Coming
in with a new post is a camera that was part of the Agfa box series, the Agfa
Clack. So far one of the oldest cameras I have and what makes this camera even
more amazing and special, is that it was my father’s, who gave it to me.
To
start, I will look at the Agfa company’s history. Boasting a 150 year run, Afga
has a “long and illustrious record of innovation and technological leadership. A
Belgian ‘photo products’ business and a German color dye manufacturer joined
forces and grew into an internationally renowned company in the graphic and
healthcare industries.” (Agfa 2024)
Founded
in 1867, by Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Carl Alexander von Martius, the
company went by the name Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation (or in other
words Agfa, for short and according to Analogue Wonderland (2024) translates to
Corporation for Aniline Production) and focused on creating chemicals for
microscopy, specifically aniline dyes. (Molenaar 2023)
Agfa
entered the photography business in 1879, when they introduced a new
photographic paper that had a gelatine coating (please see my Kodak 200 Color
Plus Film post for more information on how this gelatin works) and by 1909
rolled out its first roll of film (Analogue Wonderland 2024). This was the
Agfacolor and by 1925 merged with the chemical company Bayer to form IG Farben,
advancing their abilities to delve deeper into the chemical and photographic
industry (Molenaar 2023).
Agfa
was involved in the war effort to supporting the Nazis during WWII (Molenaar
2023) and suffered a lot of damage to their factories (Analogue Wonderland
2024). After the war IG Farben was dissolved by the allied forces and Agfa
became an independent company (Molenaar 2023).
Even
through all this Agfa still moved forward and in the 1950s “they introduced the
Agfacolor CT18, which was the first single-layer color reversal film. Agfa also
developed the Agfacolor Neu film system” (Molenaar 2023) and by the 1960s “Agfaphoto
expanded its product line even further, introducing a range of consumer
electronics products, including radios, tape recorders, and television sets.
The company also began to invest heavily in research and development, with a
particular focus on developing new photographic technologies…” (Analogue
Wonderland 2024).
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| Agfacolor Neu. Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Agfacolor_neu_-_7300960484.jpg/640px-Agfacolor_neu_-_7300960484.jpg |
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| Agfacolor CT18. Image Source: https://www.album-online.com/photos/most/NGU4MTNkMA/album_alb5562193.jpg |
By
the 1980s Agfa underwent a few mergers, most significantly in 1982 (although
Agfa (2024) states this was actually done in 1964) it merged with “Gevaert, a
Belgian photography company, to form Agfa-Gevaert. The new company continued to
produce a wide range of photographic equipment, but it also began to expand
into other areas, including healthcare and graphics,” (Analogue Wonderland
2024).
Gevaert,
according to Agfa (2024) was a company started in 1890 when the “22-year-old
Lieven Gevaert established his own workshop in Antwerp (Belgium), which was
mainly used for manufacturing calcium paper for photography. Barely four years
later, the businessman Armand Seghers helped to establish the limited stock
company ‘L. Gevaert & Cie’.”
L.
Gevaert & Cie took over The Blue Star Papers company, which became their
first subsidiary and introduced a new gelatine paper. L. Gevaert & Cie’s
business grew and by 1920 changed their name to Gevaert Photo Producten N.V.,
then to Agfa-Gevaert after the merger (Agfa 2024).
Then “With the advent of digital technology in
the late 20th century, Agfa transitioned from traditional photographic products
to digital imaging solutions. They developed a range of products, including
medical imaging equipment and digital printing technology” (Molenaar 2023). But
by 2000 “Agfaphoto began to experience financial difficulties, and in 2004, it
was declared bankrupt. The rights to the Agfaphoto brand were acquired by a
consortium of investors, who formed a new company called Agfaphoto Holding GmbH…”
(Analogue Wonderland 2024).
But
Agfa is still going on strong, focussing on IT, healthcare technology
advancements, industrial printing and much more (Molenaar 2023).
Now time for the camera, the Agfa Clack.
Manufactured between 1954-1965, as a part of the Agfa box series (considered even as the last of the series according to Filmphotography.eu (2024)), which was designed to be affordable and easy to use (Agiromony 2008). Its name is also quite unique. As Agiromony (2008), writes: “Maybe you are wondering about the name of the camera – Agfa CLACK: Push the button and you will not wonder anymore.”
The
camera also has a pretty interesting history, which fans of this Online Museum
might know I love to talk about, maybe a bit too much. So to make it as less
complicated and as compact as possible I will present an excerpt from Klomp’s
article The Agfa Clack:
“In
the case of the Clack, we're talking about the German Wirtschaftswunder
('economic miracle') of the 1950's.
Just
after the war, Germany was a big mess. Most of its factories had been
destroyed, as well as most of the main infrastructure. The allies could have
humiliated and poverized Germany, but considering that this approach indirectly
paved the path for Hitler after world war one, they decided to restructure
Germany into a modern state instead. Not only would that pacify the German
people, but it would also create an effective buffer between western Europe and
the east, where the Red danger was expanding rapidly.
