I have a soft spot for 35mm folders, and had wanted one of these for a long time. They are just like the Isolette's little sister. Finally one appeared on e-Bay with a very reasonable price, and it followed me home. This version has the much underrated Apotar triplet.
Look at this thumbnail to see what the lens can do at f5.6. Who needs Tessars?
After the customary CLA by my friendly technician it was time for a test roll. It took two full months, which is explained by winter, lots of work and just plain laziness. My current bulk load is Ilford Pan 400, which is not the greatest film in the world but does the job.
I usually get just a few keepers in a 36-frame roll. In this one there were four. First, two portraits of young people:
A future millionaire
Concentration and mate go together
along with a landscape of Green Beach, with flare and all - old-fashioned general view during a very rare sunny Sunday in our grey winter!
The last one was a net on an old fishing boat - the Apotar performed quite decently here at f/11.
Some day I should do an article / comparison of the four 35mm folders I have used - Solinette, Vito, Retina I and Ikonta 35. The 35mm folders are very portable, a lot of fun and give very good results if you are patient enough to work around their quirks.
Film was Ilford Pan 400, exposed at EI 200 and developed in ID-11 1:1.
Do any of you have this camera or its U.S. twin, the Ansco Regent? It seems very common in the U.S. and Europe, but my very experienced technician had never seen one before. They just were not sold down south.
