The Agat-18 is one of those cameras that I liked from the start because of its looks. It is this small plastic box that carries a transparant dome over its little lens. Its successor the Agat-18K has a much less attractive dome, being black and not round but drop-shaped to cover the release button. The 18 therefore has this slight eighties futuristic look, a retro-futuristic look so to speak. So I only wanted a model with a transparant lens cap, all the rest was of no interest. But it takes fun pictures too! The camera is half frame, so it takes double the amount of exposures as you normally have on your 35mm film. You need to divide it up in two halves to insert the film. A hinged pressure plate goes behind the film, and then you have to struggle to get the two halves back together. I think only my Lomo 135VC is worse in that respect.

It is all manual, no light meter, nothing. The Industar-104 lens can be turned for focussing but mine goes pretty much without force so the slightest touch turns it out of focus. Apertures are set on one ring from 2.8 to 16 and the inner ring changes the film speed (16, 32, 65, 130, 250). You can't set the shutter speed, that is coupled with the aperture. The manual (in Russian) gives the following table:

aperture	2.8		4		5.6		8		11		16
time	1/60	...	...	...	...	1/125	...	...	...	...	1/250

The view finder has some indications in it for framing, but they seem much too narrow. I think there is much more on my images then indicated.

Rewinding the film is done with the usual handle, and to release the film mechanism there is a knob in the transport wheel. Press it and rotate it to the other setting, modestly indicated by a dark dot.

Opening the camera is done on the other side where there is a sliding button that can be pressed sideways. The camera comes neatly apart in two halves, and you can see where the film is supposed to be. Make sure the film is between the camera and the pressure plate.

The results were terrific, even though I mistook the film speeds for shutter speeds. I have the feeling that the pictures are hidden behind some kind of transparant wall. It looks like it is another world hidden within the photographic paper. And because it takes so many pictures, you shoot a lot more. The fun part of that is to print several negatives in one go. Pictures seem to belong together and go beyond the single shot.

With its bright colors on the plastic, it looks like a toy, and it also feels like that. And above all that it is so small: it slips right in your pocket and you can take it anywhere.

As it is not as common as some of the other cameras I have on my site I'll put a few key facts here:

Lens	Industar 104, 28 mm f/2.8
Focussing	Lens can be turned freely fom 0.9m to inf
Frame Size	18x24 mm (72 frames on a 35 mm 36exp film)
Shutter	Cocked automatically with transport, double exposure prevention
Times	1/60@f/2.8, 1/250@f/16
Dimensions	95x60x45mm, 0.19 kg
Features	a hot shoe under a cover, frame counter, autoresetting upon opening camera
Framing	view finder with markings inside, including parallax indication

PDF version of the Manual (3.47MB in Russian but with nice pictures!)