There have been many Shur-Shot models over the years, and maybe with some community help, we can piece together a timeline to help us better understand the many variations. As with all cameras of this era, you get "The Agfa Ansco Advantage."
The poorly-named Shur-Shot "Regular" features both a second aperture and a yellow filter that you can choose by sliding out a tab on the business side of the camera and it even shoots two formats! It is far more similar to the "Specials" than the more common Shur-Shot models.
The slide-out tab couldn't be more basic. It's a thin strip of metal with two holes. One is a smaller aperture and the other is covered with a yellow film. While we're not entirely convinced yet that these "settings" are truly helpful, one wonders what else could be put over those two openings to make creative shots...
These cameras have a removable film holder. Pull out the winding knob, then open the latch to open the back. Winding film onto this type of holder can be tricky, and we recommend you pick up one of our Winder Keys to ease the process.
Attached to the removable film holder are two thin panels on hinges. They are out of the way when shooting 6x9, but swing them around and they form a mask for making 6x4.5 format images. There are an extra set of 6x4.5 framing lines in the viewfinders and an additional red window on the back for winding correctly.
This camera has the simpler "Always On" shutter, which takes a little bit of time to get used to - it's easy to forget and make accidental double exposures, but this is hardly much of an issue for an otherwise fantastic box.
FORMAT: 6x9cm and 6x4.5cm
APERTURES: f/13 and f/22
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/50
MIN. FOCUS: 2.5m/8ft
BEST FILM: 100-160 ASA
BUILD: Cardboard body, metal parts, plastic parts, vinyl covering
MFBOXCO RATING: 12.5
They might call it "regular" but it's one of our highest-rated boxes!
Do you have experience this camera? Any helpful tips? Have you seen one at your local flea market? Do you know some trivia about the history the company or other knowledge you'd like to pass on? Add your stories below. We will periodically select the best tips and other bits to include above.