Agfa Plenax Singlet and 20-year-old Tmax 100

[David]

A week or so ago I posted photos of an old Agfa Plenax. The camera's in decent shape but is clearly the base-level model. There appears to be only one element. The shutter has old T and instant (about 1/50th) settings. The lens only stops down to f14. Oh, and to make things even more interesting -- it's a fixed focal distance camera. So I decided to use a roll of Tmax 100 that expired in 1989 to see if it works. All these were 6X4.5. Eight of the shots turned out.


As I unrolled the film from the spool and saw this as the first image, I said 'and that's how THIS role's going to go.' I figured I might have some neat textures or such to share.


Then I saw this and was amazed -- no exaggeration. I did not expect this camera to produce any images with clarity or detail.


The lens has a fabulous DoF. The lights on the very far left were about 15 feet away and the Muni about 40 or 45.


For comparison, here is the image straight outta the camera. The image above has Photoshop auto contrast enhancement.
So the lens does lack contrast in a profound manner. That said, the image quality is not shabby.


Street shot.


Another street shot


f14


f32


f32. Close focusing is not an option. The pigeons were about three feet in front of the camera.

In sum, surprisingly good results -- impossibly better than I anticipated at any rate. The contrast is terrible, but the overall clarity is acceptable. However, the camera is not ANY fun to use because it presents almost no control functions.

[Nesster]

These are really interesting results, there's a charm about the simple 120 cameras

[David]

I can't argue that at all, Jussi. I'm actually not in any way displeased by -- and in fact am happy with -- the results. I want to try it again with another roll and see if I can learn how to really make it sing.