So the Agfa Optima Sensor 535 wasn’t the camera I thought I was buying, wasn’t the camera I wanted, but after two rolls, I’m glad to have it: it’s really a great little camera.
For the first roll, I ran some Konica Pro 160 through it. I did my usual out the window long exposures. For the one on the left, the camera exposed for about 12 seconds (counting 1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi) and then I stopped it by winding to the next frame. For the second, I counted off 32 Mississippi’s before I heard the shutter close, so it seems the reported 15 second maximum shutter speed is inaccurate, or the camera had an error.
I took a couple of other random shots at work, I was really just banging out frames to check for light leaks and make sure the camera functioned properly.
For the second roll, I loaded up some Kodak Plus-X 125, and used a 49-52 step-up ring to add an orange filter to the front before heading out on the WorldWide Photowalk. I’ve shared those already, but here are a few highlights.
For the third roll, I loaded up my favorite color stock, Kodak’s excellent Pro Image 100. (Apologies for the color in these, I think some of them are off: I’ve had some recent troubles with consistency in this monitor.)
Hana, Samie and I tried out a new-ish local Mediterranean restaurant (one-star, at best), and I took a flash along to test out flash exposures. To be honest, I think they came out a bit dark. It could be that I had the aperture set incorrectly, but I really have no idea how the flash system works, so it could be the exposure program too, I guess.
The next day, we had a neighborhood potluck picnic. I really need to work on my timing (or maybe not), but the Agfa did a great job, for its part.
And after that, it was back to work and random shots out the window and while walking around… Good times.
So the Agfa Optima Sensor 535 has really impressed me, and I’m glad to have it in my collection. It’s easy to use, and gives great results, so if you find one for a good price—anything under $50 is great in the United States in 2017, imo; prices should be roughly similar in Europe, where these cameras are far more common, but still not particularly well known—pick it up!
And I may update this post with some better/more consistent scans at some point. The color is way off, I think, and apologies, again, for that.
