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48
The Shutter
Cleaning The Lens
The objective lens of the Argus is very easy to clean. But be careful not to scratch
or damage the lens by using improper cleaning techniques. At a minimum, use only the
materials found in a lens cleaning kit purchased from a camera store.
The Lens Assembly, which has already been removed, can be further
disassembled. The rear lens of the assembly is held on by a screwed-on retainer. If you
need to clean the inside surfaces of these two lenses, unscrew the retainer. Be careful to
replace the rear lens with the “right-side up”, otherwise your camera may suffer from
spherical aberration.
The Argus objective lens is a triplet lens system and is composed of three separate
lenses. The lens that is closest to the objective and furthest from the film is the one that
gets the dirtiest. For the purpose of discussion, this lens will be called the Outside Lens.
The lens that is visible when you remove the Rear Cover and look inside the Neck will be
called the Inside Lens. The third lens, which is hidden from the camera user, will be
called the Middle Lens. Light, traveling from the subject of a photograph to the film,
first passes through the Outside Lens, then the Middle Lens, then the Inside Lens before
reaching the negative.
First clean the exposed surface of the Outside Lens and the exposed lens surface
of the Inside Lens.
If there is visible dirt between the lenses, unscrew the Lens Assembly. This
allows you access to one surface of the Middle Lens. To access the other surface of the
Inside Lens, set the aperture to f/4.5, set the shutter speed to T(ime), and fire the trigger.
The shutter blades should open and expose most of the surface of the Inner Lens for
cleaning. Most lens cleaning should stop here.
In the pre-war Argus cameras there is an opportunity to dismantle the Lens
Assembly to access the other surfaces of the Outside and Middle Lenses. Simply
unscrew the metal retainer that holds the Middle Lens. The Middle Lens should then fall
out giving you access to all of the lens surfaces.
But beware! The Middle lens is not reversible! If you replace it the wrong way
around, it will cause lens aberrations. Intentionally distorting photographs this way is
discussed in Chapter 8.
The Shutter Mechanism
The Ilex Precise shutter is relatively simple, and much easier to service than a
more expensive shutter, such as a Compur. Therefore, the author takes certain “liberties”
in working on an Ilex Precise mechanism that would not be tolerated on a more complex
shutter. If you do not feel comfortable with these liberties, do not read this section.
Before discussing the specifics of the shutter mechanism, the author would like to
discuss shutters.
Disassembly of the shutter requires certain tools, so make sure to have them
handy. Have a good set of jewelry screwdrivers, a pair of tweezers, and a small container
to hold the tiny screws. Wear some sort of eye protection to prevent loose springs from
damaging your eyes.