c/camera-repairers

Found a vintage Zeiss Ikon at a thrift store last week. Sticky shutter, fungus in the lens. Worth saving?

Stuck between a Canon and a screwdriver on that F-1 shutter

Last month I had to decide whether to use a rubber squeegee or a silicone suction cup to pull the shutter curtain drum out of a Canon F-1 at my shop in Austin. I picked the squeegee because it's softer and I was scared of scratching the drum. It worked fine, but the curtain ended up a little tight on one side. Has anyone else had trouble getting those old Copal shutters to seat even after a full clean?

Had a young customer yesterday who asked why I don't just throw away old lenses instead of fixing them

This kid maybe 22 years old dropped off a beat up Pentax 50mm f1.4 for a helicoid rebuild. While I was working on it he asked why I bother fixing stuff from the 70s when he could just buy a new 50mm for 100 bucks on Amazon. I told him this lens has better glass than most new stuff under $500 and he just didn't get it. Made me realize how many people have zero appreciation for older gear. Anyone else run into folks who don't understand why we repair stuff instead of replacing it?

Found a trick for unsticking old shutter blades with lighter fluid

Had a Pentax Spotmatic come in last week with blades stuck from old lubricant. A tiny drop of Ronsonol on the pivot points, actuate the shutter 20 times, and they started moving smooth again. Anyone else use this method or is there a better solvent out there?

That leaky bellows on a Zeiss Ikon converted me to digital repair

I stopped by the big camera swap meet in Portland last Saturday to browse. A guy had a beautiful old Zeiss Ikon folder with bellows like a sieve - light leaks everywhere. He wanted $150 for it and I almost walked away. But then he showed me a digital conversion he'd done on another folder using a cheap Sony sensor and a 3D printed back. It looked clean and honestly worked better than I expected. Has anyone else tried a digital conversion on a folding camera?

Still think it's a waste of time to calibrate shutters on old folders

Last month I had a Zeiss Nettar that tested at 1/50th instead of 1/100th, took me 20 minutes to adjust the spring tension, and now it nails every frame, so has anyone else found that those old cloth shutters actually respond better to tuning than people give them credit for?

That Pentax K1000 mirror lock-up screw took me 4 hours to figure out

I spent an entire Saturday afternoon trying to figure out why the mirror wouldn't stay locked on a customer's camera before realizing the tiny locking screw was just a quarter turn too loose, has anyone else had a simple adjustment turn into a half-day ordeal?

Old timer at a camera show told me to stop using compressed air on shutter curtains

Guy must have been 80, looked at me cleaning a Nikon F2 and just shook his head. Said I was blasting dust deeper into the mechanism. He was right. Six months later that same F2 came back with a sticky curtain. Have to take the whole mirror box out now because of what I did. Anyone else learn that lesson the hard way?

Vent: tried JIS screwdrivers vs standard Phillips on a Pentax K1000

I spent 2 hours stripping screws on a Pentax K1000 with regular Phillips bits before a buddy loaned me his JIS set. The JIS bits grabbed instantly and I had the top plate off in 5 minutes flat. Has anyone else found that using the wrong screwdriver type adds way more time to a repair than it should?

Shoutout to the old timer who caught my lens cleaning mistake

I spent like 2 years using lens cleaning fluid straight on the glass, thinking I was being thorough. An old repair guy at a swap meet in Portland saw me doing it and said "you're just pushing grit around, pal." Now I blow dust off first with a blower, and my cleanings actually work. Anyone else have a basic step they skipped for way too long?

Overheard a guy at the camera shop say 'just blow the dust out with your mouth'

I was picking up a lens hood yesterday and this older fellow was telling a young guy to blow into his camera body to clear dust from the mirror box. I cringed so hard I almost dropped my bag. I had to step in and explain how saliva can mess up the coatings and leave residue. Has anyone else had to save a camera from bad advice like that?

Wasted $80 on a lens cleaning kit that ruined my vintage 50mm

Picked up this fancy cleaning kit with all these different solutions and swabs from a camera shop downtown. Figured I'd clean some haze off an old Takumar I got at a swap meet. Ended up using their recommended solution and it stripped some coating off the front element in like 30 seconds. Now the lens has this weird rainbow stain that won't come off no matter what. Anyone else had bad luck with those all-in-one cleaning kits or is there a specific brand that actually works without wrecking stuff?

