Testimonials
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Mr. Kreckel,
First of all, I absolutely love it (Agfa Super Isolette). It has replaced my Leica M4 as my go everywhere camera. The images are brilliant.
Sincerely,
Michael T
Dear Mr. Darrell Young,
I came across your interesting article about classic folder camerasof the 50's and immediately became enchanted by them. I then ordered from Mr. Jurgen Kreckel an AGFA Isolette III, with Solinar lens f3.5(6x6cm) and an AGFA Record III, with Apotar lens f4.5 (6x9cm). They were promptly shiped to Lisbon, Portugal and I just received them today. After a few tests without film, they seem to be in quite excellent shape (my expectations were fully acomplished). The CLA service of Mr. Jurgen (cleanning, lubricationand adjustment) was quite impressive. Both cameras look like new with their shi ning new bellows and their amazingly well preserved body. Most important of all, lenses are crystal clear and without any scratches and shutter is well lubricated and fully functional. I truly recommend anyone to join the medium format community by acquiring one of these great pocket size folding cameras.
Best wishes,
Ricardo C. (Lisbon, Portugal)
Mr. Jurgen Kreckel,
I am so impressed with both you and the Isolette that you assembled together!
The camera's beautiful. You and the camera exceeded my expectations, and I can't thank you enough.
Give me a few days to make some prints, and I'll let you know about my results.
Thank you!
Ben G.
Yuba City, California
Dear Jurgen,
I just finished my first roll of film (NPS 160) through the Zeiss Nettar I bought from you on eBay. I've been using a Nikon FE since 1982, but the Nettar is my first foray into medium format and guess focusing. I used an inexpensive handheld lightmeter, also purchased on eBay, for a few of the shots but most exposures were determined by "Sunny 16" estimation.
In brief, the results were amazing! Even the owner of the photo shop that did the developing and printing was impressed (I pointed him to your website). This is only a "middle quality" lens? Yowzah! What does "top of the line" look like?
I'm going to try a roll of NPH 400 next. With only 1/300 shutter speed, it might be too limited in aperture selection for the brightest days. On the other hand, the camera's compact enough to carry two, each loaded with different film. You may have started something here.
As you can tell, I'm pleased. I could very well be hooked. I carry this little gem with me daily, which I never did with my Nikon. Many thanks to you, and to Darrell Young for the article that got me thinking about MF folders.
Sincerely,
Daryl D.
By the way, I never mentioned how impressed I am that you are able to get the shutter speeds so accurate on the cameras you CLA. I have a little tester with which I keep tabs on the old cameras I collect.
Another great surprise to me was the resulting 6X6 shots out of the Apotar on my Ansco 4.5 Speedex. Wow. I will bet it will give the old Super B (Zeiss Tessar) a good run.
Dave B.
Dear Jurgen,
Received the Adox 6x9 late yesterday and want to thank you for the repair and the QUICK service. The first roll of film I put through the camera looked great and I got a couple of 11 x 14 prints in my portfolio that I'm very pleased with.
Thanks very much. I'm going to have some fun with this simple camera!
ps: The Record II with Schneider-K. I bought from you a while back is an extremely sharp shooter.
Cheers, Dave
The Novar is a three element lens, but you needn't feel the slightest worry about advertising its image quality. I have four old Zeiss cameras with Novars and they are all hard working cameras with great image quality!
Dave L.
Thank you so much for overhauling my Bessa I. What a joy and delight it was to see the unit back in its old glory days. I appreciate.
Herb H.
Hello Jurgen,
The Isolette arrived safely yesterday & it is GORGEOUS! You do great work restoring these gems. Thanks so much!
Sarah
Hi Jurgen;
You may use the photo in any way you like. I scanned it into the computer
using a Nikon 8000 at 4000 dpi / 16bits. It produces a 675mb file. Take that
puny digital cameras!
I was out shooting 4x5 black and white in the mountains today, and found a
herd of deer bedded down next to some rocks and trees I wanted to shoot. I
set up the camera and about half the herd drifted into the nearby trees. I
thought to myself "I sure wish I had the ability to take a small portable
camera and drift up hill to get a shot of the deer. "I looked into the
camera pack and realized I had my trusty folder! I popped out the bellows,
cocked the shutter, set the shutter speed and aperture by sunny 16 and took
the distance reading from the external rangefinder. I sat in the grass for
about 15 minutes until the deer returned to the glen and snapped the shots
handheld. With a 6x9 negative, I realized that I could crop to zoom in for
a close-up of the deer. No zoom lens needed! The folder comes through
again.
Regards,
Dave Anderson
First pix out of Bessa 1 were just plain drop-dead gorgeous.
T.M. / Texas
I received the Bessa 1 today. If anything, it's even better than I'd thought it would be. You've done a fabulous job getting this camera into shape, and I'm looking forward to many years of shooting with it. I'm confident enough with it that I'll be taking it to Europe next month.
Thanks for all of your advice and your help with this purchase. I'm looking forward to doing business again with you in the future.
Be well,
Dave
Back from two week tour of Greek islands. carried the Perkeo II in a belt pouch. It got some stunning pictures of poster quality with Fuji colour neg. film.
