www.orphancameras.

com

The lens fitted to vour camera is a product of the Agfa camera werk
and has been computed.and manufactured.in conformity with the most
up-to-date scientific methods,
This lens readtes a standard of performance neper preaiousry attained
in lensesof equal speed haaing the same number of elements.Its &ief
adaattages lie in its great depth of field, extremely high resoluing
power, etcellent definition and outstanding reproduction of detail.
The total of these cltaracteristicsmakes this the ideal lens
for miniature
photography uith bladc and. ushite or colour film.
In ad-dition, eoery lens is thorough\: tested before leaz:ing our
factory
by the most up'to-date methods and is guaranteedby us
lor its'quarity
and pefiormance.
AGFA-GEVAERT AG
Camera-Werk, Muenchen
 www.orphancameras.com
EXPLANATIONS CONTENTS
OF ADJACENT PAGE
ILLUSTRATION
R o p i dt r o n s p o rlte v e r . 2
Operolion, poges 2-5
F o c u s i n sgy m b o l s
@ Ropid tronsporl lever H o l d i n g t h e c o m e r o ,v i e w f i n d e r ^
@ M o g i c r e l e q s eb u l i o n
G r e e ns i g n o l - r e l e o s i n g 5
@ Seiiingmork
for outomqticmechonism T h r e e p o i n t sf o r g o o d p h o i o s o
@ Settingmork
f o r f o c u s i n gs y m b o l s

@ Setting ring for symbols F i l mt y p e s

Technicol seclion, poges 7-15 Loodingihe comero . 819
@ Cotch for comero bock F i l mc o u n t e r l0
@ DIN/ASA scole
for setting the film speed
S e t t i n gt h e f i l m s p e e d ll
@ Light prism W i t h o u t t h e o u t o m o t i cm e c h o n i s m 12
for red qnd green signol
F l o s hi e c h n i q u e 13
@ Accessoryshoe
A g o i n s t h e l i g h io n d c l o s e - u pe x p o s u r er e o d i n g s 1 4
@ Rewind knob
F i l t e r so n d o c c e s s o r i e s 15
@ Diophrogm ring
@ F l o s hc o n t o c t R e w i n d i n gt h e f i l m 16
Y o u o r e n o w i h e p r o u d o w n e r o f q t e c h n i c o l l yp e r f e c t c o m e r q - t h e
fully outomoticAgfo Opiimo 500 which does not require ony com-
p l i c o t e d m o n u o l o p e r o t i o n so n d s o l e o v e sy o u f r e e t o c o n c e n t r o t eo n
t h e s u b j e c t .W h o t o s o u r c eo f b o u n d l e s sl o y t h o t i s l
F r o m y o u r p h o t o g r o p h i cd e o l e r y o u w i l l h o v e l e o r n e d h o w s i m p l e l h e
A g f o O p t i m o 5 0 0 i s t o h o n d l e .S h u t t e rs p e e d so n d o p e r i u r e sw h i c h o n c e
h o d i o b e w o r k e d o u t , m e o s u r e do r s e t o r e n o w o f y o u r b e c k o n d c o l l .
T h e f u l l y o u t o m o t i c m e c h o n i s mi s s o m e t h i n g o f o m i r o c l e , y o u r i n -
v i s i b l e s l o v e t o c o l c u l o t e ,t h i n k o n d o c t f o r y o u - i u s t o i o u c h o f t h e
"mogic
r e l e o s eb u t t o n " s u f f i c e s .
Y o u w i l l p r o b o b l y w i s h t o g e t f o m i l i o r i z e d w i t h t h i s m o s t e r p i e c eo f
p r e c i s i o n .O n p o g e s 2 t o 6 y o u w i l l f i n d b r i e f o p e r o i i n g i n s t r u c t i o n s ;
t e c h n i c o lo d v i c e o n d u s e f u l p h o l o g r o p h i c h i n t s o r e g i v e n o n p o g e s
7 Io 16.
 www.orphancameras.com

with the ropid tronsportlever of your Opfimo.