That moment when a shutter curtain just went limp on me

I was working on a beat-up old Pentax spotmatic in my shop last Tuesday, and the second curtain just sagged right as I was trying to tension it. Had to rethread the whole thing from scratch, took me about two hours of cursing under my desk lamp. Anybody else hit a point where you just have to walk away and come back the next day?

Old Perma-Cel vs modern foam shims for lens centering

I tried using those new foam shims from China on a Canon 50mm f1.4 rebuild and they compressed way too much under the retaining ring. Went back to the original Perma-Cel fiber shims from the 70s and the collimation held dead steady after 3 test cycles at different temperatures. Has anyone else noticed the foam stuff just doesn't hold up like the old paper based shims?

I spent $300 on a vintage lens CLA kit and it paid off, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it

I picked up one of those CLA kits from a guy in Michigan for about $300 back in March. It came with the right tools, grease, and oil for a bunch of old Nikon lenses. I had a 50mm f1.4 that was sticky and slow, so I took it apart, cleaned it, and it worked perfect after. But then I tried it on a 28mm and stripped a tiny screw head on the aperture ring - now that lens is basically a paperweight. So for everyone who's done this, did you find the right tools saved you money in the long run, or is it just a gamble with expensive glass?

Helicon focus stacking vs. just stopping down more for macro shots

I keep seeing people say Helicons the only way to go for sharp macro work but I tried stopping my 105mm down to f/22 on a Pentax bellows setup last week and the results looked better than any stack Ive done. Anyone else find the pure optical route gives you more natural depth than software can fake?

Vent: Customer dropped off a Nikon F3 that was "just a little sticky"

The guy said his shutter was a bit slow, but when I opened it up, there was literal honey dripped inside the mirror box (like, someone poured honey into the viewfinder). Has anyone else dealt with food-related camera gunk, or is this a new flavor of nightmare?

That chat with a retired repair guy got under my skin

Had a guy drop off a beat up Canon AE-1 last week at my bench. Said he used to repair for a shop in Detroit back in the 80s. He stood there watching me work for a bit, then told me I was being too careful with the shutter assembly. Said I should just blast it with air and move on. I was like, what about dirt getting inside? He laughed and said I was overthinking it. That stuck with me all week. Made me realize I spend way too much time on stuff that doesn't matter. Half my backlog is probably from fussing over minor things. Has anyone else been told they're too picky with old cameras?

Got a sticky shutter curtain on a Pentax K1000 from a garage sale last week

Tried cleaning it with lighter fluid like the old forums say but now it's sticking worse, anyone know a better solvent for this specific camera?

Wasted $90 on a cheap sensor cleaning kit last week

Swab left little fibers all over my mirror. Took me two hours to blow them out with a rocket blower and I'm still finding strays. Anyone have a go-to brand that actually works clean?

Wasted $80 on a lens cleaning kit that did nothing

Bought this fancy kit online with special swabs and fluid. Thought it would fix a smudge on my old 50mm. All it did was smear it worse. Took it to a pro who just used a microfiber cloth and a drop of methanol. Has anyone else fallen for those overpriced cleaning packs?

The Rolleiflex that had a wasp nest inside the bellows

Last month a customer brought in a Rolleiflex from the 1950s that had been sitting in a shed for 20 years. When I opened the bellows to check for light leaks, a dozen angry wasps came flying out and I nearly dropped the whole camera on the concrete floor. Has anyone else found live insects inside vintage gear or am I the only one who got stung for their trouble?

Went to a shop in Austin and saw someone using a heat gun on a shutter curtain

I was visiting a repair shop called Austin Camera Works last month and watched a guy hit a cloth shutter curtain with a heat gun to tighten it up. I always thought you had to replace those things if they sagged, but he showed me it takes 30 seconds and works fine if you don't overcook it. Has anyone else tried this trick or am I just late to the party?

Hit 50 shutter repairs this week. Never thought I'd get here.

Started doing shutter fixes as a side thing back in March. Just hit my 50th repair yesterday. It was a beat-up Nikon FM2 from a guy in Portland. The thing that surprised me is how many of them just needed a clean and lube, not a full rebuild. Any of you keep a running count of your jobs?

Gave up on a Yashica-Mat I was fixing for months

I had this Yashica-Mat 124G sitting on my bench since February. The shutter speeds were all over the place no matter how much I cleaned them. Finally swapped in a parts camera shutter assembly from a beat up one I got for $30 at a flea market in Portland. Has anyone else had luck just swapping whole shutter units instead of rebuilding?