Thanks for the tune up.
Jim
Hi Jurgen,
I shined a flashlight inside the bellows and saw no pinholes and even held it toward the sun while trying to look into it and saw no holes then either. My last test was with the camera loaded. I held it toward the sun and rotated and swiveled it every which way, then after I developed the film, I can see there is a light leak. So you are right about old bellows needing replaced.
Terry
Kellogg, Iowa
Dear Jurgen:
The Hapo 66E with75mm f / 3.5 'C' Haponar I bought from you which you recently re-bellowed in tan is working great!
I recently got back a roll of100 Proviafrom a trip to the old Tumacacori Mission in southern Arizona. Used an incident meter and a tripod, and all came out. Only two were incorrectly exposed and that I consider very good for a new user of folder cameras like myself. The others were glorious, IMHO. That Provia and the Hapo are agreat team. Just a bare, unfiltered Haponar lens, but great color I think. Detail and texture of the Mission building is wonderful.
I notice you put some customer photos on your website. Would you be interested inmy mailing youone of these unmounted slides I got back to see the result? Post it if you want to.I don't have a slide scanner tosend to you electronically - send me your address again if you are interested. Otherwise, thank you for the excellent work.
Glen Mark J.
Tucson, Arizona
I bought the Isolette L from you a few weeks ago - and could not be more pleased. I also bought a lll from someone on ebay, that had CLA'd by you before selling. Both cameras look absolutely new! Both cameras that you cla'd look 95 % and 100% NEW.
I admire great workmanship - but few people do it anymore.
Kenneth W.G.
Jurgen,
Thanks for such a nice job on my Agfa Record III. I exposed & developed a roll and the negatives look great.
Greg
Hello. Recieved the camera today. Looks great. I see you're deserving of the fine reputation you have. You did nice job cleaning-up the camera. I'm looking forward to running some film through it this weekend. I'm confident that any problems encountered with the photos will be due to the photographer, not the camera. Anyway, thank you. I'll be keeping an eye on your future auctions.
Take care,
Preston
Hey Jurgen,
I just wanted to shoot you a quick note to tell you how happy we are with the Super Isolette. The bellows look fantastic, and it's a real pleasure to shoot now after being CLA'ed. We ran a roll this weekend and it preformed flawlessly! Thanks for the great job.
Kindest regards,
Brad & Terri S.
Jurgen,
I was enjoying my Bessa II the other day, and thought I'd drop you a
note to let you know that it's working well, and I still very much
appreciate your friendly knowledgeable service, and attention to
detail. That camera has been a wonderful addition to my camera bag, and
helped to bring back some of what I enjoy most about our craft.
Thanks again,
Steve L.
Hi Jurgen,
Just scanned the first roll of Velvia from the wee Voigtlander Perkeo II. They really are excellent, easily comparable with the results from my Rolleiflex.
Thanks again,
Colin
This is a musing not a real pressing question but why on earth weren't the Agfa Optima 2's and 2a's the hottest selling cameras of all time? The Apotar shoots the lights out,,,is superbly color balanced and, when used with that cheap WalMart Agfa / Polaroid imported 97 cents per roll filmgets excellent results even when wal mart printed The same guys made the coating on the lens, and the film compositionso it's no wonder they work well togetherbut SO well? The agfas are so much easier to use than the Leicas and even the voigtlandersI cannot imagine folks passing them up.!! That Speedex Special 4,5 has the apotar lens in it, and my results obtained before it went Kazoo were superb. I would have hated to be any engineer saddled with the task of making a better color lens than that one.
Then I got this guess focus Silette SLE with a Solinar and realized that improvement, while incremental, was possible. Wow. Oh yeah I have this M3 by some outfit in Wetzlar which I nearly never use for fear of cosmetic damage and catastrophic value loss resulting. Sheesh.
Enough of my jive I am looking forward to hearing my additional options.
Sincerely,
Tom L Jr.
Hello Jurgen!
I just wanted to tell you that I have put one roll through the folder (and I have another one in there now) and the results were just staggeringcrisp, with really lovely blurring of the background. I am really in awe. My husband now wants one, and of course I am planning to get a second one for black and white. I am attaching a few that I have scanned to show you how lovely the images are. Thank you so much, you should feel really good about the work that you do. In this world where everything is digital this and that, and even film cameras have matrix meters and every sort of crutch imaginable, these cameras are such a pleasure because they remind you that you really CAN take wonderful photographs by using your eyes and your brains, and nothing disastrous will happen if you don't have a built-in meter or auto focus.
Cheers, Maya
Jurgen,
Thank you so much!!!! You've been really wonderful to deal with. I appreciate it, and look forward to using the camera again. If I ever want to buy another old folder or if I ever come across one on my own that needs repair, I will certainly want to use your services again.
Thank you,
Suzie
Hi Jurgen,
I got back from vacation and found my "new" Isolette waiting for me. I shot a roll of Velvia and I'm really impressed with the results. Thanks for eveything, your workmanship is beautiful.
I once again have a medium format in my pocket!
Thanks again,
Mike Kaiser