Agfa/Reflecta Slide Projector Models
With one exception, Agfa slide projector lenses were not serialled – often an indicator that the manufacturer doesn’t take them seriously. Agfa’s reputation in Mainland Europe is healthy, but UK opinion is well summarised by the view of a repair specialist who recently harrumphed in my direction: “Well… Agfa projectors – they never were any good”. Well, many of their lenses certainly were. Even Agfa’s basic projector models had relatively high resolution optics compared to their competition – knowledge that seemingly never filtered into the wider market. Most were typical triplets, but there are more complex designs to tempt the connoisseur, too.
In the absence of serials, dating depends on linking lenses to a projector model timeline. The following dates confirm when a model was in production, but don’t always define its total shelf life: in most cases, it can be assumed that a given projector remained on the market for some time after the date here specified, unless it is marked with an asterisk – in which case we have a confirmed date on which the model was discontinued.
| Date | Agfa Projector Model | Part No | Lens Options |
| 1940 | Opticus (early Black) | 75/3 100/4.5 | |
| 1937-1952 | Karator I (most expensive) | Agomar 100/2.8 | |
| 1939-1957 | Karator II | Agomar 75/2.8 | |
| 1939-1957 | Karator III (least expensive) | K III 100/3.3 | |
| 1951-1968 | Karator U | 5950/03 | Agomar 100/2.8 Agomar 150/2.8 [V1] Agomar 150/3.2 |
| 1955-1960 | Opticus / Opticus 100 | 5965 | Agomar 85/2.5 Agomar 85/3.5 |
| 1955-1960 | Opticus 150 | 5966 | Agomar 85/2.5 Agomar 85/3.5 |
| 1956-1962* | Diamator S Diamator SE (2×2) | 5989 5890 | Agomar 85/2.5 Agomar 100/2.5 Agomar 150/2.8 |
| 1956-1961 | CP35 CP35V CP36 CP44 CP44V CP66 | 5971 – – – 5968 – | Agomar 85/2.8 [V1] Agomar 150 |
| 1958-1960 | Karator 55 | ‘155’/2.8 | |
| 1958-1960 | Karator 77 (medium format) | Agomar 150/2.8 [V2] Protelinar 250/4 | |
| 1960-62 | Diamator M | 5910 | Agomar 85/2.5 Agomar 85/2.8 Agomar 100/2.8 Agomar 150 |
| 1960-68 | Diamator H | 5905 | Agomar 50/2.8 Agomar 85/2.8 Agomar 100/2.8 |
| 1962-63 | Diamator N12 Diamator N24 | 5909 5921 | Agomar 85/2.5 |
| 1963-64 | Diamator H18 | 5904 | Agomar 60/2.8 |
| 1963-64 | Diamator M18 (half-frame) | 5907 | |
| 1965-66 | Diamator 100 | 5925 | Agomar 60/2.8 Agomar 85/2.8 Agomar 100/2.8 Agolar 150/2.8 |
| 1965-66 | Diamator 150 | 5922 | Agomar 85/2.8 Agomar 100/2.8 |
| 1965 | Biluscop viewer/projector | unlabeled | |
| 1965-1968 | CP150 | 5963 | Agomar 85/2.8 |
| from 1970 | Agfacolor 50 Automatic | 5923 | Agomar 85 |
| 1971-1976 | Agfacolor 250 Agfacolor 250/AV | 5932 5893 | Color-Agolar 60/2.8 Color-Agolon 90/2.5 Color-Agolar 150/2.8 Color-Agolar 250/4.5 |
| 1973-1975 | Agfacolor Pocket | 5935 | Agomar 45/2.8 |
| from 1974 | Agfacolor 50 | 5920 | Agomar 85 (sharp) |
| 1979-1984* | Agfa Diamator AF | 5947 | Agomar 85/2.8 |
| 1979-1984* | Agfa Diamator 1500 / 1500AF | 5945 | Agomar 85/2.8 + 60, 90, 150mm Agolon 90/2.5 MC |
| POST-1984 REFLECTA MODELS | |||
| 1984-1992 | Reflecta Diamator 1800 AF | 1021 | Reflecta Agomar 90/2.8 MC Docter Agomar 90/2.8 MC |
| 1984-1992 | Reflecta Diamator A Reflecta Diamator AF Reflecta Diamator AF Combi Reflecta Diamator AF Delux | 1001 1002 1029 1004 | Agomar 90/2.8 MC ‘Wetzlar’ Agomar 90 red ring Will Maginon 85/2.8 Docter Agomar 90/2.8 MC |
| 1992 | Reflecta Diamator 1500 AF Reflecta Diamator 1502 AF | – – | Agomar 90/2.8 MC Agolon 90/2.5 |
| 1990 | Reflecta Diamator 2500 AF Reflecta Diamator 2502 AF Reflecta Diamator 2506 AF | – – – | Vario-Agomar 70-120/3.0 Agomar 90/2.8 MC |
