Agfa Super Silette LK User manual

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      A T  L A S T Y O U  H A V E R E A L I Z E D Y O U R  A M B I T I O N
       by becoming the owner of o new precision minioture cqmero, the Agfo Super
        Silette LK. You ore to be congrotuloted on your choice ond we wish you mony
       hoppy hours of reloxotion with your comero.
       Your Agfo Super Silette LK offers you the following speciol odvonfoges: A
       coupled rongefinder, bright-line viewfinder, built-in exposure meter free from
        scoles,coupled shutter speeds ond diophrogm, ond o high-speedcolour-corrected
        onostigmotic lens of moximum definition.
     We know thot you ore eoger to leorn more obout this fine comero, ond so we
                                                                         yourself withri    suggest thot you reod through this little booklet ond fomiliqrize
        your Super Silette LK.
       Your photogrophic deoler moy hove helped you to "lood" the first film in the

                        qnd contoin either 35 or 20 exposures,the octuol size oflt     comerq.o light-tightFilmscossettefor 35 mm. minioture comeros ore wound on o spool enclosedin
        the picture being 24x% mm. There is q wide selectionof differenttypes of films
         ovoiloble, ond further detqils of these ore given on pqges 22123.lf you hove noi
       been shown how to lood the cqmero, instructionsore contoined on poges 24125.lli
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                   F I L M  T Y P E   I N D I C A T O R
                  The Super Silette LK is provided with o film type
                       indicotor so thot you olwoys know whot film is in
                      the comero. lt should be set when insertingthe film.
                  To do this, push the smoll button in the direction of
                     the orrow (seeillustrotion)ond the rewindingknob
                          will outomoticollyspring upwords. Now  pull out
                        this knob os for os it will go ond grosp the disk
                   between thumb ond forefinger (see illustrotion).The
                      disk con then be set with the forefinger by its milled
                  edge protruding ot the bottom until the desired
                   symbol oppeors in the window. The disk is rototoble
                           in both directions.
                                    lf, for exomple,you ore looding o blqck ond white
                         film, the block ond white morkings should be set
                          in the indicotorwindow (see illustrotion).





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     When using o negolive colour film, set the
      following lettering:
         CN  :  n e g o tive co lour film for doylight ond
                o rtificio l lig h t (e. g. Agfocolor CN l7) .
      For colour reversol film (from which colour
      tronsporenciesore obtoined)two settingsore
      provided:
           CT  :  colour reversol film for doylight
          CK  :  co lo u r re ve rsolfilm for or tificiol light
      F I L M S P E E D S C A L E
     To ensurethot the built-inexposuremeter is
      odlusted to the speed of  th"  film  in the
     comero it is necessoryto set the oppropriote
       figure on  the shutter before moking the
      exposure.
      Between the shutter speed scole ond the
      operture ring you will see o smoll button
           -  shown in-the illustrotionunderneoththe
      photosropher'sthumb (with orrow). This but-
       ion is-depressed ond the other hond used
        to turn the shutter speed setting ring until
       the red triongulor mork is in line with the
      oppropriote DIN/ASA number.
                                              3

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F I L M C O U N T E R

After  looding the comero, the  film
counterunderneoththe comero should
be set to the storting position.
To do this, turn the milled ring in the
direction of the orrow (see illustrotion)
so thot the fixed mork is opposite the
green triongle. When using o cossette
with 36 exposuresthis is done by set-
ting the scole to the green triongle between 36 ond 1, for films with 20 exposures
the green triongle between 25 ond 20. The comero is reody for the first exposure
ofter tronsportingthe film to bring this number (i. e. 36 or 20) opposite the fixed
settingmork (see illustrotion).The film counter indicoteslhe number of exposures
you still hqve left on the film.
Three operotions ore therefore necessorywhen looding your comero before
toking the first photogroph:
Set the film type indicator,DINIASA number and film counter at once, before
you forget!

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F I L M  T R A N S P O R T
When looding the comero the stort of
the film is wosted by exposureto light
ond so you must first moke two blonk
exposures.
The ropid tronsport lever moves the
film on one frome eoch time it is op-
eroted. Ploce your thumb behind this
lever ond swivel it round os for os
possible.lf the lever is blocked you
will hove to press the shutter releose
firsi. You should repeot this operotion
of film tronsport ond shutter releose
twice ot ihe stort of every new film
before the comero is reody for use.
lf you inodvertentlyreleosethe ropid
tronsport lever only holf woy round
you must toke hold of  it ogoin ond
p u s h i t r i g h t r o u n d .
C o u t ion! T h e r e w i n d i n g k n o b tu rn s o s ih e filrn
is   t ro n s o o r t e d o n d  s h o u l d th e re fo re n o t  b e
h i n d e r e d i r r o n v w o y .