Justswingthe lever forwqrd to move ihe film
on one frome. The film counterot the lower
reqr edge of the comeroshowsyou how mony
exposures you still hove left.
lf the ropid tronsportlever will not move,the
comerqis olreody set for the nexl exposure.
The shutterreleoseond film tronsportore fit-
ied with o lock to prevent blqnk or double
exposures.
lf you releoselhe ropid tronsportlever before
compleiingthe full forword stroke it will re-
lurn to i,tssiortingposiiion.ln lhis event you
shouldswing the lever forword ogoin os for
os it will go.
 Howfor owqyisyoursu.biect?

There ore only lhree focus settingson the With your Agfo Optimo you con
comero.Accordingto the distoncefrom the p h o t o g r o p ho t o l l d i s t o n c e sb e -
subiectyou merelyset one of the three sym- tween 3tla ft. (1 m) ond infinity.
b o l so n t h e l e n sm o u n lo g o i n stth e w h i t em o r k :

Subiecl disionce

AQ ctose-ups 5 f r .r o 7 f t . 5 i n .

Groups '15
7 ft. 5 in.to ft.
f\{
.|5ft.
Distqntviews to infiniiy
,A(\ -
l'l"l (londscope)
lntermediotesettingsore olso possible,if re-
quired. lf you wish to focus the comero on
objects only 31/aft. owoy, turn ihe lens mount
until the 3y4 ft. F m) settingis in line with the
white morkobovethe word "€ompu/'.

To ensurecorreclly exposedphotogrophsit is importonl lo set lhe correcl film speed on

lhe cqmerq(seepoge ll).
Toke the first pressure. . . www.orphancameras.com

W h e n p h o t o g r o p h i n gi t i s i m p o r t o n t i o h o l d t h e c o m e r q
s t e o d y .Y o u s h o u l d t h e r e f o r e t o k e y o u r O p t i m o i n b o i h
honds ond broce your orms ogoinsi your body. Ploce
ihe index finger of your right hond on the mogic releose
b u t t o n . W h e n y o u l o o k t h r o u g h i h e v i e w f i n d e ry o u w i l l
s e e o l u m i n o u s f r o m e w h i c h s u r r o u n d st h e s u b i e c t o n d
s h o w sy o u i h e e x o c t p i c t u r e o r e o .
F o r c l o s e - u p s( 3 y 4 f t . s e t i i n g ) ,t h e t w o l i n e s b e l o w t h e t o p
m o r g i n o f t h i s f r o m e i n d i c o i ei h e u p p e r e d g e o f i h e p i c -
ture oreo.
T o t o k e u p r i g h tp h o t o s ,o p e r -
o t e t h e r e l e o s eb u t i o n w i t h
your thumb or index finger,
os illustroied.

ililililil|rililtIlil TNhoet eo!u i o m q t i c
m e c h o n i s mi s c o n -
n e c t e dw h e n t h e A
ond the whitemork
ore in line.
G r e e ns i g n o l :
"All
cleor" for
your photogroph
R e ds i g n o l '
Stop-
do not photogroph
Gr eensignol... r eleqse
The ligl*ing is under conslonlcon-
l r o l q s s o o n o s y o u o c i u o t et h e
r o p i d t r o n s p o r tl e v e r . S i g h t y o u r
s u b i e c tW. i i h t h e s i g n o lo l g r e e n ,
p r e s sd o w n t h e m o g i cr e l e o s eb u t -
t o n t o t h e p r e s s u rpeo i n t .T h e nk e e p
in this posirion ond
lh;::"'"
T h e r e d s i g n o lm e o n st h e r e i s n o t
e n o u g h l i g h t ; t i m e e x p o s u r e so r
f l q s h w i l l t h e n h e l p y o u ( s e ep o -
s e s1 2 l 1 3 ) .
l f n o e x p o s u r et o k e s p l o c e , r e m o v e
your finger from ihe button.Then
r e - s i g h it h e s u b i e c to n d p r e s sd o w n
the button ogoin to the pressure
point; finolly press righi down to
exoose.
 www.orphancameras.com
Threepoints

