Need restoration/repair to an AGFA Record III in the southeastern USA

[RLM]

As the title says, I need to restore/repair and old Record III that belonged to my dad. He once told me, when I asked him why he never used it anymore, that there was a pinhole in the bellows. I don't know if there is anything else wrong with it or not. All seems to operate correctly, but it needs a thorough inspection just to be sure. I'm in the metro Atlanta area, and the only repair shop I could find has gotten nearly all bad reviews online, and a few people I've talked with in person have also said to stay away, so I'm at a loss. I hate that this is just stuck in a box in the bottom of a closet. I still have some old pictures Dad took with it while stationed in Germany in the early 1950s. It took quite nice pictures. I'd really like to put it to use again. Any recommendations/advice will be appreciated.

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to APUG.

I believe KEH is in Atlanta and is known to have a busy repair facility. You could check with them.

 

[bdial]

Zacks Camera Repair is another possibility. They did a stellar job on one of my cameras. They are also an APUG sponsor.

 

[RLM]

Fantastic, thanks guys. I'll try KEH first, I pass near them frequently for work so that would be super convenient if they can do it.

 

[Two23]

No, no, no. There is a guy who specializes in exactly these kinds of cameras. It's a guy named Jurgen:

http://www.certo6.com/


Kent in SD

 

[bernard_L]

Why pay a lot for a repair if "I don't know if there is anything else wrong with it or not."
"it needs a thorough inspection just to be sure" No inspection can compare with a TEST with actual film, which the repair guy will not do
- Check for pinholes: place a small light source inside the bellows (open camera back); try to obstruct the film gate and go inside a dark room. That way you should be able to look for pinholes. Indeed Agfa cameras with bellows tend to develop pinholes (at the corners).
- If you found pinholes, buy from an Arts and Crafts store some paint (black) for fabric. Use it over pinholes, two or three layers.
- Try the shutter, looking from the back through the open film gate: does it sound and look OK?
- Can you turn the focus ring (another potential problem with Agfa cameras).
- If you can pass the previous tests run a film through the camera.

Before you deal with certo6, be sure to google his name; not everybody is as positive about him as Kent (Two23)

 

[flavio81]

I owned two Agfa Record III and the typical problems, which happen in almost ALL of them, are:

1. Pinholes in bellows (cured by different methods, best is by replacing with DIY bellows).

2. Shutter is sticky or slow (cured by giving CLA to the shutter)

3. Rangefinder is sticky or doesn't turn at all (cured by giving CLA to the rangefinder)

and, you can bet this problem happens in your camera too:

4. Focus ring does not turn because the "Bayer green grease" used on the helicoid has turned into a solid glue. There are many solutions to this problem, one of them is to heat the helicoid surroundings with a soldering iron until the focus ring turns and can be removed.

*ALL* the agfa folders i've found (of the same era) suffer the green grease problem. Unless they had been serviced in the past.

Finally, after the CLA the focus scale needs to be adjusted so it focuses the selected distance correctly on the film plane.

 

[Pioneer]

Keh is a good option to start, if they really do the testing. A full service is not that complex as long they actually take things apart and clean them out as opposed to just squirting lighter fluid into the works.

Zacks Camera Repair does good work as does Certo6. Another good option is Ken Ruth at Bald Mountain Camera Repair. Of course, these are nowhere near as convenient for you as KEH. If you do decide to use any of them, call them and explain what you need. This will certainly help reduce misunderstandings.

As for Certo6, you can read junk about anybody on the internet. In fact, if you believed everyone's BS you would never send a camera to anyone for repair. I have worked with Jurgen (Certo6) for a very long time. Aside from being occasionally grumpy he is an exceptional technician and well worth the time and money for his services.

If everything seems to work you can easily test the camera without doing anything, even if it has some pinholes in the bellows. Toss a dark cloth over the bellows and take some pictures using some standard 120 color film. Try out different apertures and shutter speeds. If a shutter is dying it is commonly the slow speeds that go bad first. If that test turns out good then you can try fixing the pinholes like bernard l explained, however my experience with those plastic, Agfa/Ansco bellows shows that is only a very temporary repair. Of course, if you don't intend to use it much the dark cloth will work for a very long time.

EDIT - For the record, pre war Agfa folders use leather bellows and normally work pretty reliably. I have several that have working shutters, aperture settings and focus. I think the problems probably started post war because of cost cutting. Surprisingly though, once the issues are serviced they are exceptionally reliable cameras.

 

[RLM]

Thanks for all the input guys. I did some research on Certo6/Jurgen Kreckel and decided he would be my best option. I think I'll try KEH with Dad's old Nikkorex F that seems to have some issues. It may just need CLA. The shutter seems sluggish, film advance lever doesn't return fully. I have many talents, unfortunately DIY repair work on small delicate things is not one of them. I can't count the number of times I've thought "Oh, that should be easy enough to fix.", only to end up having to send out the whole mess to be repaired or calling a repairman to the house, or worse yet, just tossing the whole thing in the trash.