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Your comerq's reqdiness for inslqnl qclion is lorgely increosed by fhis ropid trons-
port lever; this is o reol odvontoge when toking o series of pictures.Very often
split-secondtiming is needed to copture o tense or comicql situotion with the
cqmero. lf you line up horizontol subiects in the viewfinder with your right eye
you need not even lower fhe comero to tronsport the film. You iust move the
lever with your right thumb ond ore olwoys "in the picture".




D O U B L E  A N D , B L A N K   E X P O S U R E  P R E V E N T I O N
Noturolly your Super Silette LK is fitted with double ond blonk exposure preven-
tion which ovoids two exposureson one negotive or pressing the shutter releqse
before tronsporting the film. lf you connot operote the shutter releose,therefore,
you hove either not turned the film on or the tronsport lever wos not swung right
round. This lotier omission con be remedied by moving the lever round os for os
 it will go, without losing ony film. In cqses of doubt do not press the shutter
releose,becquseyou might lose o frqme of film, but first try to operote the ropid
tronsport lever. lf this is blocked, your Super Silette LK is reody for the exposure.
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      T H E R A N G E F I N D E R
      Focusingis very simple with the oid of the
        built-in, coupled rongefinder. Through the
       viewfinder eyepiece of the bock of the com-
       ero you will see thot the entire field of view
         is coloured slightly ond hos o diomond-
      shoped portion in the centre.
       At  first this centre imoge will be seporoted
       into two horizontolly displocedoutlines (see
        illustrotion,top right). lf you now move the
      focusing ring with the index or middle finger
        of your left hond you will find thot the out-
       lines of the double centre imoge converge
       (lower illustrotion).When this point is reoch-
       ed, the obiect is outomoticollyin focus. You
      con rely irplicitly on the occurocy of the
      rongefinderwhich tokes the guess work out
        of focusing.

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W i t h  t h e c o m e r - oh e l d h o r i z o n t o l l y t h e                     ;W
i n r o g e o u t l i n e s m o v e  s i d e w o y s , w h e n
l r e l d u p r i g h t  t h e y m o v e v e r t i c o l l y .

A u s e f u l t i p '                                               4 1 ,
P l o c e y o u r ' f i n g e r o v e r  t h e  r - i g h tv i e w -
f i n d e r w i n d o w o f  t h e  f r . o n t o f  t h e c o m -
e r - o . Y o u w i l l   f i n d  t h o t  t h e v i e w f i n d e r
 i m o g e    i s n o    l o n g e r - c o l o u r e d o n d    i s
n ' r o r - es u i t o b l e f o r ' l i n i n g u p y o u r s u b -
i e c t . W h e n y o u w o n t  t o  f o c u s t h e c o m -                                                                  *^_#ffiffi,:*l
e r o w i t h  t h e  r o n g e f i n d e r y o u  c o n  r e -
n ' l o v e y o u r    f r n g e r ' ; b y    t h i s m e t h o d
t l r e d o u b l e o u t l i n e s o r e m o r e c l e o r ' l y
v r s i b l e .

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W H A T  Y O U  N E E D  T O K N O W . .
The preporotory work is over, the comerq hos been focused with the rongefinder
ond now you require the correct exposure. Lighting conditions ore subject to
consideroblevoriotions, which is why your comero is fitted with different shutter
speeds ond opertures of vorying size. With both these meons you con odiust the
cqmerq to suit the porticulor light ond subiect. For moving obiects it is best to
use o fqst shutter speed ond o lorge operture, for londscopes o smoll operture
ond o slower shutterspeed. Only o limited omount of light should be qllowed to
reoch the film-occording  to its speed-ond  so it is up to you to see thof the
right omount is obtoined for eoch photogroph.
This is where the buill-in exposure meter comes to your ossistonce; it  is in-
dependenily coupled to both, the operture setting ring ond to the shufter speed
setting ring. And now let us see how delightfully eosy it is to obtoin the co'rrecf
exposure with the Super Silette LK.
First moke sure thot you hove set the speed of the film on the scole, os described
on poge 3.