| 1992-1994 | Reflecta Diamator 2000 AF Reflecta Diamator 2002 AF Reflecta Diamator 2004 AF Reflecta Diamator 2008 AF | 1200 – – – | Reflecta Agomar 90/2.8 MC |
| 1995 | Reflecta Diamator 2501 AF Reflecta Diamator 2505 AF-IR | 2501 2505 | Agomar 90/2.8 MC (on 2501) Agomar 90/2.4 MC (on 2505) |
| 1994*- | Reflecta Diamator 1504 AF Reflecta Diamator 2006 AF | 1112 – | Agomar 90/2.8 MC (red ring) Agomar 90/2.4 MC (red ring) 70-120/3.5 |
| 1999-2001 | Reflecta Diamator 7800 AF Reflecta Diamator 7805 AF Reflecta Diamator 7808 AF Reflecta Diamator 7810 AF Reflecta Diamator 7811 AF Reflecta Diamator 7812 AF Reflecta Diamator 7815 AF Reflecta Diamator 7817 AF Reflecta Diamator 7819 AF |
Agfa’s slide projector operation effectively ended in 1984 when their Portugeuse production facility, and future development of second generation Diamator models, was taken over by Reflecta until well into the next century. Reflecta-branded lenses of this period are conspicuously similar to Braun’s, but projectors from the 90s often seem to have bundled with lenses made by Docter and Wilhelm Will (Maginon 85/2.8) Models were reset to 1xxx type numbers and carried markings stating ‘made under licence from Agfa-Gevaert’.
You’ll notice that Agfa is typically idiosyncratic about its model numbers (ie, not chronological) and fond of recycling brand names: the pre-war black Opticus was reborn as a range of coloruful 1950’s Opticus-es in the 1950s. The Karator (first trademarked in the UK in 1938) had a second life in the 1960s. Agfa’s CP range was almost resurrected as the CS range, which was simultaneously called Diamator – which died in the late 1960s, then revived in the 1980s, before it came under their aegis of Reflecta. The Agomar is reassuringly constant, appearing on Agfa lenses for more than half a century.
Agfa Slide Projector Lenses
It’s hard to establish provenance for specific projector lenses. Agfa had the in-house resource to design and make them, but in typical German (and very Agfa) fashion, there was a collective resource pool between Braun, Agfa and Staeble from the 1950s-1980s that makes it likely that some of each company’s intellectual copyright (and production fingerprints) might linger on any model in any range. Similarly, some – probably a majority – of Reflecta-branded lenses were made by Docter and interchangeably branded Reflecta / Docter. However, specifically Agfa-branded lenses are seen of the following types:
Agfa Projektionsobjektiv 100/4.5
Used on Opticus 35 mm slide projector.
Agfa Projektionsobjektiv KIII 100/3.3
Used on Karator III 35 mm slide projector.
Agomar
Agomar was a lens name shared between many German manufacturers, appearing on Agfa models as early as 1940, distinguishing the better two of three triplets offered for Karator series slide projectors. At present count Delta lists XX versions of the Agfa Agomar, commonly air-spaced three-element primes in the range of 75-150mm focal lengths. Most are f2.8, but later 1960’s-era Diamators upped the ante to f2.5. These mechanically fragile f2.5 lenses are tremendously characterful and out-Meyer the Trioplan when it comes to exciting bubble bokeh. Later lenses returned to f2.8 and have somewhat more sedate rendering. Agomars fitted to late-1970’s Agfacolor 50 and 1980’s-era Diamators are unreasonably sharp, despite their unpromising plastic barrels and ubiquitous 85/2.8 specification.
In the Reflecta era we see not only improved multicoating on stock Agomars but a much more purposeful series of four-element f2.4 Agomars from 1994 that appear to have co-developed as the Braun Ultralit PL.
