Further down the rabbit hole: The Agfa Karat rapid film camera

Further down the rabbit hole: The Agfa Karat rapid film camera. 

Back in September of 2024, I picked up my first Rapid film cameras, some cheap Agfa Iso-Rapids. These basic, Agfa Clack-like cameras were supposed to be the end of it, but then I decided that I needed a few more Rapid canisters — which led to a couple more Agfa Iso-Rapids and the Ricoh 35K Rapid — and soon after I came across the Golden Wonder, my precious little Welta Penti II, that I decided would be perfect for the Frugal Film Project this year 

Surely that was enough, I thought. But then I discovered there was a Rapid camera in the Lomo Smena range, and so was added the Lomo Smena SL to my rapidly growing (pun intended) sub-collection. And just last week I added another Agfa Iso-Rapid and a Agfa Silette Rapid F camera because I wanted more canisters and it's cheaper to get a camera with a canister in it than buy the canister alone. And that's it, I have enough now, right? After all, I'm only using my Rapid film cameras for the Frugal Film Project, I don't need any more, right?

Wrong, I was browsing around the 'Bay a few days ago. Not looking for anything, really, just at my 'watched' items: there's a broken 3D Nimslo camera that is way overpriced, and a couple of first generation Lomo Smena Rapid cameras that I'm keeping an eye on just in case my SL doesn't deliver the goods. And then, way down the listing under the 'More Like This' tab, was a listing for an 'AGFA KARAT APOTAR 1:3.5 F=55mm', for the not unreasonable price of 18€ plus shipping from Germany. 

It was described as, 'Used and functional item with few to normal signs of wear. These are signs of use which arise in the context of normal or careful use,' and the condition was described as, ' [Category] C ... strong used and full working.' There were plenty of images, including one close up through the back of the camera hinting that the lens was nice and clean. Not too bad for a 1940s era camera. Did I mention that it was 18€?

But did I really want an original Karat camera? This was from the age before Agfa rejuvenated their Karat system as Agfa Rapid for the 1960s market to compete with Kodak's instamatic film cameras. So yes, I did.

As a bit of background, in the late 1930s Agfa began production of their Agfa Karat film cameras, a range of cameras that used 35mm film but instead in a proprietary spoolless metal canister, not the 35mm cassette that Kodak and many other manufacturers were using. These were 12-exposure cassettes and in each camera two canisters were used, one which held the unexposed film and another to receive exposed film that was simply pushed into it. 

The first cameras were nice looking art deco style cameras with slightly rounded bodies, but in the pre-War years Agfa simplified the bodies and post-War released an Agfa Karat with a cheaper lens, the Agfa Apotar 3.5/55 three element lens, which is the one I have. The Karat has aperture settings from f3.5 to f32, and a range of shutter speeds from 1s to 1/250s, plus B. By around 1948, with the release of the Karat 36 model, Agfa had abandoned the Karat film system in favour of using regular 35mm cassettes, and they were not to make cameras that used canisters until the 1960s, with the renamed Rapid system. 

I was a little concerned that the Agfa Karat was in worse condition than the seller had listed, for example, what if the lens was gummed up and it wouldn't focus, but when it arrived it was a little scuffed up but in sound mechanical condition. The lens, as it turned out, was not as clean as I had hoped, with a bit of fungus and haze on the elements. This will certainly need some attention before I can take it out.

What I was thrilled to find, though, was a Rapid canister included. No, that's wrong. It was not a Rapid canister from the 1960s onwards, but a genuine Karat canister from the 1940s. It's in lovely condition, with a matt black coating and a smooth finish to the touch. I'm not sure if I should consider this an addition to my collection of Rapid canisters, though, I reckon that if I try to add film to it that film might get a little scratched (going to try it, though).

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#Agfa, #Rapid, #Karat, #Canister, #RapidFilm, #Vintage, #Experimental, #AgfaKarat, #Cassette,