c/camera-repairers

PSA: Don't pay $60 for a CLA on a disposable camera

I picked up a Kodak FunSaver at a thrift store for $2, thought I'd be clever and get it serviced for the lens flexibility. Paid a guy $60 to clean and adjust the shutter, but it's a fixed-focus plastic lens with a single shutter speed. Has anyone else wasted money trying to polish a turd like this?

Unpopular opinion: sending shutters to a shop is usually not worth it

I went to Precision Camera Works in Portland last month and watched them charge $90 just to CLA a basic leaf shutter. Honestly, I think most of us could learn to do that ourselves with a $30 tool kit and some patience, anyone else feel like these places overcharge for simple stuff?

Had to choose between a used Canon AE-1 and a beat-up Pentax K1000 for a repair job last week

I went with the K1000 because the shutter issue was a quick fix with a tiny drop of lighter fluid on the blades - took ten minutes and it's bulletproof after. But now I wonder if the AE-1 was actually the better choice for a beginner since it has automatic modes. Anyone else run into this same dilemma between these two tanks of the 70s?

Watching camera repair change over 30 years

I started fixing cameras back in 85 and back then it was all mechanical shutters and levers. Last week a guy brought in a mirrorless camera with a circuit board the size of a postage stamp and I had to pull out my microscope just to see the solder points. Anyone else feel like they are becoming more of a computer tech than a camera repairman these days?

I finally had it out with a customer who insisted on cleaning sensors with canned air

This guy walks into my shop last Tuesday with a Sony A7III and says it has dust spots. Before I can even grab my tools, he pulls out a can of compressed air and says he always cleans sensors this way. I had to stop him mid-spray and explain how that just pushes dust deeper and can mess up the shutter. He argued for a solid 10 minutes saying his buddy does it all the time with no issues. I finally just showed him my own sensor with a scratched filter from the same mistake I made 3 years ago. He backed off but still looked skeptical. Have any of you dealt with customers who think they know better than the person they paid for a repair?

Just trashed $80 on a 'factory refurbished' shutter assembly

Picked up a shutter assembly for a Nikon FM from a seller on eBay. Looked clean in the photos and they claimed it was tested. Installed it this morning and the curtain timing is off by a full stop at 1/1000. Spent 2 hours trying to adjust it before I realized the whole thing is warped. Now I'm out the money and the time. Anyone know a reliable source for NOS shutters that aren't junk?

Debate: should we tell customers the truth about their camera being junk?

I had this conversation with a guy at the shop last Tuesday, an old retired repairer named Pete. He said he never tells someone their camera isn't worth fixing, he just says it's 'economically unviable' and lets them figure it out. But I've got a Keystone K-40 sitting here with a shutter that's basically welded shut, and the parts alone would cost more than the whole thing is worth. I told the customer straight up it's a paperweight and they got real upset, said I was insulting their granddad's camera. So which is it: do we soften the blow and waste their time with a quote, or do we give it to them straight and risk losing a customer? What do you all do when a camera is truly toast?

That old timer at the camera swap meet was dead right about my shutter speeds

I spent two weeks chasing a ghost on a Nikon F2 I was servicing. Shutter sounded fine, film looked good at 1/125, but anything over 1/500 had this weird uneven exposure. I checked the curtains, cleaned the gears, even swapped out the damping fluid. Finally an old guy named Pete at the local swap meet in Chicago watches me fiddle with it for five minutes and says 'your first curtain's dragging by about 3mm at high speeds, just adjust the tension screw on the left side.' I swear I ignored him for another hour before I tried it. Fixed it in 30 seconds flat. Has anyone else had a repair that some random veteran just eyeballed and nailed the diagnosis on?

Two weeks of trying to fix a jammed Pentax K1000 with cheap screwdrivers vs one afternoon after I bought a JIS set

Stripped three screws on the bottom plate before I realized standard Phillips drivers weren't cutting it. Has anyone else had a similar wake-up call with Japanese gear?

Took me 3 tries to realize I was cleaning sensor contacts with isopropyl that was too weak

I was using 70% isopropyl to clean a sticky shutter button on a Canon AE-1 and kept getting corrosion after a week. A fellow repairer at the shop said you need 90% or higher or else the water content wrecks the electronics, and now I check every bottle before I use it. Anybody else make this mistake starting out?

Chatted with a retired repair guy at a camera show in Cleveland who said he never used a lens spanner in 40 years.

He told me he just used brass shims and a steady hand to adjust rangefinders, and it made me wonder if I'm over-relying on specialized tools that aren't always needed.

Vent: Spent 4 hours on a stuck lens helicoid that should've taken 30 min

Working on a Canon 50mm f1.4 FD from the 70s. The helicoid was completely seized with that old dried grease. I tried heat, solvent, even freezing it. Nothing worked until I finally used a strap wrench and a lot of patience. Has anyone else had a lens fight them this hard?

