c/camera-repairers

28

verac40•1d ago

Had to pick between a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 and a Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 for a customer's F2

Guy brought in a beat up Nikon F2 last month, wanted a 50mm lens mounted. I had a Nikkor AI-S and a Zeiss ZF.2 sitting on the shelf. Picked the Nikkor because it's built tougher for that camera, and the aperture ring felt smoother. Customer was happy, but I still wonder if I should have gone with the Zeiss for the sharper optics. Has anyone else dealt with that kind of choice for a classic body?

9

matthew_reed50•2d ago

Overheard a guy at the counter say his pentaprism was 2 degrees off...

Made me pull out my old collimator to check three of my own rebuilds and found two had the same tilt issue from a shim that slipped, has anyone else switched to using a drop of superglue to hold those shims steady before final assembly?

16

rivera.jake•5d ago

Just realized my lens cleaning routine was leaving micro-scratches

Had a chat with a retired Nikon tech at a swap meet in Portland who showed me under his loupe how my microfiber cloth was actually grinding in dust particles, and he uses a rocket blower first every time now I feel like an idiot.

29

grant.luna•5d ago

Found out the hard way that canned air isn't the same as a proper blower for sensor cleaning

I used a can of compressed air on a Nikon D750 sensor last week and it left a residue that took forever to clean off. A buddy at a shop in Denver told me I should have used a manual air blower instead. The canned stuff just sprays propellant when you tilt it wrong. Has anyone else had this issue or found a good alternative for sensor dust?

8

patel.leo•6d ago

Spilled coffee inside a Mamiya RB67 last Tuesday

Client brought in a RB67 that was sticky everywhere, turns out they knocked a latte into the mirror box. Had to disassemble the whole front standard and clean every leaf of the baffle curtain with alcohol wipes - works fine now but man that was a pain. Anyone else dealt with coffee damage on older gear?

0

jana179•6d ago

Spent 4 hours cleaning a shutter that just needed the battery checked

Customer brought in a Canon that wouldn't fire. I disassembled the whole mirror box, cleaned every contact, put it all back together. Still dead. Took me 45 minutes to notice the battery door was cracked and the contacts weren't touching. Has anyone else spent a full morning on a problem that turned out to be something dumb?

18

the_faith•6d ago

TIL some people swear by hot-shoe repair while others just use epoxy

Last week I was fixing a Nikon D7000 in my shop and the flash hot-shoe was totally busted. I spent 45 minutes trying to solder a new one on but a buddy said he just uses JB Weld and it holds for years. What's the real line between a proper fix and a hack job on these things?

13

terry_walker•7d ago

That garage sale find last month changed how I clean old shutters

I picked up a beat up Pentax K1000 at a garage sale for $15 and found the shutter blades had some sticky residue. A dab of lighter fluid on a Q-tip cleared it right up, and now I keep a bottle in my kit for any oily shutter issues. Has anyone else tried this trick on older cloth shutters?

10

hill.barbara•8d ago

My Mamiya RB67 jammed mid-shoot last weekend and I still can't get the dark slide out

I was out in Golden Gate Park Saturday afternoon, just doing some portrait work, and suddenly the dark slide on my RB67 Pro-SD just locked up. Wouldn't budge at all, like it was glued in. I tried the usual tricks, wiggling the winding knob and making sure the lens was fully seated, but nothing worked. Ended up having to pack up the whole kit and head home early. After maybe an hour of gently prying with plastic tools and reading old forums, I got it loose but I'm worried I might have bent something inside. Has anyone else dealt with a stuck dark slide on these older Mamiya bodies? I'm thinking I might need to open up the back plate to check the slide track.

6

diana_moore75•9d ago

The day I realized I was cleaning my camera sensors totally backwards

I had been using those little pre-moistened swabs for years on my Nikon D850, always wiping in the same direction. Then a guy at the Albuquerque camera shop asked why I was pushing debris further into the corners instead of dragging it out. Hit me like a bucket of water when he showed me the streak marks under his loupe. Has anyone else had a similar 'wait, I've been doing this wrong for a decade' moment?

12

taylor.susan•10d ago

Old timer at a camera swap meet in Portland fixed a stuck shutter on my Nikon F2 with just a toothpick and lighter fluid

Has anyone else had a random old timer drop some wild repair trick on you that actually worked better than the official way?

9

the_jason•12d ago

Old freezing trick fixed my leaf shutter jam everyone said was toast

Found a Mamiya RB67 lens with a stuck leaf shutter that two shops in Brooklyn said needed a full rebuild. Tried the usual stuff like lighter fluid and gentle heat with no luck. Then I threw it in a ziplock bag in my freezer for 3 hours on a whim. Popped it out, the blade freed right up after a tiny tap. Has anyone else used cold like this on stubborn shutters or am I just lucky?

17

mila_sullivan•14d ago

Parts cleaner solution can wreck plastic shutter blades - learned this the hard way

Had a Nikon FE in the bath last week with what I thought was a standard parts cleaner. Guy from the camera club stopped by and saw me using it. He told me that stuff will eat the plastic shutter blades over time. I checked the bottle and sure enough it had ammonia. Switched to a water based cleaner and the blades are fine now. Anyone else run into this with modern shutter assemblies?