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    H O W  T O D O    I T
l. Shutter speed
First set o shutter sPeed suited to
the porticulor subiect.For photo-
grophs without  o  triPod onlY
speeds between tTroond 1/256sec-
ond should be used. To do this,
turn the milled ring (see illustro-
tion) until shutter speed is oPPo-
site the block triongulor mork.
2. Light reoding
Point the comero ot the subiectso
thot reflected light from  it reoches
the photoelectriccell through the
exposure meter window.
Coution! Do not cover the win-
dow of the photoelectriccell with
your finger when meosuring the    First set a suitableshutter speedoppositethe
lisht.                            mark by hrrning the front milled ring.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             il

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                              Now  odiust the exposure meter
                                        pointer in its window (top of the
                                    comero) to the centre of ihe set-
                                            ting mork by turning the operture
                                         setting ring (see illustrotion).
                                        This is then the correct exposure
                                      reoding ond  gives the proper
                                       operture for  the  shutier speed
                                           originolly selected.





Trtrn the npertrrre setting ring to cetrtrc
     flte poirttar on the seftirtg mark.

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J ust press down the shutter releoseos  R E D W A R N I N G  M A R K
describedon poges l8 ond 19, ond you                                   Occosionollythe illuminotion of thehove token your first photo.
                                  comero lens is grasSs-a,.6less thon the
lf you ore unoble to centrethe pointer  meosunng ronge  of  the  exposure
on the mork this meonsyou hove set o   meter. In borderline cosesof this kind
shutter speed which is either too fost   o red worning mork oppeqrs over the
or too slow for the lightingconditions.  pointer ofter centring with the oper-
In such coses select onother shutter  ture setting ring. This is o sure sign
speed ond repeot the procedure.      thqt no reoding is possible ond so
                                    prevents incorrectlyexposed film.

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                                     decide which ports must be rendered
                                        obsolutely correctly, o foct  of  greof
                                     importonce with colour film. Close'up
                                      reodings should then be token of these
S O M E H I N T S
                                 more importonl porls of the subiect by
O N  E X P O S U R E R E A D I N G S
                                   opprooching it (wotchingthe exposure
                                      meter) until the effect of brighter sur-
                                    rounding qreos hos definitely been ex-
In  londscope photogrophy the sky   cluded. This point is reoched when the
usuolly occupies o lorge port of the   exposure meter  pointer  no  longer
picture ond  is normolly lighter thon  chonges its position oppreciobly on
the remoinder of the subiect, ond so   .further opprooch to the subiect. The
you should point the comero qt the   reoding thus obtoined is then used for
dorker ports. lf the brightness of the   ,q  photogroph  from  your  originol
subiect vories considerobly you must   posilion.
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       With colour reversdl films (e. g. Agfo-   F O R V E R Y P O O R  L I G H T I N G
        color ReversolFilm CTlS)  it is qdvis-
                                      Sometimesthere is not enough light to       oble to toke o reoding on the moin
                                                give on exposure meter reoding on        brighfer ports of the subiect. Subiects
                                          ony   of  the  instontqneous shutter        locking in controst (token in fog, dull
                                           speeds. Then you use the "B" shutter       weother or shode) require longer ex-
                                                  setting for time exposures.       posures ond  it is best to use the next
        lorgest operture or o correspondingly  In such coses ploce the cqmero on o
  i       longer shufter speed. This only opplies   firm support, preferobly on q tripod,{         lo colour reversql films qnd only to the   otloch o  coble  releose  (if  possible
       coses mentioned.                        with time lock) to the connection pro-
                                            vided ond moke the exposure. The
       With negolive colour films you should                                                 shutter stoys open os long os pressure
       olwoys point the exposure meter ot                                                              is exerted on the coble releose button.
 I      the moin dqrker ports of the subiect.   In mony coses,porticulorlywith indoor
                                             photogro,phy,o floshgun will be need-
                                         ed to supplement the ovoiloble lightI
                                        ond for this your Super Silette LK is

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provided with o flosh contoct. You merely
slide the floshgun (such os the Agfo KM or
Agfolux floshgun)on to the occessoryshoe
of the comero ond ottoch the flosh leod to
the contoct (see illustrotion).Alwoys use q
shuller speed oI rln sec. Of course you con-
not use the exposure meter in these coses
ond the oppropriote operture should be
token from the odjocent toble or from the
lomp corton.
It is odvisobleto operote the ropid tronsport
lever before inserting the flosh bulb. Then
line up your subiect in the viewfinder ond press the shutter releose.The shutter
opens ond the bulb ignitessimultoneously-thot'soll there is to it!
You con use flosh outdoors too, for brighteningthe foreground with photogrophs
token ogoinstthe light, or when the light is so poor thot instontoneousshutter
speedsconnot be used.

