The Agfa Synchro Box

Never in my photography journey did I think I would be figuring out how to use a camera from 1949! The modern day is all about chasing the next best and newest things. There have been around 18 generations of the iPhone since 2010, which is staggering. Each year, it is always about the little improvements (or setbacks) over the previous years. With photography, it is the same, constantly chasing the latest camera body, lenses, filters, tripods, kit bags, etc, can be exhausting.

This Agfa Synchro Box takes it back to the very basics of photography. It has zero assists, no autofocus, and no playback. It also takes film—yes, that's right, like that old-fashioned stuff. This cutback on modern technology really makes you think about the photo and how to make it count.

My very talented uncle was kind enough to lend me some Fomapan 120 film, which is a popular black and white roll. I will have around 8 shots, and from there, I will need to have the film developed.

I was given the camera by my late grandparents, who bought it when they lived in Germany in the '50s. Now, this could have been stowed away in a cardboard box, somewhere in its very period-appropriate brown leather casing, and left as a memory, but what a shame that would be, I’d rather use it and keep it looking as good as it did when it was put on shelves. The first thing I did was give it a good once-over and had my uncle take a look at the condition of the lens. To our surprise, the whole thing is in great condition.

The next step was to load it up with some film. After discussing it, we decided to use some lovely Fomapan black and white film, which should deliver some amazing vintage-looking images. After reading some of the somewhat minimal information available on this camera, it is said to be fairly sharp in terms of image quality. But for a camera this old, image quality is the last thing I am concerned with. In fairness, my grandparents were not photographers, and this would have spent the majority of its life in the back of a cupboard, which would be the reason for its condition. However, they did use it, and it travelled over Europe with them all that time ago.

Once I have filled the roll, I will post the results to the page! In the meantime, enjoy some gorgeous German engineering.