It
was in this climate of funded industrial rebuilding that Germany incorporated
the newest technologies into brand new factories, thereby quickly regaining its
position of highly advanced technological nation. (Ironic though that most of
their chairmen were the same industrials who backed Hitler fifteen years
before.) Many camera factories took advantage of the economic boom to create virtually
countless types of small (and sometimes large) cameras. This camera revival
lasted till around the 1960's, when the German industry learnt the hard way
that the Japanese renaissance of the same era was slightly more successful.
Anyway, in the 1950's the sky was still the limit, and that's probably the
climate in which Agfa Munich started producing its Clack, as a camera for the
many millions who prospered from the high tide.”
As
well as an excerpt from Luyckx’s (2022) article:
“Despite
the overall normalcy and widespread availability of the Clack, the camera
itself has a unique place in the history of the German Camera industry. It all
started in 1945 after the German surrender, which ended World War Two, at least
in the European theatre. The war had taken a toll on Germany; no major urban
centre had been spared Allied bombings. And with the partition of Germany, the
occupying forces needed to rebuild the economy fast and more substantial than
it had been before the conflict. Much of what led up to World War Two and the
rise of Hitler to power came about because of the vicious price placed on the
German people after World War One. The photographic industry proved a vital
part of the allied plan. What happened next is known to historians as Wirtschaftswunder or
economic miracle. And tied into that miracle is the Agfa Clack. In contrast,
the German photographic industry contained heavy hitters of premium cameras,
thing Franke & Heideckie, Leitz, Voigtlander, and Zeiss Ikon. There needed
to be a camera that was accessible to all, and Agfa was just the company to
build one. One of the earliest box cameras from Agfa included the Box line
of cameras, this included the B2, 50, and Syncro Box (600), the lineup produced
from 1949-58 offered up an all-metal body with a simple meniscus lens and a 6×9
format but in portrait orientation. These cameras introduced me to medium
format and Agfa cameras as a whole, and my mom still has her father’s Box 50, a
gift when they emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands. But they needed
something even more accessible, enter the Clack and the Click. Oddly enough,
both cameras are named for their shutter’s sound; the larger Clack offered up
that big 6×9 negative while the Click a smaller 6×6. Like the earlier Box, the
Clack was produced out of a durable steel outer shell with reptile skin
leatherette. A simple single element lens with a curved film plane allowed the
creation of sharp images helped out by that landscape orientation 6×9 negative.
The Clack also provided a much-needed camera for the export market and sold
under the Weekender name in the United States. Despite having the big negative,
the Clack never gained as much popularity as the Click. And while the Click got
an update in 1959 with the Click-II, the Clack remained almost the same
throughout its entire production, although later models swapped steel for
plastic and a leatherette cover. Production of the Clack ended in 1965, while
the Click-II continued until 1970.”
The design of the camera, as mentioned, is as simple as it gets, or as Klomp puts it: “it's just a box with a lens and a shutter…”
Now on to the camera itself.
First the lens. “There is a meniscus lens in it, and the focal length is fixed at 95 mm.
The
largest aperture is f/11. Early Clacks also had an f/16 aperture, but this was
later replaced by a yellow filter…” (2024 Filmphotography.eu) (Please see KODAK
Pocket Instamatic 10 Camera post to learn what a Meniscus Lens is).
.png) |
| Agfa Clack 1/30mm Gelb Yellow Filter. Image Source: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/jlwAAOSw26Nkbmt4/s-l1600.webp |
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| Agfa Clack - Pinhole Mod, Yellow Filter. Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tbrogan/2967217397 |
With
a fixed focus and a focal length of 85mm, as well as a focus range of “10ft to
inf. + portrait 3ft - 10ft” (Art Deco Cameras 2020).
It also has a focus zone of “1 m to 3m, 3m to Infinite.” (2024 Filmphotography.eu)
he first hole “…contains a small positive lens: for pictures in the range of one to three meters…”
…and the other two sets the aperture to f/11 for over cast weather and f/12.5 for sunny weather (Klomp).
On the other side of the lens is the Shutter lever that is a Leaf shutter (Art Deco Cameras 2020 & also see my Kodak Instamatic 104 Camera post to learn more about this shutter) also known as a Guillotine Type (Luyckx 2022). The shutter has two speed settings, which is set with the lever above the shutter. These two settings are labelled B, for bulb, and M, for moment (Klomp).
The
M setting is at least 15 seconds because of the lens being an f/11 (Kearney
2021) and the B setting is used when an external flash is used (which is why
the B stands for bulb) and according to Klomp, the shutter “stays open for as
long as the photographer keeps pressure on the lever.”
Underneath the shutter is the port or hole where a remote shutter switch or trigger cord can be fitted.
On top of the camera…
There are two adapters for an external flash...
