Focus/Finder on Very Early Agfa Record

[mdm]

I have got a very early Agfa Record in a Compur with a 10.5cm Solinar lens. It has cleaned up very well however, somewhere along the line the front element has been tampered with. I am assuming that, focused at infinity the front element must be screwed right in and that I must move the longer stopper screw to make this happen. One full unscrew rotation should set focus at 3ft, but I need a solid starting point.

Also is there a simple way to adjust the popup viewfinder so that the framelines agree with the image on the film?

Fantastic little camera.

Regards
David

 

[John Koehrer]

It's not hard to set focus on this thing but you need a ground glass or frosted surface to set at the film plane.
Focus on infinity, a radio antenna or light fixture a block or three away will work. Most of the lenses I've seen like this don't go flush against the body at infinity but have a slight gap. The dimension of the gap isn't important, just getting the focus at infinity..Close focus just is what it is. There's no separate adjustment.

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

FYI, Some blank processed colour film (with the orange mask) works well as a (very) makeshift ground glass, as well as the frosted variety of tape (selotape, stickytape, whatever people call it). Make sure it sits reasonably flat at the film plane and calibrate away.

 

[mdm]

Thanks guys.

I had a go a few days ago with a piece of pictorico printed light grey but it did'nt work so well so I will try the tape. Fantastic camera but so far I have stuck to f16. So small and useable, a revelation.

David