Agfa Isolette with the frozen focus ring grease of doom

[BetterSense]

Is there any way to free this thing up, or is it pretty much junk? It's a real nice camera. If it was frozen on infinity, it might be quite usable, but no such luck--it's stuck on 8 feet.

[mgb74]

Try this: http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/r...frozenfix.html

[paul ron]

Wick the threads with WD40 or any penatrating oil over night to losen the old gunk a bit. I've had good luck using heat, set it in the sun all day, then brute force with opposing strap clamps. Once you have it appart, clean it with any grease cutting solution, white gas or orange grease cutting cleaners is what I've used.

Patience is key to not destrying it.

[BetterSense]

So does it just thread off all the way counterclockwise then?

The assembly is still on the camera and I should like to get it off so that I can work on it without torquing the folding bits.

[BetterSense]

I dribbled a bit of lighter fluid around the focus ring and using a bit of cloth managed to work it back and forth to the extent that now it spins all the way through its range. I'm pretty sure it's not working though, because I put some ground glass in the back and it doesn't seem that the focus changes at all when turning the ring through its range. There must be some parts still stuck inside.

[Jerry Thirsty]

The Apotar lens on mine has an aluminum outer ring on the front of the lens with the distance markings on it. This ring is attached by three tiny set screws around the edge that screw in radially toward the lens axis. These screws grip a barrel inside the aluminum ring. You might just be twisting the aluminum ring without turning the barrel inside, which is what actually contains the lens elements. If you have a set of jewelers' screwdrivers, you can loosen the set screws until the aluminum ring slides off, and then you will have access to the inner barrel. Then you can try penetrating oil or use a hose clamp as a wrench and try to loosen the inner barrel.

[BetterSense]

I see that now. I don't have a screwdriver small enough to remove the screws, so I guess there's not much else to do until I get one.

[paul ron]

Oh sorry, I thought you had the lens off the shutter already.

Yeah, take the ring off as described above. Then get the lens off the shutter. It's a 2 part lens and that has to be taken appart once it's off the shutter. One part screws inside the other, the back part stays in the shutter and the front turns via the focusing ring.

Use strap clamps and not your pliers. Some people use hose clamps, that works as well but can mar the brass if it slips and they chance over tightening which can break the lenses inside as well as deform the brass barrels.

[winger]

I successfully repaired mine last year. There are some great hints in the thread - http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/5...tml#post626123

[Whiteymorange]

I see that now. I don't have a screwdriver small enough to remove the screws, so I guess there's not much else to do until I get one.

Sacrifice an X-Acto blade by just filing the tip flat enough to turn the screw - it doesn't take much. (you might want to file the edge a bit to make this a safer operation.) I find it works wonders for those screws too small for the screwdrivers I have at hand. Back the screws out but don't remove them if you want to be able to put the thing back together.. those little devils run away quite frequently if allowed to roam.

The thread Bethe suggested has a lot of collected wisdom on this subject. The camera is usually worth the effort. Good luck.