2003.63.4

A black camera, with a pop-out lens that is opened by a small button on the top, and released by pushing in the hinges. The lens is covered by the same material the rest of the camera is made of, and blends in with the body.

The Isolette is an inexpensive post-war German folding medium format camera built between 1951 and 1954. It featured scale focusing and a halfway decent Agna 85mm f/4.5 lens. Many guidebooks and collectors mistakenly identify these cameras as Jsolettes. The 'I' in script looks very much like a 'J' which accounts for that mistake. The Isolette series of cameras had a long history. The first Isolette was produced in 1938 and the last Super Isolette (with coupled rangefinder) was made between 1954-1960. The sixties brought the demise of the medium format rangefinder and the introduction of compact 35mm rangefinders and SLRs. These "original" model bodies came with a twin format-6x6 and 4.5x6 switch in the viewfinder and flaps on the film gate. Also, they had bakelite top-decks. On to the interior: the serial number is stamped into the top flap of the metal roll-holder on the film supply side (to the right as you face the back of the camera). Lift the roll-holder as if to load the camera and flip open the top and bottom spindles. On the top one, there should be a number prefixed by a two-letter code. As well, there is a number in yellow or white sometimes stamped on the inside of the camera back, usually near the red film-advance window