c/camera-repairers

Brought a Mamiya RB67 back from the dead with a $6 spring

Found a 1990s RB67 at an estate sale with a completely frozen mirror mechanism. Tracked the issue to a single bent spring inside the body, swapped it out with one from a hardware store, and the mirror flipped right back up. Anyone else ever MacGyver a repair with non-camera parts?

Just fixed a Nikon F2 with a shutter issue that everyone blames on the wrong part

Three times this month I've seen people replace the shutter curtain on an F2 when the real problem was a dried-up foam bumper on the mirror box. Takes about 10 minutes to swap that foam and costs like 50 cents. Anybody else keep running into this?

That time a customer's 1970s Asahi Pentax taught me about mirror buffing

I was working on this old Spotmatic for a guy last month, looked like it had been through a war. The mirror was all scratched up and I was ready to just tell him to buy a new body. But then I remembered something an old repair guy in Portland told me years ago about using a special compound to buff out shallow scratches on mirrors. Tried it with some cerium oxide and a felt pad. Worked way better than I expected. The mirror came out clear and the customer was thrilled. Now I always check if scratches are surface level before writing off a mirror. Has anyone else tried this trick or do you just swap mirrors out?

Always thought sensor cleaning kits were a scam until last weekend

I've been fixing cameras for 3 years and never understood why people spend $30 on those swabs when compressed air works fine. Then I had a stubborn oil spot on a Nikon D750 sensor that wouldn't budge with air or a blower. After 2 tries with a proper wet cleaning kit, that spot vanished - should I just accept these kits as a necessary evil now?

Hit 200 shutters repaired last month and it caught me off guard

I've been fixing cameras out of my garage for about 4 years now, mostly old mechanical stuff. Last month I hit 200 shutters repaired total and I had no clue I was even close. I keep a notebook with each job scribbled down, dates and what I did. I never bothered counting until I flipped back and saw the numbers adding up. Has anyone else lost track of their repair count and gotten surprised by a milestone like that?

I used to force bellows flat with weights, now I just let them sit overnight

For years I'd stack lead shot bags on bellows to get them flat after replacing pleats. Last month a customer at my shop in Portland told me to just lay them open on a shelf for 12 hours. Tried it on a Kodak Retina and the pleats settled perfectly without creasing. Has anyone else ditched the weights for the slow method?

Debate: do you replace the whole shutter or just fix the curtain on a 1970s SLR?

Found a vintage lens cleaning cloth stash at a camera show in Denver

I hit up the Denver Camera Swap last weekend and some old repair guy had a box of Rodenstock lens cleaning cloths from the 70s sealed in plastic. Snagged a dozen for 5 bucks total and they work way better than microfiber on old coatings. Anyone else still use vintage cleaning supplies for tricky glass?

Spent $80 on a ultrasonic cleaner that ruined my shutter blades

I bought this cheap ultrasonic cleaner off Amazon for about $80 to clean some old shutter blades from a Pentax Spotmatic. Ran it for 3 minutes like the manual said, and the blades came out all warped and bent out of shape. I guess the frequency was too high or something, but now I'm out the money and have to hunt down a new shutter assembly. Has anyone else had bad luck with those inexpensive cleaners?

Was team heli only for shutter repairs, but a used desoldering station changed my mind

Finally broke down and grabbed a Hakko 808 for $150 off ebay last week after struggling with a sticky Copal shutter. Now I can swap out those tiny ribbon cables in 5 minutes instead of 20, anyone else find a good used station online?

Picked up an old Rolleiflex at a flea market in Austin and noticed something odd inside

Found this beat up Rolleiflex TLR at a flea market on South Congress last weekend. When I opened the back, the pressure plate was held in with what looked like a strip of old leather belt. Someone had clearly repaired it on the cheap decades ago and it still worked fine. Anyone ever run into a hack job that actually held up better than you expected?

Serious question, why does everyone replace shutters before testing the actual problem?

Last month a client brought in a Nikon F5 that was 'dead' and every other shop said swap the shutter. I spent 10 minutes checking the mirror box switch and it was just a bent tab, cost them $40 not $400. Am I missing something or is this trade getting lazy?

Had a chat with an old photog that made me rethink how I clean sensors

Met a retired wedding photographer at a camera swap in Portland last weekend. He told me he's never used a wet cleaning kit in 30 years, just a blower and steady hands. Said he'd seen more sensors ruined by swabs than dust spots. It hit different because I just spent $40 on a new cleaning kit and now I'm wondering if I'm overcomplicating things. Has anyone else gone back to basics with sensor cleaning and regretted it or loved it?