…
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| Agfa Clibo Blitzer. Image Source: https://i.etsystatic.com/51451257/r/il/3b56d5/5937588106/il_794xN.5937588106_9w7l.jpg |
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| Agfa Clack Blitzer. Image Source: https://www.kamera-sammelsurium.de/zubehoer_agfa_html/abl_0140.html |
The
view finder which is also called a reverse Galilean viewfinder (Art Deco
Cameras 2020). It is very small, but at least it is above the lens so that the
user at least has some idea what they are shooting (see KODAK Pocket Instamatic
10 Camera post and Sounex YN-9000 Re-usable Camera post for the importance of
this!).
The
viewfinder also “consists of a plastic lens and an ocular. The world as seen
through the viewfinder is tiny and barrel-distorted. Like most viewfinders it
does the job if you're forgiving enough, but it's far from ideal…” (Klomp).
On
the other side of the viewfinder is the Film winding knob, that moves the film
inside to the next frame.
On
the back in the bottom corner is the film window cover and film window. To open
it the user follows the direction of the arrow to reveal the window that shows
the user the number of the frame they are on.
Underneath
is the tripod port and the mechanism that opens the film container.
To
open the container, the user, turns the lever to the direction of the AUF
(open) and to lock it ZU (lock).
This opens up the container and splits the camera into two pieces, one of them being the housing for the film.
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| Agfa Clack Film container without film (front). Image Source: http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/clack/11.jpg |
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| Agfa Clack Film container without film (back). Image Source: http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/clack/10.jpg |
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The
Agfa Clack uses “shoots eight 6×9cm pictures on a standard 120-film. The
negative size is that large and ostensibly uneconomical, because in practice
Clack negatives were not enlarged, but contact printed. Though nothing prevents
you from loading 220 film, it wouldn't be wise, because without the paper backing
of 120 film, it would be fogged immediately by the red window. The Clack
furthermore has no explicit provisions for different film sensitivities, but
considering the era it was made in and the camera's slow shutter speed, I think
a 50 or 100 ASA film is implied.” (Klomp)
 |
| 120 film vs. 35mm film. Image Source: https://shootitwithfilm.com/guide-to-medium-format-film-photography/ |
The
120 film is interesting and “is commonly known as medium format. This film was
introduced by Kodak in 1901 for their Brownie No. 2. Back then, Kodak named
each film according to their camera's design. When it became difficult to manage
their system it changed, and names were given by following the sequencing of
their products: the Brownie was their 20th camera, therefore 1-20.” (Epparino 2023)
The 120 film, unlike the 35mm, has no sprocket holes, meaning that the whole negative is exposed. It also come in three formats, 6x4.5, 6x6 and 6x9 (Epparino 2023). For the Clack, the 6x9 format should be used, so the film would be the size of 56x84mm, and aspect ratio of 1:1.50, and can take up to eight photos (Epparino 2023).
.jpeg) |
| 120 Film. Image Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/120spools.jpg/385px-120spools.jpg |
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| 120 Film. Image Source: https://www.sciencecenter.net/hutech/120film/index.htm |
To
learn how film captures pictures in a process known as photochemistry, please
see my Kodak 200 Color Plus Film post.
This one was fun and a worthy entry for the return to this blog, but I was hoping that this would be on a new website. But due to some unforeseen technical issues and misunderstandings has put a hold on the Grand Reopening.
But fear not, I will keep posting here until the new site is ready.
Thank you for reading and as always, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.
If you want to help this site out, please consider joining my Patreon: patreon.com/OnlineCurator
Please see the Please help this site post on this blog, for more information.
List of sources:
Agfa. 2024. History. https://www.agfa.com/corporate/about-us/history/
Agrimony. 2008. Agfa Clack. https://www.lomography.com/magazine/5543-agfa-clack
Analogue Wonderland. 2024. The History of
AgfaPhoto: From Film to Digital Cameras. https://analoguewonderland.co.uk/pages/agfaphoto?srsltid=AfmBOoqtCxb1oI-8H7mRyVBbxSpz-9CdXH5NaUU1dF3Q1gyBW_pT_8Zm
Art Deco Cameras. 2020. Agfa Clack. http://www.artdecocameras.com/cameras/agfa/clack/
Eparrino. 2023. 120 Film: The History and
Characteristics of Medium Format. https://www.lomography.com/magazine/351735-120-film-history-and-characteristic-of-medium-format#:~:text=120%20film%20has%20no%20sprocket,on%20the%20camera%20you%20use.
Filmphotography. 2024. Agfa Clack. https://filmphotography.eu/en/agfa-clack/
Kearney, F. 2022. Photography 101: Apertures
and Shutter Speeds. https://nanpa.org/2021/07/07/photography-101-apertures-and-shutter-speeds/
Klomp, A. The Agfa Clack. http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/clack/
Luyckx, A. 2022. Camera Review Blog No. 145 –
Agfa Clack. http://www.alexluyckx.com/blog/2022/07/04/camera-review-blog-no-145-agfa-clack/
Molenaar, E. 2023. The History of Agfa. https://vintagelens.nl/2023/09/28/the-history-of-agfa/
Orphan Cameras. Agfa Clack 6x9. https://www.cameramanuals.org/agfa_ansco/agfa_clack_6x9.pdf
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