as a stealthy street shooter. Still, there are a few shortcomings that make it fall short of being the perfect "little black beauty" a title I reserve for the Olympus XA2, my "golden standard" for this particular category of cameras.
Old film Agfa Optima 400 on Yashica Mat 120 . Home developed C41. Minimal post processing. Scanned with Nikon Coolpux 7700. This film sat in the fridge for 30 years!
Locomotive 46 221 of BDZ is heading east out of Sofia with train 13141 from Villach, AT to Edirne, TR - the seasonal chartered Optima Express train which consists of sleeping cars and covered autotransport wagons carrying the cars of the passengers.
The circa-800 tonne weight of this two-part consist requires at least a class-46 machine up front to climb the steep gradient at Vakarel.
It is not unusual for this train to accumulate a 10-hour delay along its course as was the case on this day which allowed taking this shot in Sofia.
This generation of the Kia Optima was sold here from 2015 until 2019. This one is in use by the armed forces of the Netherland. Cars of the ministry of Defense use the combination DM on their license plates.
Nur schade, dass der Fotograf den Farbfilm vergessen hatte, so kommt das blaue Blumenpolster nicht so gut raus ... 😢
Aufgenommen mit der Agfa Optima 1035 sensor electronic auf einem Agfa APX 400 (11/2010), noch "made in Germany".