Having quite a few half-frame cameras (Olympus Pen-F being top of the pile), the Agat 18K has long been on my list of ones to acquire. However, the standard black/yellow combination didn’t do it for me so it took a while to find one of the rarer color combos, grey/yellow.
Though marketed under the MMZ (Belomo) name the Agat 18K was actually manufactured by Vilejka, the logo of whom can be seen on the lens surround.
Vilejka was founded in the 1970’s near Minsk and is still producing optical equipement today.
Started as a joint effort between MMZ and KMZ it eventually became part of Belomo (Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association).
Belomo manufactued another half-frame camera I have, the Chaika II.
First impressions were that the camera is a toy, made mostly of plastic and very light (120g). However, certain elements indicate that care was put into the 18K’s design such as the lens cap that also covers the shutter release and tripod mount revealed by unscrewing the strap. This lines up with what students (and children) would want in a camera, boosted by film economy afforded by doubling the number of pictures per roll.
| Make | MMZ(Belomo) |
|---|---|
| Model | Agat 18K |
| Year | 1991 |
| Format | 35mm (half-frame) |
| Shutter | metal leaf |
| Speed | 1/65 – 1/540 (camera only has pictograms) |
| Lens | Industar-104 |
| f2.8 28mm | |
| Focus | 0.9m – ∞ |
| Aperture | f2.8 – 16 |
| Light Meter | No |
| Focus System | Scale |
The couple of test pictures I have taken so far came out well. At first glance, the system for setting shutter speed seems like it would be imprecise, but the pictograms are cool and results better than expected. This should not have come as a suprise as the camera is essentially taking the Sunny 16 principle and baking it into the hardware.
Taken on Ilford Delta 100, stand-developed in HC-110 for 30 minutes.
