Classic Camera Problems: Focusing an Agfa Standard and adjusting RF on Certo Super 35

Hello,<br>

I just got two "new" cameras I recently bought. Both seem to be in

quite a good condition, but I have run into some problems. I depend on

the kind help of my fellow classic camera enthusiasts.<p>

Certo Super 35 (similar to Super Dollina II) folding 35mm rangefinder

camera: The rangefinder is not correctly adjusted. How hard is

repairing this and does anybody know of a step-by-step guide? As the

rangefinder is coupled to the lens, what problems might I expect? I'd

not like to trash this nice-looking camera, rather I would sell this

specimen and try to get a better working one.

<p>

Agfa Standard 9x12 plate camera: Everything seems to work fine, even

the slow shutter speeds are pretty good. My only problem is that I

can't get the camera to focus. I guess the lever close to the cable

release socket moves the needle (?) on the focus scale, but both do

not move a millimeter when I try to push/pull them. Might there be

some kind of focus lock or is this a common problem? How do I repair

this? The focus seems to be stuck at infinity.<p>

Please help me! Two disappointments on one day are too much for me...<div></div>

A 9x12 plate camera would almost certainly focus by moving the front standard. Many have a knob that pulls out sideways on the front right side of the bed, and runs a rack and pinion to focus. If not, you just slide the front standard back and forth somehow. There may be an infinity catch to release somewhere.

 

All that I would expect to be on the lens/shutter assembly is the f-stop and shutter speed adjustments. If they were nice, there's an extra lever to quickly open and close the shutter for focusing. Otherwise, use B or T for focusing.

 

However, if this really is a helical focus 9x12 plate camera, Agfa cameras are notorious for using a grease that reacted with the brass helicals, forming a verdigris green glue that once was grease. Gotta dissolve it off with naptha (lighter fluid), and relubricate.

I had a similar Agfa several years ago. It had been in storage for a long time, and the focus lever would not move. The lever you point out was the one. A squirt of alcohol in the right place freed up the tube that allows the entire lens/shutter mechanism to move in and out. Then a cleaning fixed it. This MIGHT be the answer for you.

 

JF

On the Agfa, ditto what John said.

 

Regarding the Certo, no experience, but in general, you remove the top deck and there should be two screws. One is a lockdown screw, which you need to loosen slightly. The other makes the actual adjustment. Set the lens to infinity and then make your adjustment while peering through the rangefinder. It helps if your camera is on a tripod, though it's not necessary. Once your adjustment is made, retighten the lockdown screw.

 

Your object should be far away -- generally a half mile is sufficient. Some people use the moon. I find it too dark. Obviously, never use the sun.

 

Some cameras allow you to adjust the rangefinder without removing the top deck, but these are the exception and not the general rule.

Uh, Jack, where is the right place? Or should I keep spraying alcohol on the lens/shutter combination until something moves? Thanks for identifying the problem.

Oh, and Mike, the lens cannot be set to infinity. The intricate coupling mechanism is all there is. All distance readings are from the rangefinder. And when the rangefinder shows infinite, the images do not overlap (objects far away overlap at 4-5 meters).

<p>

Deciding sharpness on a makeshift 35mm groundglass is extremely difficult and I don't know if the usual procedure will work here for me.

Hi, Bueh I can't help you with the problem with your Certo, but I have a similar AGFA Standard 9 x 12 cm plate camera to yours. Yes, it's not only similar but it also has stuck focussing too!

 

Now, although 98% of German plate cameras are virtually identical, AGFA ones are a tad different. They have a focussing system called a "schnell-something-or-other", meaning that they focuss more like conventional reel film cameras do. Basically, it means that it focusses by the lens moving via that lever at the 10 o'clock position from front on. It's a much quicker system, compared to the usual way that plate cameras focuss, involving meshing the focussing gears with the tram tracks. HOWEVER!! Like yours, mine is totally stuck solid, and you'd have to assume it's that Dreaded AGFA Green Grease (or Araldite?) at work again. I've bathed mine in all sorts of stuff that usually frees this Agfa-itis problem up, but so far not a skerrick of movement. Bloody shame too, because my Standard is in really nice condition, with a fast f4.5 13.5 cm AGFA Doppel Anastigmat lens and AGFA (although more likely Gauthier) shutter with 1/2 - 1/100 sec plus B and T speeds.