Agolon
Only one lens is seen marked Agolon: a plastic-barrel four-element 90/2.5 positioned as ‘the upgrade lens’ from 1979-1993, when it was superceded by the Reflecta Agomar 90/2.4 MC. It therefore spans the Agfa/Reflecta era and is seen in both Agfa and Reflecta guises.
Color-Agolar
The six-element 60/2.8 Color-Agolar (Cat 4784/100) was the shorter sibling of the Color-Agolon – Agfa’s best lenses for their best projector series: the Agfacolor 250 D, A, S and DAV models sold from 1971 until at least 1976. There were in fact three Color-Agolars produced for the Agfacolor 250 Series – although the longer 150/2.8 and 250/4.5 variants must have relatively unpopular, given their scarcity on the used market.
I’m usually a big fan of the 60 mm focal length, because these lenses sit nicely between normal and most common portrait lenses and tend to be versatile enough to take interesting shots in a lot of different situations. When it comes to slide projection lenses that focal length is one of the more common ones, particularly in combination with the f/2.8 speed.
Because of that these lenses can usually be optained for next to nothing, and so there’s no big risk. 60 mm is also the focal length where a significant amount of lenses tend to have bigger image circles than needed for covering the full-frame format and thus allowing for some tilt/shift experimentation.
I’ve certainly not used the Color-Agolar nearly enough to form a meaningful and fair opinion, but from my experience so far, I would call it a more-than-solid lens at pretty much any distance. While it’s perhaps not outstanding at anything it seems to equal or even exceed the quality of lenses with similar specs, like the PC Cine-Xenon AV 60/2.8 by Schneider Kreuznach or the Braun Ultralit PL 55/2.8.
Here are two comparisons with the lenses mentioned above with a significant amount of tilt:
It’s interesting to note how close these two lenses are in terms of contrast and sharpness. The Braun Ultralit 55 mm f/2.8 MC has a significantly warmer look. The colors of the Agfa Color-Agomar appear more realistic to my eyes.
The Schneider Kreuznach PC AV Cine-Xenon does have slightly lower contrast and sharpness and a warmer look. What’s preferrable depends on the situation and subject. In terms of technical performance the Agfa lens certainly is impressive though.
Mark – who also gave this lens a try – wrote the following about it:
There are many Agolars but only one Color-Agolar – the shorter 60mm sibling of the Color-Agolon 90/2.5. The Color-Agolar shares the smooth-rendering style of its big brother, and is perhaps a little sharper. Designed for short-throw projection of 35mm and medium format transparencies, it has an unusually long register for a 60mm optic – and a usefully capacious image circle, allowing generous movements on 36x24mm sensors or comfortable coverage of GFX and 645z medium format sensors.
The Color-Agolar’s look is Cooke-like: adequate resolution when in focus, sliding gracefully into harmoniously blended bokeh that never distracts: mechanical vignetting is minimal on 36x24mm by virtue of its compact length and large image circle. Saturation is on the richer side of average but the tonality is soft, with pleasingly low contrast, easily tweaked in post if bolder rendition is preferred. The results may remind some of the Isco/Schneider Cinelux family, but bokeh isn’t quite as creamy-smooth – partly due to the lost stop. However, across-the-frame performance is much more consistent here: the ‘pop’ of Cinelux lenses derives partly from their many aberrations in the outer image circle: this is a much better behaved (and therefore less ‘characterful’) tool.
A desirable but rather uncommon projector lens worth seeking out.
If you find one for a good price, I’d absolutely agree. Here are a couple of sample shots:
The following shot is a cross-view stereo image – here’s a tutorial on how to view it.
Color-Agolon
The solitary Color-Agolon 90mm was a more substantial version of the Agolon 90mm. Both are f2.5, but the Color-Agolon is throttled down from a potential f2 by a (removable) internal waterhouse stop, giving slightly better resolution, particularly in the outer image circle. The dissimilarity of this lens’ drawing style to similar Braun and Staeble models suggests this was a unique Agfa design.
The Color-Agolon 90/2.5 [Cat 4785/100] combined with the Color-Agolar 60/2.8 to form a ‘luxe-pack’ designed for the range-topping Agfacolor 250. It’s a lens with something of a cult following – not because of unusual sharpness (scoring just 7.6 / 7.3) but because of its refined and appealing drawing style, and absence of aberrations. It’s a five-element air-spaced design: uncommonly well corrected for a projector lens – second only to Leica’s Super-Colorplans. The image circle is larger than necessary for 35mm slides, which results in consistent Zone 1-3 performance and minimal mechanical vignetting (cat-eye bokeh balls and swirl).
