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martin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 27, 2005 - 05:14 am: | 
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I have just bought a beautiful Agfa Super Isolette in great condition-I suspect little used which led to the focus ring being seized. Is there a way of freeing this without disassembly of lens/shutter etc.? I hope someone can help.. |
Berk Sirman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 27, 2005 - 05:52 am: |
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This site has valuable information about fixing frozen focus rings as well as other repairs on these cameras.
http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/repair/frozenfix.html |
Alex
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 28, 2005 - 03:36 am: |
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Roland's description is ace, and is the method I followed when I had the same problem. You won't really be able to properly free up the lens without taking it off, as you need to get the old and degraded lubricant off the threads in the lens mount, and flushing only redistributes it and only works for a very short time (not even a day). I was slightly more fortunate in that the two front elements had not stuck together in any of the three or four I've treated, but the basic method of taking out the infinity post to release the lens, and the cleaning out of the old lubricant, was exactly the same. Make sure you take a note of which are the front surfaces of the lenses when you get them out, as I spent ages trying to recalibrate focus only to realise I had put the middle lens in back to front. To re-grease (you don't need much at all), I used a silicon grease I got from an electronics store. Even if you re-grease a lens thread every day of your life, a tube will last you about a century.
My old doctor used to say that ear syringing was his favourite treatment, because it was one of the very few where the patient got immediate and visible relief and he found that most satifying. Maybe not the best analogy, but I think of this kind of job as being the same sort of thing. It's relatively easy to do, and the effects are immediate and striking. When you've got the lens back on, and the focussing is smooth and clean and easy and beautifully 'damped', that is very satisfying indeed. |
Mike Kovacs
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 28, 2005 - 10:15 am: |
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Ahh, the infamous Agfa green goo grease. Try heating it a little as that often gets things moving enough to get it apart. Easy enough on a front cell focuser but I haven't had the pleasure to work on a Super Isolette.
With all helicals now, I solvent clean them, then rub with #0000 steel wool, then clean with dishwashing detergent. You have to be super careful is there is no way to get the glass out of elements like on some front cell folders.
Once clean, I relube with a grease of the appropriate visocity, something medium for a helical.
PS expect the bellows to be shot on an Agfa. |
martin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 05, 2005 - 02:48 am: |
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Thanks all,
I've heated the area gently with a hair dryer (protecting the bellows with thick cloth) This freed the fousing ring and it was reasonably free whilst warm but has become rather too stiff to use once it cooled down. I'll just have to do the job properly with a careful dismantling. I'll practice first with dismantling something less precious.(Mike, the bellows seem in good order) Thanks very much for the help.
Martin |
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