 

So, mate, not a great deal of help but at least "you're not alone" - the Truth Must Be Out There Somewhere, regarding stuck AGFA focussing. So far, even my usual solution of CRC Electronic Circuit Board Aerosol cleaner hasn't worked, although it has done a great job on various Karats, Super Silettes, Isolettes and so on.

 

It looks like the only solution will be a dismantling of the various stuck focussing parts, but I'd much prefer to find something sprayable that did the trick without any unscrewing of bits. Any ideas, guys? PN

The Agfa Standard focus helical can be very difficult to free up. Unless you can get the thing to rack out a ways, it's near impossible to get any cleaning fluid into it and damn difficult under the best scenario. I got mine somewhat freed up but still stiff. The only way I can think of, in situations where it won't move at all, is to disassemble everything and start from scratch. It is well advised to remove the lens cells, or better yet, the whole shutter/lens assembly, before working on the helical. It would be a shame to get the focus working, only to find cleaning fluid damage to the lens. Have patience and think it through. Good luck.

Say that I wanted to give it a shot and try to open the focus helical of the Agfa Standard, which screws do I need to remove to open (at least in part) it to review the grease/glue damage and think of a way to clean it? Any suggestions for a cleaning fluid that might work on this Agfa Gunk™?

I recently picked got a Certo Super 35 also. It seems like a kind of folding Retina

copy. Mine also has some issues, but I shot a test roll that

turned out pretty good. The CZ Jena Tessar seems very good. I'm sorry

I don't know how to advise you regarding the rangefinder problem. Infinity focus on mine

might be a bit off also, but not as bad as yours. The camera seems really well made, but based on what I've been reading is prone

to problems. Here are some shots from my first test roll. I wasn't trying very hard as I had no idea if they would turn out at all. I just

used some crummy Kodak Gold 400. The one I have is stamped "Germany

USSR OCCUPIED".<div></div>

crop from another test shot.<div></div>

Some other quirks I should mention about the Certo Super 35. It's got

seperate viewfinder/rangefinder windows.It has a split image type rangefinder. You focus with a knob which is on the side of the camera.

The distance readings are displayed through a window on the top of the camera and are not visible on the lens itself. It has a Tessar 50mm,

2.8 lens. I believe this model was made in 1950.

I just opened the top deck of the Certo Super 35. There is no way that I could possibly fix the rangefinder! The rangefinder mechanism is hidden under the sophisticated frame counter mechanism and I can't see anything that I can adjust or align. Perhaps someone with more experience and a steadier hand can try his luck here. I certainly won't try disassembling the frame counter and double exposure prevention system. I could only re-set the rangefinder scale so that when the infinity images overlap, the finder shows infinity. But I am not sure that then the projected image on film will be sharp. This whole couple rangerfinder business looks way too complicated and it seems that I am out of my league with this camera.

Welcome to the club! My Agfa's focusing seems to be greased with super glue or whatever too. removing the parts of the lens was easy. My next step will be the 4 screws inside the belows.

 

Agfa's post war grease is damn sticky when the camera is used from time to time but this is worse. It's really nasty that we can't acces the focusing helical directly like in the later Super Isolette.

 

Now we seem to be at least 3 people with the same problem. - anybody successful should post how to do the job.

A long shot; I have a Super Dollina II, which has the same arrangement of the RF with the horizontal knob at the right hand side. Next to that knob is a small screw, which looks as if it's just holding the top cover on. Is it possible there's an adjusting screw hidden behind it? On the Feds, the adjusting screw (for infinity) is hidden behind a similar innocent-looking screw. If so, you'll need a very little screwdriver.

