With many model names and types available, getting to know the series may lead to a level of confusion. Individually, they are, however, still worth a look at, used, and appreciated as vintage collectibles.
The original Silette, which appeared in 1953, features scale focusing, a flush-fit lever wind advance, a film speed reminder in the rewind dial, a self timer built into the rim-set shutter, a tripod mount, and a socket for flash synchronization.
The range of shutter mechanisms for the series ranges from the Pronto (1/25-1/200) to Compur Rapid or Synchro Compur (1/500), with the Prontor (1/300) in between. Lenses are three-element Color Apotar 3.5/45mm or 2.8/45mm, or four-element Color Solinar 2.8/50mm.
In the USA, the camera was sold as Ansco Memar, with the Agfa body labeling deleted, and the name 'ANSCO MEMAR' engraved on the lower trim ring of the lens, and the focus scale marked in feet. These cameras are, otherwise, identical to the corresponding Agfa model.
I had the chance, recently, to look at an Agfa Silette Compur-Rapid, so designated as it is fitted with a Compur Rapid (1/500) shutter and Agfa Apotar 45mm f/3.5 lens, still in excellent physical and working condition, and looking in its prime. These are my observations.
Basic Camera Features
From the front, the Agfa Silette Compur-Rapid is a glorious sight with its mainly silver sheen finish, with the viewfinder window centered on the upper part of the front plane, just above the lens mount assembly.
The lens assembly, built with concentric function rings, has the focusing ring, indexed in feet, as the frontmost element, backed by the depth-of-field scale. Next is the shutter-speed / aperture opening control ring, and a support base where the self-timer lever is located.
The back plane of the camera is occupied by a hinged latch-release film back spanning the whole of the film box, and on the upper part of the back, the viewfinder window. The slide-down latch release for the film back is located on the left shoulder of the camera body.
On the top plane, from left to right, is the film rewind knob, incorporated with a slide-turn to select the film type indicator. Next is an accessory shoe, which sits right on top of the viewfinder, and to the right, the shutter release button, and the film counter ring, built on the same axis as the film forward lever.
On the bottom plane, the film rewind release button and the tripod socket.
The film box, standard as seen with most other film cameras of that era, has the film canister chamber on the left of the film box, followed by the film frame window, the sprocket gear, and the film take-up spool lined to the right of the film box.
Film Loading and Rewinding
Film loading the Agfa Silette is a consequential sequence of opening the film back, pulling the film rewind knob up, and locking it down again once the film canister is inserted. Next, pull the film tab end across the film back, and insert the film tab end into the slot of the film take-up spool. Check to ensure that the film is laid flat across the back and the film's perforations are properly engaged by the sprocket gear before closing the film back.
Next, turn the film counter anti-clockwise to align the index mark to the A mark of the film counter, and do the mandatory two-blank shot sequence to align the unexposed part of the film to the film window. Next, crank the film forward again to bring the film counter to '1,' and you are ready to shoot.
To rewind the film and have it processed, press the rewind release button located on the bottom plane of the camera, and turn the rewind knob in the direction of the arrow until the film is wound completely back into the canister before the roll is removed from the camera.
Exposure Control
The Compur-Rapid is a fully manual 35mm film camera and does not require batteries to operate or a film ISO dial for film speed setting. Exposure controls are fully manual, and if you need a guide, get one from a light meter app installed on your smartphone, or by relying manually on the Sunny 16 Rule, the method of estimating correct daylight exposures without a light meter in photography.
On a clear sunny day, for example, when you are using an aperture of 1:16, the rule recommends a shutter speed equal to the reciprocal of your film ISO (1/ISO) speed. So, when using ISO 100 film, set the shutter speed to 1/100th of a second, or 1/200 second when using ISO 200 film.
Viewfinder Readout
The camera is fitted with a direct-vision optical viewfinder with no framing or parallax marking guides. When focusing closer than 7 feet (2.13 meters), set the viewfinder frame slightly higher than the subject to compensate for the difference in height difference between the lens and the viewfinder.
For correction when taking vertically oriented frames, turn the camera in the direction of the viewfinder.
Zone Focusing
The Agfa Silette Compur-Rapid can be used in a zone focusing mode, or as a fixed focus camera, by first setting the focus ring to the red 10 or 30 feet distance scale, and shutter speed to 1/60 second.
With the camera focused to 10 feet, all objects from 7 to 15 feet (2.13 to 4.57 meters) will be in focus, while setting the focus mark to 30 feet will put in focus all objects from within 15 feet to infinity (4.57 meters to infinity). The sharpest image of any specific subject within the picture frame will, of course, be on subjects that fall within the correct camera-to-object distance.
Size and Bodyweight
The size and body weight of the Agfa Silette with a Compur-Rapid shutter depend on the specific lens and model version, e.g., the original Silette, Silette L, and Silette Rapid. For the original version, the size is approximately 134 x 85 x 63 mm, and it weighs 464 grams.
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