20

christopher_craig•15d ago

Lost $80 on a cheap focus ring repair kit from Amazon

I tried one of those $25 focus ring repair kits for my Canon 24-70mm and it stripped the plastic gears inside after two weeks. Had to bring it to a real shop and pay $80 extra to fix the damage I caused. Anyone else had bad luck with those budget repair kits from online sellers?

16

abbyd36•17d ago

Hot take: sometimes you gotta stop chasing the factory specs

I was working on an old Canon A-1 last Thursday in my garage, trying to get the curtain timing exactly to 0.5ms. After the 4th adjustment it still wasn't perfect, so I just set it to where it sounded right and moved on. Customer got the camera back yesterday and called me happy as can be - said the photos came out sharp. Anyone else find that chasing absolute precision sometimes makes things worse instead of better?

25

taylor.susan•18d ago

Tried a heat gun on my old Hasselblad's sticky shutter blades... wow

Had a 500 C/M with shutter blades that were gummed up and slow. I read somewhere that a quick pass with a heat gun at 150 degrees might loosen the old lubricant... figured what the heck, it was already broken. Swear to god, 20 seconds of gentle heat and the blades snapped back to life. I wouldn't do this on anything with plastic parts obviously, but for older mechanical shutters it's worth trying before a full CLA. Anyone here ever use heat as a shortcut or am I asking for trouble long term?

23

kelly.keith•18d ago

Had a chat with an old Pentax shooter that made me rethink my whole cleaning process

He told me he never uses any liquid on mirror boxes, just a dry blower and a soft brush, after 40 years. I've been swabbing mine with methanol for a decade and now I'm wondering if I'm doing more harm than good. Has anyone else gone back to dry-only methods and noticed less dust or debris over time?

18

stellas56•18d ago

Talked to an old-school repair guy who said I should stop using IPA for sensor cleaning

He told me a 60-year-old method of using a specific brand of lens tissue and a drop of distilled water works better and I gotta admit my last 5 cleanings with IPA left smudges so now I'm wondering who else has tried the old water method on modern sensors?

2

lily_schmidt53•19d ago

TIL a simple CLA brought a 1960s Yashica back from the dead

I picked up a Yashica Electro 35 GSN from a thrift store in Portland last month for $15, totally seized up with sticky shutter blades and a dead light meter. Spent 3 evenings doing a full clean, lube, and adjust on it, and now it shoots perfectly with accurate exposure every time. Has anyone else found that a basic CLA fixes way more than you'd expect on older rangefinders, or is this just beginner's luck?

19

ross.sean•19d ago

That guy who swore by lighter fluid for cleaning mirror boxes almost cost me a shutter assembly

Fellow at the camera swap meet told me a little Ronsonol on a Q-tip was the trick for stubborn haze, but I tried it on a parts body first and the residue ate through the foam seal and gummed up the mirror box in under a week, has anyone else run into this kind of bad advice from old timers?

15

noran21•19d ago

Rant: That $80 sensor cleaning kit I bought was a total ripoff

I ordered one of those budget sensor cleaning kits off Amazon last month for my Nikon D750, seemed like a good deal. Turns out the swabs left streaks and I ended up having to take it to a shop anyway, which cost me another $60. Has anyone else had bad luck with those generic kits or did I just pick the wrong brand?

0

seth_martinez21•19d ago

Just found out how much shutter actuations really matter on older bodies

Was digging through a repair log from a Nikon D3 I had sitting on my shelf for months, finally checked the shutter count through a free software tool online. Turns out it had 480,000 clicks and the factory rating is only 300,000, so that thing is living on borrowed time lol. I always figured those ratings were just a guideline, but seeing that number made me rethink how I estimate repairs for customers coming in with beat up DSLRs. Has anyone else run into a camera that lasted way past its rated life, or am I just lucky with this one?

10

zarap14•20d ago

Switched from canned air to a good blower for sensor cleaning

I used to always use those canned air duster cans for cleaning mirror boxes and sensors. But last month I bought a Giottos rocket blower and I'm never going back. The canned air left residue sometimes and I wasted so much money on new cans. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference?

28

the_wade•22d ago

Serious question - should we be cleaning old shutters or just leaving them be?

Visited a shop in Portland last week where the guy swears by dry cleaning only, says any solvent strips the original lubricant. Then across town another repairer soaks everything in naphtha. I've got a 1950s Compur shutter that's stiff as hell - which camp are you in?

11

miabennett•22d ago

Found a broken solder joint on a Canon AE-1 that had been sitting for 2 years

I've had this AE-1 on my shelf since summer 2022. Kept telling myself I'd get to it eventually. Last night I finally sat down with a multimeter and checked the flex circuit near the shutter button. Found a hairline crack right where the wire bends. Reflowed it with a cheap iron I got from Harbor Freight for $12. Camera fired up on the first try. Has anyone else had luck fixing those flex circuits or do you usually just swap the whole board?