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H O L D I N G   T H E C A M E R A
Hold the comerq steody to  obtoin shorp
results.We odvise you to toke your Super
SiletteLK in both honds qnd form on ongle
with your orms ogoinst your body. Your
thumbsshould lie olong the bock of the com-
ero with the forefinger of your right hond on
the shutter releose.Line up your subiect in
the viewfinder.Everythingwithin the luminous
frome oreo will oppeqr on the picture.lf you
cqn see only port of the froffie,this indicotes
thot you ore tilting the comero or not look-
ing through the centre of the viewfinder.As
soon os you ore sotisfiedwith whot you see,
press the shutter releose; this is done by
slowly pressingdown the releose knob os
f o r q s p o ssib lewit h your finger tip.For sub-
iects neorer thon 7 feet use the two short
lines(see illustrqtion,poge 9) os the upper limit of the subiect,ond tilt the cqm-
ero s l ig h t lyu p wo rd s.

1 8

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      Give  it o  triol with your very first photo-
      groph: Don't forget to hold the comero level
      ond qs close lo your eye qs possible.lt does
       not motter which eye you use for viewing the
      subiect,the moin thing is to close your other
     eye.Then toke o de e p b r e o t h , h o l d  i t , o n d
      press the shutter releose.
     When holding the comero upright turn it to
      the right or left os desired ond operote the
       shutterreleoseeither with your middle finger
       or  thumb, depending on  the  comero's
       position.
      Photogrophswithout o tripod shouldonly be
      token with shutter speeds of r/,ioto rlx,o sec.,
       possibly tlto sec. too.  lf you hove o steody
      hond you moy be oble to ovoid comero
      shoke of  I lr:,sec. by supportingyour elbows
     somehoW, but you must try  thot out  for
       yourself.

                                                                                                         t 9

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D E P T H O F  F I E L D
We olreody mentioned lorge ond smoll lens opertures(on poge 10) in the choice
 of suitoble shutter speed ond operture combinotions.


                               big oPening                                                                                                                  little oPening             Lorge operture                                                                 smoll operrure                    burs.morl                                        b u f g r e o t                 ;:;.  ;.t.t:                                          e . a . ' 1 , 2 2 :                           depth of field.                                   depth of field.


As you will see from this exomple, depth of field is voriqble;  it increosesos the
operture becomes smoller ond the distqnce becomes greoter. To help you  in
finding out how for this zone of shorp focusing extends,your Super Siletfe LK hos
whot is known os o depth of field scole (@, illustrotion poge Z). From it you con
find the opproximote depth of field for ony given lens operture.

 lf, for exomple, you focus the comerq to o distonce of 15 feef with on operture
of f.8, you look for the two numbers morked 8 on the depth of field scole ond
reod off the ronge in feet between these two poinfs on the odiocent focusing
ring; in this cose it will be obout 10 to 30 ft.
20

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S N A P S H O T  S E T T I N G
lf the shutterspeed initiolly select-
ed gives on exposure reoding in
which the operture con be set on
the red dot between f. 8 ond  I I or
on  f. 11 you con use the so-colled
snopshot or zone focusing setting.
For this purpose the  l0 feet ond
30 feet morkings ore engroved in
red on the focusing scole. When
focused on  l0 feet you obtoin o
shorp zone from 7 to 17 feet; on
30 feet the depth of field is obout
l7 feet to lnfinity (see illustrotion).
This method is used for close-rongeond long distonce photogrophs where you
wont to ovoid focusingthe comero ot oll.
Exactparticularsof the depth of field obtainablest uariousaperturesand distances
can be seenfrom the table on pages30131.

                                                                                 21

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D E L A Y E D A C T I O N  R E L E A S E
Sometimesyou wont to be in the picture yourself. Your Super Silette LK provides
for this wish with its deloyed oction releose. First ploce the comero on q tripod
or other firm support ond'then, ofter seeing to oll the other preporotionsfor the
photogroph, move the red lever (13, see cover poge) os for os possible towords
the centre of the comerq. As soon os you press the shutter releose the smoll lever
storts to move ond operotes fhe shuttbr outomoticolly ofter obout 7 second{. The
lever qlwqys returns to  its originol position ond hqs to be re-set for every
deloyed qciion shot. Any of ths instontqneousshutter speeds con be used with
it, ond those for flosh. Time exposures (: B setting) connot be mode with the
deloyed oction releosemechonism.



T H E R I G H T  F I L M  F O R E V E R Y O C C A S I O N
Before ue explain how to load your Super Silette Tpith film, here are a few hints
on different kinds of film.
First of all there fs Agfo lsopon t, 40 ASA (17o DIN), a unioersal film of medium
speed.lt  is a sharp, fine-grain film from u:hich you can obtain good enlargements.
ln bad uteather Agfo lsopon lSS, zoo ASA QIa DIN),  is the right film.  It allows
you to use instantaneousshutter speeds or, when the sun is shining, smaller
apertures to obtain greater depth of field.
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