The flash didn't work at first, but cleaning the contacts with vinegar got it charging up.
Okay, well, it's the second roll. The first roll looked like shit. I missed focus on most of the shots. Here's some shots from the second roll, which I'm pretending is the first roll. Special thanks to @ravi and @riki's cat Apollo for modeling for me (he's the orange cat, not the giant skeleton).
I'm quite happy with the image quality of these shots. The size of the negative means that any imperfections are going to magnified to be twice as large as 35mm, so I'm kinda shocked at how fine the grain is. The colors of Tiger 200 are also more vibrant than I expected. You can tell by the borders that I made basically no attempt to correct the converted negatives (the border is black before conversion, how do I set the white balance for NLP???), but they turned out well The last shot really speaks to the quality of the f/2.7 lens of the Optima Pocket.
This roll wasn't all smooth sailing. Many mysteries remain about this camera. Somehow I ended up with several blank frames. There's no image on them whatsoever, so I think the shutter didn't open properly for them. I heard it go off for every shot, though... I'll have to be more vigilant about writing down what each shot was to try to determine a rhyme or reason in the future.
This series of cameras was developed in the early days of 110, meaning it's unable to read the plastic tab on a cartridge to determine its ISO, nor is there a way to override it. Furthermore, no one seems to know what base ISO this thing shoots at. There are several models from Agfa featuring the same design (lower end models sold as Agfamatic and higher end as Optima), and they were all built with the intention of using Agfa's AGFACOLOR pocket special film. From the images I can find online, neither the box nor the cartridge itself denotes the ISO of the film. It's probably like, 80 or 100, or something, I guess. The 200 speed Tiger film held up very well, but the other roll I shot, Lomo '92 pulled 1.5 stops, looks like total hell.
Scanning also wasn't a great time. My lab cut the film, which is already a pain when scanning 35mm. Here, I had to balance the film in a 35mm holder while trying to line up the frames without it slipping out. I kept having to adjust focus, so I'm assuming the film was bowing a bit. I went ahead and ordered a 110 holder for my Valoi 360 setup. I'm hesitant to spend more on it when Negative Supply's system looks a lot nicer, but I can live with it. The holder will probably crop off most the border too. I'll miss the border.
I'm absolutely going to continue shooting 110. I know it doesn't make much sense to when late model 35mm point and shoots are just as small as 110 cameras, but shooting film already doesn't make sense! The one handed operation of the Optima Pocket is a joy (including slamming it against your body to advance the film when your other hand is occupied), and its mechanics are just all around fun. The zone focusing is a new challenge as well, and I'd rather do it on this than become a Rollei 35 freak.
EDIT: Michael Talbert lists Agfacolor Pocket Special film as 80 ISO. This page on Agfa film is incredibly in depth and claims Pocket Special "was an improved version of Agfacolor CN S film, with finer grain, higher resolution, and a 25% reduction in layer thickness compared to Agfacolor CN S film." The film was later renamed to Agfacolor CNS2 when it became available outside of 110. Neat!
