12, Jan, 2025
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Agfa ePhoto CL30

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The Agfa CL30 is not the prettiest camera around, but it works well and it’s cheap. For just over $750 you get decent megapixel quality, one of the easiest to use control sets, a decent software download package, a tasty pouch to cany It in, and even a useful manual.
The camera is angular and chunky, and has a cast alloy casing which should be long-lasting. The controls are very simple: a shutter button on the top panel, two mode slider switches by the back panel LCD screen, and an EasyPilot scroll and click wheel under the viewfinder. Four AA alkaline batteries hide under the base, and a rather paltry 4M CompactFlash card slots under the end flap which also covers the USB, serial and TV sockets. A power socket is also fitted.
The fixed-length 43mm, f 2.8 lens uses a fast autofocus mechanism, but it made lots of grunting and whirring noises in our tests. It’s switched on by flipping a control slider to either Play or Record, then you just point and shoot. Another slider enables either image viewing on the LCD, or the PC connect mode.
The warm-up time was average at five seconds, but the refresh time between shots was 12 seconds, so don’t expect rapid action shooting with this camera. However, once the images were captured, they raced down the USB connection at an astonishingly fast two seconds for a IM file. Image expansion into the competent but unexciting Agfa PhotoGenie software package took another five seconds.
Setting the nondefault parameters such as image quality, exposure compensation, white balance or flash type was much easier than for most of the competition, using a simple scroll and press sequence from the EasyPilot button. Once downloaded, the images were reasonable, given the price and maximum resolution of the camera. The images had good colour depth and shadow detail, but they started to show some obvious jaggies if enlarged by more than 100%. However, below that, the imaging was fine. Indoor shots showed a slight blue cast, which was exaggerated by the use of flash. Overall, it’s not bad for Its price, if you can cope with its quaint styling.

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