On Sunday I went to the triannual1 Sydney Camera Market, which was basically a room full of old cameras, lenses, filters, as well as some new stuff. As an amateur photographer trying my hand at film photography, I found it very interesting. I’d never seen a Hasselblad in the flesh, and there was a huge range of great film SLR cameras, TLRs, folding cameras and hundreds of lenses.

I managed to pick up for myself a new toy; an Agfa Isolette I folding camera, made in Germany between 1951 and 1954. So this even predates my Yashica-Mat twin-lens reflex camera from 1958 (of which I don’t seem to have a photo, off-hand [update: I now have a picture, below]).

Click images for larger versions.

Agfa Isolette I

My new Agfa Isolette I folding camera.

Coincidentally, when I bought the camera, I was wearing a t-shirt bought from an online store that had a sketch of a very similar camera on it. So similar in fact, the seller remarked on it and claimed that it too was an Agfa folding camera. It was only later that afternoon that I realised the camera on my shirt is indeed the very same model as I had just bought.

'I Can't Draw'

A T-shirt I bought 4 months ago.

There was also a wonderful restored Rolleiflex from 1935, just like the one in the image below, for $250.

1935 Rolleiflex

I had a look through the viewing lens and wanted to buy it immediately. But since I already have a 1958 Yashica-Mat, I can’t exactly justify buying another TLR before I’ve learned how to properly use it. I’ve only taken a single roll of film with the Yashica-Mat thus far, and as I didn’t have a light metre at the time it was more or less guesswork to get the right shot. You can see the images from the first roll here.

<update>
I now have a photo of the Yashica-Mat:

Yashica-Mat

1958 Yashica-Mat

</update>

  1. Three times  year, I mean. [↩]