New Year Gear!

The camera elves were kind to me this holiday season. Three new additions to the camera collection have arrived and I’m itching to clean them up and give them some deserved attention. I’ll give a quick profile for each one here, however, more in-depth information can be found on my website (once I finish the site’s facelift – hopefully soon.) I don’t have any image samples at this time from the cameras, as they have only recently arrived on my doorstep. The first camera I received this holiday season was the Ansco Super Regent, also known as the Agfa Super Solinette. Although dusty, as most EBay samples are, it seems to be functioning normally upon initial inspection. One of my favorite classic 35mm cameras is the Kodak Retina IIIc, and the Ansco Super Regent is obviously Agfa/Ansco’s attempt to compete. Both cameras were introduced in 1954, and both produced by German companies. Nagel produced the German-made cameras for Eastman Kodak, while Agfa Camera Werk in Müchen engineered this camera. Both cameras are 35mm folders with a coupled rangefinder, however the Retina IIIc opens to the side, while the Super Regent opens down. Both feature a Synchro Compur leaf shutter with speeds from 1 second to 1/500 plus a Bulb setting for long exposures. Both have flash sync and feature a quality 50mm lens. Although I doubt the f/3.5 tessar-type Solinar on the Super Regent will impress me as much as the first class f/2 Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon. I still expect good things from the 4-element Solinar. The Super Regent lacks the built-in Selenium meter of the Retina IIIc, but since the meter on my Retina IIIc is dead (a common drawback to using a 50 year old camera) I won’t miss not having one on the Super Regent. Focusing on the Super Regent is a little tough, as the dial is very close to the camera body. It’s just a knurled ring and doesn’t have an easy-to-use lever like the Retina IIIc. Luckily the rangefinder on this little gem seems to be calibrated correctly (I’ll find out soon enough), and adjusting it seems to be easy, if necessary. The Super Regent does not have a self-cocking shutter so you will have to remember to cock the shutter using the lever on the lens barrel prior to making an exposure. The Ansco Super Regent is an affordable, quality alternative to the more expensive Kodak Retina IIIc, which I’m sure was Agfa/Ansco’s original intention. Now to put some film in this baby and put it to good use…