Found a 1972 Nikon F2 with the original receipt inside a thrift store yesterday

I was digging through a box of junk at a Salvation Army in Denver and pulled out a beat up leather case. Inside was a Nikon F2 with the original repair receipt from a shop in Chicago dated November 1973 for a shutter speed calibration that cost 8 dollars. How do you guys handle finding old gear with history like this do you restore it or just clean it up and leave the patina?

Stumbled on a 1940s repair manual that says to use lighter fluid on shutters

Found a PDF of a Kodak service guide from 1946 and it straight up recommends lighter fluid to clean sticky shutter blades. I always thought that was a myth but there it is in black and white. Anyone still do this or is it just asking for trouble with modern coatings?

Just realized something about old shutter springs...

I was watching a YouTube video about clock repair of all things, and this guy mentioned how springs in old clocks were usually tempered way hotter than modern ones. It hit me - camera shutter springs from the 50s and 60s are probably the same way. Last week I had a 1953 Leica IIIf with a sluggish shutter, and after hearing that, I measured the tension on a replacement spring and it was way out of spec. Makes me wonder if we should be checking spring temper before swapping them out, not just assuming new parts are good. Has anyone else run into weird issues with reproduced shutter springs?

Stuck between two shutter curtain materials for my 1950s folder

I was rebuilding a Voigtlander Bessa from 1952 and had to pick between titanium foil or modern polyester film for the shutter curtains. Went with the titanium because the original looked so thin and delicate, but it took me 4 tries to get the tension right on the first curtain drum. Has anyone else had trouble getting titanium curtains to sit flat at the edges?

Visited a tiny repair shop in Santa Fe and they still use a Graflex shutter tester from the 50s

TIL the hard way that old Nikon F2 light seals shrink over time

Was swapping a viewfinder on an F2 at my bench in Portland last Tuesday and a chunk of foam seal just crumbled into the mirror box. Had to stop everything and spend 20 minutes picking black sticky bits off the mirror with a toothpick. Anyone else dealt with that gummy mess on older Nikons?

Bought a $12 JIS screwdriver set and it finally stopped stripping screws on old Nikons.

Spent years using regular phillips bits. Kept ruining screw heads on F2s and FM2s. Buddy at the camera co-op finally set me straight. Jap Industrial Standard is real. That tiny difference in tip shape. First try on a stubborn baseplate screw and it bit like new. Cost me twelve bucks. Has anyone else gone years without knowing about JIS?

My Pentax K1000's shutter finally locked up mid-roll last Tuesday

I was out shooting at Piedmont Park and the mirror flipped up and just stayed there, dead silent. Got home and pried the bottom plate off and found the magnet wires had snapped clean off the solenoid. Anyone know a good source for that fine gauge wire without buying a whole spool?

My $40 lens spanner set was a complete waste of money

I bought a cheap lens spanner set off Amazon for $40 to fix a sticky aperture on a vintage Nikkor. The tips bent on the second screw I tried to turn. Ended up scratching the retaining ring and making the whole thing worse. Had to order a vintage Stanley set from eBay for $80 which actually worked. Anyone else learn that camera tools are one thing you don't cheap out on?

Rant: The whole 'lubricate shutter blades with lighter fluid' trick is a lie I think? Or is it?

I was reading through an old 1980s camera repair handbook I found at a thrift store in Phoenix last week, and it said to never use lighter fluid on shutters because it can leave residue that gets sticky over time. But I see people on youtube doing it all the time for stuck blades on old leaf shutters. Which side is actually right? Has anyone tested this long term or is it just a quick fix that comes back to bite you?

Question about a stuck aperture blade I ran into

I was working on a 50mm f/1.8 from a Canon AE-1 program last night and one of the aperture blades just jammed halfway open. I tried a tiny drop of lighter fluid on the pivot, but it's still stuck. Has anyone else had luck with a different solvent for old grease like that?

Heard a Nikon repair vet say don't bother with CLA on the FM2n

I was at that camera show in Portland last weekend and overheard this old timer telling a new guy not to bother with a full CLA on the FM2n unless the shutter speeds are actually off. He said they're sealed well enough that most only need a mirror bumper swap and some light lube. Has anyone else found that a full strip down on those bodies is mostly overkill?

Just learned that most shutter lubricants dry out after 5 years no matter what

I was cleaning a old Canon AE-1 last week and looked up the manufacturer spec for the lubricant. Turns out most of them start to break down after 5 years even if the camera sits unused in a drawer. Found this in a repair manual from a shop in Portland. Has anyone else noticed this with older cameras they work on?