My Argoflex E Repair Project

Below is my endeavor to repair my Argoflex E. I am documenting the entire process with my FinePix S5000 as well, and will upload the photos presently.

I purchased my Argoflex through eBay on 30 May 2011 from eBay seller mayact4 and received it on 7 June, well packed and looking about like what I expected. The inside appeared reasonably clean. The Argoflex E is Bakelite so it doesn't have light seals per se. I tried the shutter and it seemed to work OK at first but I immediately noticed that he aperture was jammed. It could move from wide open (f4.5) to down one marked stop (f6.3) (there are numerous intermediate stops that are unmarked) but then it wouldn't budge. I then noticed too that although the shutter functioned, 1/10 seemed to be irregular, often being as fast as 1/200, the top setting. I reviewed the repair discussion by Matt Denton. He references a diagram by Rick Oleson. He also references a page of Marcy Merrill, where I found three photos of the guts of the aperture/shutter mechanism. Finally, I started disassembly:

First, I focused on infinity and marked the lenses as Matt Denton mentions. I first tried to mark them with a pen as Matt suggests, but without success; so I marked them with a pencil. I used a bodkin (actually a dubbing needle for fly tying) to lift the trim ring on the bottom lens and remove it. I then removed the trim ring on the top lens by the same method. At this point, I got a little concerned that the pencil would rub off while I was working so I used the needle to scratch the point where the lenses meshed. I then began removing the screws. One of the screws in the top lens was already missing. I removed the screws with a jewelers screwdriver, though the screws tended to drop back in the hole rather than rising on their threads until they were out, so I used tweezers to remove the screws. I then proceeded to remove the thin spanner rings by the same methods as the trim. Both the outer trim ring and the inner spanner ring are very fragile and have some adhesive on them. I found it necessary to run a jewelers screw driver or the tip of the tweezers around them carefully to break them free.

Now, I was a little unsure what to do. At first from the diagram, I though the sprocket and lens were separate parts but eventually I realized that it was necessary to turn the lower lens counterclockwise until it lifted off and that then the upper lens had to be turned clockwise until it too came free. Below these on each lens are a ring with a tapered lip, on the top lens this ring includes the focus distances. On the lower lens the next level contains two screws on the trim ring which lists the apertures and shutter speeds, these screws have a very narrow slot, almost too narrow for my current tools - I was about to take a file to my smallest screwdriver but found that with sufficient pressure I could just get it to stay in the slot. There are also two inner screws - I removed these easily but I'm not entirely sure what they do. The top lens is apparently done at this point, though I was hoping for access to the mirror from here.

While I was having trouble with the screws on the trim ring, I switched to removing the hood. Four screws retain the hood and are easily removed. A little wiggling and the hood comes off as a single piece. Two similar screws retain the viewfinder, though they are partially covered by the mounts for the camera strap loops, so they must be attacked more carefully at a slight angle. The trim was on quite tight and required a fair amount of effort to remove. The glass simply lifts off and now there is unobstructed access to the mirror.

Returning to the lower lens, I removed the inner trim ring spanner ring and the shutter speed adjustment ring, using tweezers, though it could have been done by hand. The last of these requires a little wiggling to work it around the aperture adjustment arrow. A brass cover plate is now retained by two screws. This plate holds the rear lens element - though it can be removed from this further as it merely acts as a lens board - and removing the plate provides full access to the guts and the front of the shutter.