w h i c h y o u c o n q u i c k l y m o s t e r s u f f i c ei o o b i o i n
perfectPictures'
l . S e t t h e f o c u s i n gs Y m b o l .
2 . L i n e u p y o u r s u b i e c tq n d i q k e t h e f i r s t
pressure.
3 . G r e e n s i g n o l i n v i e w f i n d e r' P r e s s r e l e q s e
bution righi down.
Afterwordsprepore the comero for the next phoiogroph
qs noi to miss
b y o p e r o i i n g t h e r o p i d t r o n s p o r tl e v e r , s o
on oction s h o t .
Thot's lust how eosy photogrophyis
with the Agfo OPtimo500'
But you will probobly wont to know more so toke the
cqmeroin your honds
 Photogrophyis more .fun

w h e n y o u h q v e m o s i e r e dt h e t h r e e p o i n t s m e n t i o n e do n d
o r e l h o r o u g h l yf o m i l i o r w i t h y o u r c o m e r o i o o .

F i r s io f o l l , s o m e t h i n go b o u t f i l m so n d h o w t o c h o o s et h e m :
F i r s iu s e A g f o l s o p o n F , l 7 D I N ( 4 0 A S A ) . I t i s o f i n e - g r o i n
b l c c k - o n d - w h i i ef i l m o f g o o d c o n t o u r s h o r p n e s so n d c o n -
s i s l e nqt uoliiy.
For sport photogrophy the ropid Agfo lsopon ISSfilm,
2 l D I N ( , l 0 0A S A ) , i s i u s t r i s h t .
With Agfocolor films you con explore ihe world of col-
o u r . T h e s ef i l m s h o v e b e e n f i r m f o v o u r i t e sf o r m o r e t h o n
t w e n t y - f i v ey e o r s , b e c o u s eo f t h e i r n o t u r o l r e p r o d u c t i o n
of boih postel ond brilliont colours. In oddition, their
high speed hos mode the living snopshot in colour q
p r o c t i c o lr e o l i t y .
For shorp,brilliqntcolour tronspqrencies:
Agfocolor ReversqF
l ilmCT'18.
For wonderful olbum colour prints:
Agfocolor Negotive Film CN 17 or CN.l4.
 www.orphancameras.com

The film con be looded in doy- drow oui rewind knob firmly Block ond white checks
: Block ond while film
light,but olwoysin the shode- with left hond os for os pos-
CN = Colour negotive film
moking use of body shodow. s i b l e .
CT = Colour reversol film,
Firstopen the comero bock bY Now set the film type indicotor
DAY doylight tyPe
sliding cotch in direction of by turningthe millededge Pro- CK : C o l o u r r e v e r s o lf i l m , o r t i f i c i o l
liqht lype (incondescenl
orrow.
Push locking buiton of rewind
iruding ot the bottom of the
rewind knob until the desired
A

knob in direciionof orrow ond
settingoppeorsin the window:
CF :
lo.-rnps'6f3400o Kelvin)
C o l o u r r e v e r s o lf i l m , o r t i f i c i o l
il
F floshlight tYPe (3800oKelvin)

I
i
 Insert new film cosseltewiih Turn loke-up spool by its mill- firmly, so thot the lug engoges
hole lowords rewind knob. ed disk until the brood slit ond in the secondfilm perforotion.
film perforotionlug ore upper-
Pushbock rewind knob, if nec- mosf. Now iurn the toke-upspool on
essory turning slightly bock- Drow out ihe film from the slighily in the directionof the
words ond forwords. cossette lowords the toke-up orrow, os shownin figure F, un-
i spoor. til iust under holf on inch of
lnsertihe end of the film in the the full film width proiectsfrom
slit, holding the toke-up spool the cosseite.