On the green grease thing, I have come across it, not on an Agfa but on a Pax. A lot of Pax 1 cameras have frozen focus. I set out to free the helicals on mine. I took the whole lens off, got out the lens elements, and put the barrel in a jar, with just the helicals submerged in lighter fuel, for a few days. Some of the green stuff dissolved, but not a lot. I left it there longer, and tried dribbling fuel into the gap that I thought must lead to the other end of the helical; nothing. So I moved on to other solvents; ethanol, methanol, isopropanol and acetone. The most effective in moving green stuff was the isopropanol, but it also smeared the black in the lens engravings. Even after several days of soaking though, the helical still didn't move. So I lost my rag. The rear of the lens barrel is slotted; I cut a piece of brass strip to fit the slot. Then I put the whole lens barrel in the oven for a while, on its lowest setting, fixed the brass strip in a vice, put the lens barrel on it while it was still hot, and turned it with a pair of rubber-coated grips. That worked! Sadly, the rubber on the grips gave way and scored the focus ring. I felt bad about doing violence to a precious object, but I won, and that's the main thing.

Pete, excuse me not understanding, but English is not my native language. You put the whole front standard with shutter etc (but sans glass elements) into the oven and heated it or did you just heat a strip of brass you then inserted into the helical? What rubber did scratch the focus ring (and how can rubber scratch metal)? Is the focusing now working, did you remove the "superglue" gunk?

<p>

I think trying to heat the glue stuff is a great idea, but when I try to work on this thing I will probably just use a hair dryer. Thanks for your input!

Yes, sorry, I spoke too fast, and my brain didn't keep up. The Pax is a little 35 mm coupled rangefinder; there isn't a 'standard' as such on this camera. What I put in the oven was the two halves of the brass barrel, joined together by the stuck helical focus thread, with the simple, all-metal shutter parts and the iris still mounted in the front part, but with no glass, as you say. I judged the parts would all survive the heat I was subjecting them to. The oven would only be at croissant-warming temperature (if you'll pardon the technical language); I'm in no condition to own a hair drier. You need to consider this if there are painted parts I guess, or glued joints.

 

The two parts of the barrel came apart intact. The only downside I see to the whole operation is the big scratches I left on the outside of the focus ring: cosmetic damage. This was because I used a pair of grips (a wrench) with rubber-covered jaws, and one of the rubber parts broke under the shear stress: it was the metal jaw that did the damage. The tool for the job would be a slightly newer set of rubber coated grips, I think.

 

Once I had separated the two parts of the barrel, I got each one over a basin of isopropanol. I applied the solvent with a cotton bud, and scraped at the old grease with the end of a match, sharpened like a chisel blade. Change the match, or sharpen it, at intervals. Then I washed everything with lighter fuel and let it dry. I had to come back to the job to check I hadn't washed stuff into the shutter and iris, and I filled the black engravings with a paint-stick, then grease the helical thread and reassemble.

 

The lens focuses now, but (I posted about this a couple of weeks ago) I still need some set screws to fix the focus ring on properly: I've been slow to sort that out, but I know where I can get them. Meanwhile, it's a stiff job to turn the lens without the little focussing lever, but I'm confident it will be ok when I finish.

This is getting complicated. As I remember the Agfa, I opened the back and was able to see the cylinder that slides in and out to accomplish focus. I used a dropper to put a small amount of alcohol on that cylinder, while trying to work the focus lever (your arrow) up and down. With some patience, it loosened up. I guess I was lucky. Can you see that cylinder when opening the back?

 

JF

<p>This contribution is probably too much too late, but it might be of use for the future victims of the notorious Green Agfa Monster that freeze to death (almost) the focus gear: Heat, heat, heat! That's the answer. The hairdryer approach is the safer and most effective one to dislodge the mechanism ;... and patience.</p>