My own mixed feelings about this lens were likely influenced to a significant degree by my prior experiences with Agfa industrial and enlarging lenses, which are covered in separate write-ups here as well and had impressed me with their quality. After viewing the first results of the Color-Agolon, I was a little bit disappointed by the perceived lack of sharpness. Because of that I put Agfa’s projection lenses aside for a year until my interest was rekindled by the Ocellar, one of their cine projection lenses.
In hindsight I was probably a little bit too harsh in my initial judgement of the Color-Agolon. The images it produces do look very nice and feature a smooth look, which reminds me of the Leitz Elmarit Pro projection lenses, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. I do wonder however, if some type of modification (perhaps limiting its giant image circle) might improve its sharpness.
Cine Projector Lenses
Agfa wasn’t one of the notable names when it comes to cine projection and even though they were invested enough to produce a number of their own projectors, their lens portfolio in this regard is pretty limited. As fas as I know all Agfa lenses were made for smaller formats (8, 16 mm etc.) and none for 35 mm or bigger. This matches their offerings in terms of projectors and so it’s easy to understand why, even though I personally think it’s a pity they didn’t extend it, given the promising results.
Oppotar (8, 16 mm)
A small lens series used on some 16 mm projectors made by Agfa.
Agfa Oppotar 35/?
According to the kameramuseum.de site, this lens was used on the Agfa Movector 16 C and also some Agfa Record projectors. Unfortunately the image circle is quite small. In addition the front element of the lens is far recessed into the lens and, contrary to some other Agfa cine projection lenses, the front part of the lens can’t be unscrewed. It could be usable on M4/3 but I guess even there only to a limited extent.
Of course it’s always a possibility to use such a lens reversed for macro experiments:
In terms of image quality that’s not really recommended, I’d say. But if it’s something you want to play with for artistic purposes, it can be fun for sure.
Agfa Oppotar 50/?
According to the kameramuseum.de site, this lens was used on the Agfa Record projector. It’s image circle might be slightly bigger than the one from the 35 mm variant, but I would be surprised if it’s usable on APS-C.
Lucellar (8, 16 mm)
Some of the Lucellar lenses are said to be quite old (1930s) , so it seems possible that they were the predecessors to the Ocellar series. They are usually faster than the latter but are nowhere close in terms of coverage.
Agfa Lucellar 25/?
Agfa Lucellar 35/1.1
Agfa Lucellar II 50/?
Agfa Lucellar III 50/?
Agfa Lucellar IIIa 50/1.6
The specs of of the Lucellar IIIa 50/1.6 were just too god to not give it a try. If you can live with some optical flaws it is a nice lens to use on smaller formats. Unfortunately its limited image circle doesn’t make it suitable for use on full frame. On APS-C it could work fine if modified, but it looks like that’s not possible in any non destructive way.
Here are some sample shots (taken in APS-C mode on a full frame camera):
Agfa Lucellar I 65/1.7
User olmajti showed this lens and some nice looking sample shots on the mflenses forum and mentioned that it barely covers the APS-C image circle. That’s of course a pity, because the samples look great but there are a couple of 16 mm projection lenses out there with 65 mm focal length, which work well on full frame, including the Agfa Ocellar 65 mm shown further down.
Ocellar (8, 16 mm)
This is by far my favorite series of projection lenses by Agfa for several reasons. All of these lenses have a significantly bigger image circle than they would need to and most of the parts used to limit that – in order to optimize image quality and avoid problems with stray light – can be removed easily. They also seem very well built and their rendering is very balanced and offers a lot of options at various distances. They were used on various 8 mm and 16 mm variants of the Movector projector series.
In several books on optics Arthur Cox shows the above lens design drawing for the Agfa Ocellar II between 20-50 mm. It’s not clear if all Agfa Ocellar lenses feature this Petzval-derivative 4 elements in 2 groups design, but it’s possible.
Agfa Ocellar II 20/1.6
I can only speculate when it comes to this lens, but given the performance and specs of the longer focal length versions, which I’ve tried myself I would expect this one to work well on M4/3. Same goes for the 25 mm version below. Keep in mind though that it was specifically designed for 8 mm projection, so there’s no guarantee. Here’s a (approximated) comparison of various film formats to illustrate that.