I
I
 www.orphancameras.com

for the firsl exPosure

p o s u r e s t i l ll e f t o n t h e f i l m '
to thot
knob roiotesin the oppositedirection
Everytime the film is movedon the rewind
film is properlyloodedond tronsported'
shownby the orrow," t""1lg" thot the
Doubleexposures imPossible
e n s u r e tsh o t y o u d o n o t t o k e i w o
s o u b l e" * o J r r r " p r e v e n t i o n . m e c h o n i s m tronsporteduniil on exposure
A n i n g e n i o ud
film connoi be
photogrophs on one ""niiiu".in"oial,ion the
h o sb e e nm o d e .
lmporlonl: for qll films
Rememberto set the speed of the film from ll-25 DIN (10-250ASA)
looded on the comerolo be sure of cor.
When you pressihe mogicreleose
reclly exposedphologrophs.
bution, the exposure reoding is
To do this,pushin the smollorrestingknob outomolicolly ond invisiblyfixedfor
o n d i u r n t h e m i l l e dd i s k w i i h i h e o i d o f o y o u . D u r i n gt h e e x p o s u r ei t t h e n
c o i n u n i i l t h e r e q u i r e dD I N o r A S A s p e e d o u t o m o l i c o l l yo r r o n g e so s h u t t e r
is oppositethe settingmork. s p e e d o n d o p e r t u r ec o m b i n q t i o n
which olwoys ensuresthe correct
exposure.
 www.orphancameras.com

on this Po'ge).

TirneexPosures
"B"
until
T u r nt h e m i l l e dr i n g o n t h e l e n sm o u n t
in the top
i s i n l i n e w i t h t h e m o r k ,o s s h o w n
this setting ihe shutter
lilustrotion.When on
o s l o n g o s t h e r e l e o s eb u t i o ni s
s i o y so p e n
rt.'" ,'J of o triPod ond.o coble
;;J;";:;.
in such coses' The loiter
;"1:";; is odvisqble
the ihreod below the releose
ir t.t"*"a into
'fria"
milled
tr.t the side'By turningthe reor
v i s i b l ei n t h e smoll
i"glL"' ofurtr,"' become
window.
No floshlight problems

For flosh work turn the ouiomqtic mechqnism

ring uniil the flosh symbol is opposite the
white mork.
A constont shutter speed of llgo sec. is used
for flosh work. Pleose see the column for ,,X',
s y n c h r o n i z o t i o no n e o c h p o c k e t o f f l o s h b u l b s
f o r i h e r e q u i r e do p e r t u r ew h i c h i s s e t b y t u r n -
ing ihe reor milled ring. The plug of the flosh
coble is connectedio the flosh contoct ll2.
moin illusirotion).
Eleclronicfloshgunscon qlso be used, in which
c o s e i h e o p e r i u r e i s c q l c u l q t e df r o m t h e g u i d e
n u m b e ro f t h e f l o s h g u n .

E .g . g u i d e n u m b e r o f e l e c t r o n i c f l o s h g u n 9 6 The hondyAgfoluxfloshgun
divided by o distonce of l2 feet = operiure f/8. in zip cose
 www.orphancameras.com

p h o t o g r o p h si o k e n
W h e r e c l e o r d e t o i l i s r e q u i r e di n .
fight or in deep shodows' th.e
"n"fttt tf't" ,outomotic
of ihe co'mero con still be used with.thesetting
mechonism
odvisobleto sef o
." lfl" DIN/ASA scole reduced'lt is
3 DIN or iis ASA equivoleni lessthon
iirn to""a of obout
for exomple' the film
in"t titf."a on the film pockoge'lf' A l e o i h e r c o s e .d e s i g n e d
D I N : 4 0 A S A 'the set- ;; i":k; ; lens ho.od,ond
i n t h u . o . " r o h o s o s p e e do f 1 7
to 14 DIN : 20 ASA' t w o f i l t e r si s o v o l l o b l e '
ii"g tL.ufa be red'uced
Filtersfor YourOPtimo
W h e n o V e r y c o n t r o s t y s u b i e c t h q s t o b e p h ofor t o gonrophed
exposure for block ond while PhotogroPhY
""a-;i it wirn"a io obtoin ihe correct
wilh iis,surroundings' R e d u c eD I N
"rl.i *r,lrln is smollin comporison meos' scole setting
is known os o close-up
it-i, oauitoUt"to toke whot by
of comero'
"t"-r"*i *itf-r the built-inexposuremeier .the Iiohtvellow 1 DIN

