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Here’s a gem of a circa 1950s box camera that has a beautiful art deco front, and best of all, take panoramic 6x9 images on readily available 120 film. This camera was manufactured either in Germany, France, or India, between 1951 and 1958. Unlike many box cameras such as Kodak Brownies, which are constructed of plastic or even cardboard, the Synchro-Box is made of metal. Like most box cameras, it has two brilliant viewfinders so the camera may be held for either portrait or landscape photographs.

The optics are rather simple, so image quality is a bit better than a toy camera, but not significantly so. Photographs can have the dreamy soft focus like Holga pictures, but unlike toy cameras, image quality is fairly sharp throughout the photograph with little or no vignetting around the edges. Also, the large negative size is a definite plus. Usually I print just contact sheets from my Synchro-Box negatives which I then cut into individual "wallet size" prints for mounting.

I know neither what the shutter speed is, nor the f/stop of the two lens apertures, as technical information on this camera is scarce. I do know that in addition to the two apertures, there is a built in yellow filter for black and white photography on the pull out lever above the shutter release. It is possible to set the camera for a time exposure by depressing the tab above the aperture/filter pull out lever. Finally, I believe this camera can be used with a flash unit, but I am uncertain what type of flash is compatible, nor how it attaches to the camera. If anyone reading this can provide more technical info on the Synchro-Box, please email me at jsurp@yahoo.com .

Agfa Synchro-Box camera can be found today in good condition for about $10 to $15 for a German-made model. Synchro-Boxes of French manufacture command a higher price by collectors as do the even more rare Indian-made units.

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Email: jsurp@yahoo.com

These are three contact prints I made with the Agfa Synchro-Box during April of 2001. The subject is a small church in a poor rural community in Maryland near the Virginia border. I generally choose to make contact prints from my Synchro-Box negatives as the camera only shoots the obsolete panoramic 6x9 format. I do not have an enlarger capable of accommodating a 6x9 negative, nor do most commercial labs that process 120 film. The exposure was the instant shutter speed and I used the smaller of the 2 available f/stops. Film was most likely 100 speed Fuji color.