Landmark Vintage Agfa Optima 35mm Camera + Leather Case

Landmark Vintage Agfa Optima 35mm Camera and Leather Case

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This is one of the original Agfa Optima cameras that was first produced in Germany in 1959.  The first of three Optima models produced by Agfa (the Optima, Optima I and Optima II) this camera represents a landmark in photography as it was the first commercially available camera to feature fully automatic exposure.

This Agfa Optima camera is beautifully constructed and is in very good condition and in full working order.  The body is in excellent condition with the exception that the front decorative plate on the left side of the lens is missing as seen in the photographs. Also the name of a previous owner is engraved on the back (who turns out to be a recipient of an Order of Australia) See http://www.bednallarchive.info/Oz/fhist-part3.htm .

Mechanically the camera is excellent with everything working just as it should. The lens is clean and clear, the film advance is smooth, the adjustment rings on the lens move freely and smoothly and the shutter is strong and crisp. The feature automatic exposure also works as it should. The original leather case is in exceptionally good condition.

The camera features Agfa Color Apotar S lens and Compur shutter.

An Agfa 35.5mm UV filter is also included in this auction.

 The following extract is taken from the Camerapedia.

From Camerapedia.org

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The Optima is a family of 35mm cameras made by Agfa in the 1960s and beyond. The original Optima was in 1959 the first manufactured camera with programmed exposure, obtained by a selenium-meter driven mechanical system. Moving its shutter release lever halfway down triggers a mechanical system that obtains aperture value and speed from the electromechanical part of the meter. The system mirrors a green or a red signal into the viewfinder when the camera catches appropriate exposure settings from the meter or not. Today this system should be revived for environmental reasons since it needs no batteries. As camera with fully automatic exposure it was only preceeded by a handcrafted model of Kodak in the 1930s. The Paxette electromatic of 1959 may have appeared at the same time as the Agfa Optima, but it was a simpler camera with just automatic aperture.