Author |
Message |
nathan
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 05:35 pm: |
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i recently purchased a near mint billy 1 on which the focus seems to be seized. any sugestions? |
Alex
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 01:15 am: |
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An Agfa Billy? Sounds like that very common problem, the lubricant in the threads has solidified. You can free it by careful application of naptha (lighter fuel) to loosen it up, after which you will need to take the front lens assembly off (unscrewing the infinity post if there is one), clean out all the old dried-up grease from the threads, and re-grease it with a few spots of silicon grease. Be quite thorough in getting rid of the old grease -- I found that cotton tips dipped in naptha and wooden cocktail sticks to get into the threads work well. You can get a tube of silicon grease from an electronics shop (like Maplin in the UK). Make sure you take a note of the point at which the lens assembly comes off, in order to make it easier to get it back on, and test for focussing again. |
nathan
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 04:44 pm: |
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thank you. that worked swimmingly. i now have a beatiful and fully functioning billy. |
Alex
Rating: N/A Votes: 0 (Vote!) | Posted on Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 12:15 pm: |
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That's excellent. I have a few of these old Agfa folders and they are great fun to use, and you even get a few admiring stares when you are seen taking pictures with it. Hope you get plenty of use out of it now. |