is not done, o person in o light dressin froni of o 2 DIN

lf this on
* ' " d i u t Y " l l o *
could eosily produce y e l l o w - g i e e n 2 DIN
Jonkwood (io give on exomple) ( u l t r o - v i o l e i )
UV filter
i n c o r r e crte o d i n g . no chonge
with the comero to o short distonce
ln suchcosesopprooch for sPeciol PhotogroPhs
bufionto the
it.tln" subieciond pressdown the releose ond
with colour leversol lllm

Hoia tnu button in this position Aqfo Color Filier

;;;';;;J;J-poiit. no chonge
p o s i t i o t
n o t o k e t h e p h o t o g r o p h ' Ri.5
r e t u r nt o y o u , o , ' g ' n o l
 Filters/ Accessories

Filters Close-ups
There is o voriety of filters You con olso photogroph
for blqck ond whit6 film ovoil- the wonders of the min-
oble for use with ihe Aofo ioiure world with yo'Jr
Opiimo 500 in screw mor-ilts Optimo. All you hovb io
o f 3 5 . 5m m d i o m . A s s o o n o s do is fix ihe Agfo Notorix
q f i l t e r i s u s e do n t h e c o m e r c r c l o s e - u po t t o c h m e n tl o t h e
you will hove to reducethe l e n sm o u n i o f y o u r c o m e r o .A n o d d i t i o n o l
setting..on.th f i el m s p e e ds c o l e N o t o r i x v i e w f i n d e r o t t o c h m e n t c o m p e n s o t e sf o r
q c c o r oI n gl y . p o r o l l o xw h e n l i n i n g u p y o u r s u b i e c t . '
A filter hovinq o focior of 2 Shorp definition of the subiecl
will require 6 reduciionin (meosured from the froni edge
Symbol setting
of ihe lens) is obtoined ot o
the speed settinq of 3 DIN d i s t o n c eo f o b o u t
o r i t s A S A e q u i v d l e n t .l f y o u
hove o film of 17 DIN- :
40 ASA this meonsthot you 3y4 ft. 1' 3"-1,7"
<- l w i l l h o v e i o r e d u c et h e f i o u r e
to 14 . l .DIN
5 : 20 ASA. A fo-ctor
would require q re-
An 1'8"-2'y2"
of
duction of l-2 DlN. LJ''?
W h e n r e m o v i n gt h e f i l t e rf r o m
ihe comerq do nol forget io
reset the originol DIN/ASA
t i g u r et o r t h e t i l m i n q u e s t i o n .
ix{ 2/1/2t_2/6,

/YA'Y\ 2'6"-3,2y2"
llill
 www.orphancameras.com

The film is now finished.. .

After 36 or 20 exposures,occordingto the length
of the film, the ropid tronsportlever will not
re-
move.The film is now finishedond mustbe
wound into its cossette.
(see
Firstreleosethe lock of the rewind knob
to ollow ihis fo spring out'
illustrotionB, poge 8)
ond drow it out only o froctionto its first stop'

T h e np r e s si n t h e l o c k i n gb u t t o ni n . t h e b
. ose.,of
t h e c o m e r qs n d t u r n t h e r e w i n d k n o b in the
shown by the orrow' Rewinding is
Jirection
.omplutu when the rewind knob turns freely
o f t e i r e l e o s i n gt h e l o c k i n g b u t t o n ' Y o u . c q n
no* op"n the bock of the comeroby pushing
qrrow (seefiS' pqg" 8)' Pull out the rewind
the cqfchin the direciionshown by the {'
Pui the cossetiein ifs lighi-tighl
knob firmly os for os it will go ond removeihe cossetie'
pockingond mork it os exPosed'