Learned the hard way about lens fungus in a humid basement shop

I had a guy bring in a Nikon 50mm 1.4 from the 70s last week, looked clean on the outside but the glass was foggy. Popped it open on my bench and found a whole colony of fungus eating the coating, looked like tiny spider webs between the elements. I was working out of my basement at the time and never ran a dehumidifier, just figured it was fine down there. Spent 4 hours carefully separating the groups and cleaning with peroxide and isopropyl, got maybe 80% of it off but the coating was already etched in spots. Customer was understanding, took a discount on the repair, but I had to order a replacement element from a donor lens to make it right. Now I keep a hygrometer on my bench and run a dehumidifier anytime it hits 60%. Any of you guys deal with fungus damage from your own workspace?

Had to choose between a generic shutter speed tester and a vintage one for my bench setup

I finally got tired of guessing if my shutter speeds were close after a CLA on a 1950s Argus C3. So I looked at two options: a cheap new digital tester from Amazon for like $40, or an old analog Calumet unit off eBay for $30 plus shipping. I went with the vintage one because I figured it was built for old mechanical shutters anyway. Bad move. Turns out the photodiode in it is way too slow for speeds above 1/500th. I spent 3 hours this weekend recalibrating it with a known good Nikon FM2n just to get halfway accurate readings. The digital one would have been plug and play for sure. Has anyone else tried to save money with old test gear and regretted it?

Watch out for the CLA trap on older Nikon F bodies

Had a week last October where three different Fs came in with the same issue - shutter dragging at slow speeds. All three had been 'professionally CLA'd' by the same guy in Ohio according to the owners. I cracked one open and found he just sprayed lighter fluid on the curtains and called it good. Two of them had sticky residue eating into the shutter tapes. Anyone else seeing a flood of these half-done jobs coming through lately?

Got a talking to about using a heat gun on old Leicas

I was working on a Leica IIIf at a camera show in Chicago last month and another repair guy told me to stop using a heat gun to loosen the lens elements. He said I was warping the brass, but I've done it that way for 15 years without issues. Anyone else think the old-school methods are fine for most jobs?

Overheard a guy at the repair shop say he uses a hair dryer to soften old leather bellows, and I gave it a shot

That old timer at the camera swap meet who told me to stop cleaning lenses so much

He said every time I wipe the glass I'm just grinding in tiny scratches, and now I'm staring at my $400 vintage 50mm wondering if I should just leave the dust alone, has anyone else had a repair expert say something that totally flipped your routine?

Dropped $60 on a JIS screwdriver set and instantly regretted not buying one years ago

I kept stripping those tiny crosshead screws on Japanese cameras with regular Phillips bits and just assumed it was me being clumsy. Finally caved and ordered a proper JIS set after watching a repair video where the guy (who lives in Portland btw) explained the difference. First try on a seized shutter speed dial screw it bit in like butter. $60 for a set of 5 bits feels steep but honestly it already saved me from ruining another screw head. Anyone else resisted buying JIS tools for way too long?

That time a Yashica Electro 35 sat in a damp basement for 15 years

Found a Yashica Electro 35 GT at a thrift store last month, body was crusty but the lens looked clear. After three days of cleaning contacts and replacing the light seals with adhesive foam, the meter came back to life and the shutter started firing right on speed. Has anyone else had luck reviving those old Yashicas with the pad of death issue, or is it usually a lost cause?

That camera show in Pittsburgh changed how I clean old shutters

I was at the Photorama swap meet back in 2019 when this old timer pulled out a Zeiss folder with gunk stuck to the shutter blades. He just dabbed a bit of naptha on a q-tip and worked it real slow... no compressed air, no fancy tools. I'd been using lighter fluid forever but it always left a residue. After watching him I switched to naptha and it's way easier on the old leaf shutters. Has anyone else found a trick at a trade show that stuck with you?

The day I realized I was over-tightening helicoils on old Canon bodies

About two years ago I was working on a Canon AE-1 Program, installing a helicoil in the tripod mount hole. I had always tightened them down as hard as I could, thinking that was the proper way to secure them. But after the fifth or sixth one, the insert started spinning in the hole instead of grabbing. I was frustrated and asked a retired repair guy named Bill at a shop in Portland about it. He told me helicoils only need to be snugged down, not cranked on, because the thread locker does the real holding. I had been snapping the tangs off and ruining aluminum threads for years without knowing. Has anyone else figured out a trick like this that took them way too long to learn?

Pro tip: watch out for the new adhesive on Fuji X series sensor covers

Had a Fuji X-T3 come in last month with a dusty sensor, looked like a normal clean. Used the same method I always do, but the factory glue on the cover glass was way softer. After three tries, the whole cover shifted slightly, maybe half a millimeter. The owner brought it back this week and the photos showed a soft blur in the top left corner that wasn't there before. Has anyone else seen this change in the last year or so?

Question about a 1972 Pentax Spotmatic with a stuck mirror

Had to pick between a full CLA or just freeing the mirror with a drop of naphtha. Chose the naphtha, and it worked for a week before the shutter jammed completely. Anyone know a better fix for that specific mirror mechanism?