Agfa Ocellar II 25/1.6
See above – the same applies here.
Agfa Ocellar 35/2.2
Buying a 35 mm focal length projection lens intended for 16 mm projection and just hoping for the best in terms of coverage is always a bit of a risk. Because of the great experiences I already had with the two longer focal length lenses of this series, I just had to give this one a try though. In its original state the image circle might be tiny, because this lens is fitted with a long and narrow tube at the front and also a smaller cone at the rear, likely in order to avoid negative effects from stray light. Both can be removed however without any need to permanently alter the lens.
In terms of speed there are certainly more impressive projection lenses of its kind out there, but I love the combination of decent coverage, great (smooth) rendering and the wonderful adaptability of this one. Here are some samples:
The following shots are cross-view stereo images – here’s a tutorial on how to view them.
Agfa Ocellar 50/2
This was the lens which sparked my interest in the cine projection lens offerings of Agfa in the first place. It is an exceptionally well built and beautiful lens and while not being among the fastest 50 mm projection lenses of its kind, it’s one of my personal favorites for sure. The main feature is its big image circle. Even on full frame at infinity there’s barely any vignetting and while it won’t be the best choice for landscapes or architecture shots with its significant field curvature and lacking sharpness in the corners, it offers a lot more options compared to many similar projection lenses.
Here’s a comparison with the well known Meyer Kinon Superior I 50/1.8:
The Kinon Superior is slightly faster, but the difference is not as clear as I would have expected. It shows a lot of vinetting compared to the Ocellar and even thought the amount can be reduced by removing its lens hood, its image circle is signifcantly smaller overall. The Ocellar also shows better contrast and sharpness and thus represents an excellent alternative to the Meyer Kinon Superior I in my opinion.
And here finally some sample shots taken on full frame:
It’s challenging to explain why I love this lens so much, because there certainly are a lot of different factors to it. The build quality feels excellent, it is very small and not hard to adapt. It got that perfect combination of low contrast look, interesting, slightly swirly background rendering plus decent sharpness, surprising coverage and speed. It’s the full vintage projection lens package in its most compact (shiny silver) form.
The following shots are cross-view stereo images – here’s a tutorial on how to view them.
Agfa Ocellar 65/2.2
And yet another excellent projection lens in this wonderful series. The 6.5 cm labeled Ocellar doesn’t feature any indication of actual speed, but from my own measurements it seems to be an f/2.2 lens, which is not very fast, but decent and actually significantly better than the majority of slide projection lenses in its focal length. The lens does still swirl, but less so than the 5 cm version. Because of this it offers a calmer and overall well-rounded look, for those who don’t like the craziness many 16 mm projection lenses are known for.
Here’s a comparison with the significantly faster A. Seibert Wetzlar E (Emostar) 65/1.5:
Similar to the 50 mm comparison further up, the difference in terms of speed is not as noticable as you would expect, probably being affected by the severe vignetting the Emo Wetzlar 65 mm lens suffers from, compared to the Ocellar. As usual the Ocellar lens shows decent sharpness but only moderate contrast. I personally like (and often prefer) that kind of look, but your mileage may vary of course. If you’re looking for a faster alternative – albeit with slight limitations in terms of image circle as well – I’d recommend the Astro-Kino Color 65 mm f/1.5
The following shots are cross-view stereo images – here’s a tutorial on how to view them.
Varionar (8 mm)
Like most variable focal length projection optics, I assume this lens doesn’t feature a big enough image circle to make it usable on any relevant modern format. What it provided in terms of projection is also not well documented, but it looks somewhat cheap and plascticky, so I wouldn’t expect much. What I’ve learned though – again and again: You never know until you’ve tried it.
Agfa Varionar 16.5-30/1.3
This lens seems to have been used on the 8 mm Movector 2000 projector.
Movenar (8 mm)
From what I could find out so far this lens series was used on a number of projectors, including the Movector E8, Movector F8 and Movector BS. There might be more than listed below, but in terms of specs it’s hard to imagine any of them are useful as adapted lenses.
Agfa Movenar 20/1.3
Agfa Movenar 20/1.4
Agfa Movenar 25/1.6
Agfa Movenar 15-25/1.6
Additional chapters in the Agfa-Gevaert story: