Agfa Selectronic 2

Name: Agfa Selectronic 2
Brand: Agfa

Auto-only SLR camera cosmetically redesigned from a Chinon CA-4/4s chassis, part of Agfa’s final film camera series.

Overview

The Agfa Selectronic 2 is an auto-only SLR camera developed as part of Agfa's final line of film cameras in the transition from the 1970s to the 1980s. It was produced through a collaboration between Agfa (Germany) and Chinon (Japan), with the internal chassis based on the Chinon CA-4/4s. The body was redesigned by Schlagheck-Schultes to give it a distinct Agfa aesthetic, featuring a smoother body covering with a light texture and a prominent red 'sensor punkt' shutter button. The camera uses open metering activated by a half-depressed shutter button, a design inherited from Chinon.

Specifications

Shutter	Electromagnetic shutter, stepless from 1 second to 1/1000th
Flash sync	X flash setting set to a mechanical 1/100th
Power	Runs on readily available cheap LR44 alkaline cells, silver oxide SR44
Mount	Pentax K mount
Standard lens	Agfa Color Multi Coated 50mm f/1.4

Design

The Agfa Selectronic 2 was built around an existing Chinon CA-4/4s chassis with all its features retained, but the exterior was redesigned to reflect Agfa's styling, including a smoother body covering and the signature large red 'sensor punkt' shutter button introduced on Agfa cameras in the late 1960s. The 'sensor punkt' is described as easy to locate and helpful in reducing camera shake, though some users report difficulty in half-pressing it without fully releasing the shutter, often resulting in accidental exposures.

Context

The Selectronic 2 is the auto-only model in a trio of SLRs that includes the manual-exposure Selectronic 1 and the fully-featured Selectronic 3. Agfa launched the Selectronic series as part of a broader push into 35mm camera systems during the late 1970s and early 1980s. By the early 1980s, Agfa had ceased in-house camera production—after being taken over by Bayer in 1981—and all subsequent models, including the Selectronic series, were OEM products manufactured by Chinon. Agfa officially ended camera production in 1983.