Est. 1867 · Mortsel, Belgium; historical camera works in Munich, Germany · 3 lenses
Agfa began in Berlin in 1867 as Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation, a dye and chemistry company founded by Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Carl Alexander von Martius. Its photographic business grew from dry plates, film, paper, and chemistry rather than cameras at first; Rodinal developer and the Agfa trademark made the name familiar to darkrooms well before Agfa became a mass-market camera marque. The Belgian half of the later Agfa-Gevaert group began separately in 1894, when Lieven Gevaert founded a photographic-paper business near Antwerp. The two companies merged in 1964 as Agfa-Gevaert.
Agfa's camera and lens identity came through the Munich camera works that descended from Alexander Rietzschel's optical firm. Bayer acquired control of Rietzschel in the early 1920s, and the factory became part of Agfa's photographic operation. Interwar and postwar Agfa cameras ranged from simple box and folding cameras to the Karat, Silette, Ambi Silette, Optima, and compact 35 mm families. Their lenses carried names such as Agnar, Apotar, Solinar, and Color-Solinar, often designed for practical consumer photography rather than prestige interchangeable-lens systems.
Agfa was also central to European color photography. Agfacolor Neu, introduced in the 1930s, established a chromogenic color-film process distinct from Kodak's Kodachrome approach and influenced later color-negative and color-print materials. After World War II, Agfa's eastern Wolfen plant became ORWO, while the western Agfa business continued through Bayer and then Agfa-Gevaert. The consumer imaging division was sold in 2004 and the AgfaPhoto name became a licensing business, while Agfa-Gevaert today focuses on medical imaging, digital printing, chemicals, and industrial imaging.
Notable designs: Agfa Karat, Agfa Silette, Agfa Ambi Silette, Agfa Optima, Color-Agnar, Apotar, Solinar, Color-Solinar, Agfacolor