Agfa Solina Vario Color Agnar
On my first eBay camera purchase I bought 4 Agfa Solina's (Memar x 1, Solina Pronto x 2, Solina Vario x 1).
Agfa Solina is like Ansco Memar, simply a rebranded Silette for distribution in the US. Solina is the US counterpart of Silette Type III, which is a good call in my opinion because all 6 types of Silettes are only labelled "Silette", with no particular way to distinguish them merely from the front marking. To avoid confusion with other types of Silettes, I am going to refer to my Silette Type III as "Solina".
This Solina is one that comes with good condition at first glance. Unlike the others in my collection, this one comes with the inferior Color-Agnar lens and Vario shutter. What Agfa did with these cameras is that they put different lens and shutters on the same camera body.
Vario shutter is missing the 1/100s shutter speed and self-timer of the Pronto shutter. Usually I use 1/100s as a starting point to apply Sunny 16 rule, but since Vario shutter doesn't have 1/100s, I just use 1/50s or 1/200s and adjust the aperture accordingly by ±1 stop.
Agnar lens, as far as I can see, is missing a bit of coating that Apotar has. Internet opined that Apotar is better than Agnar, and I say Agnar of this Solina is still quite good.
The only other complain I have with this camera is the lying frame counter. It counts down from 36 to 20 just fine, and any frame after that there's a good chance it doesn't advance. I once finished an entire roll and still thought I have 5 frames.
Even though Solina Vario may have lacked some features and is a bit more tricky to use, Solina Vario is still a very versatile and fully functional Silette that would be a good one for anyone who's just begun film photography. I would even go as far as saying everyone should get a fully mechanical camera because it forces you to learn important concepts such as the exposure triangle and depth of field. And Solina Vario, is one you could start with.
