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I was cleaning shutter blades with the wrong stuff for months
I mean, I had this old Nikon FM2 come in with a sticky shutter, and I kept using a drop of lighter fluid on a q tip like I always did. It worked okay, but the shutter would get slow again after a few weeks. Then last month, I was watching this repair video from a guy in Germany, and he said using anything with naphtha on titanium foil shutters is a bad idea long term. He said it leaves a tiny film that attracts dust and makes the problem come back. I felt so dumb. I switched to pure isopropyl and a special lint free swab, and the last three cameras I did that on have been perfect. Has anyone else run into this with specific shutter types? I'm worried I messed up some past jobs.
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jesse_barnes376mo ago
That German repair video is a total game changer. It makes me wonder if the film from the naphtha could also mess with the shutter curtain's timing over a long period, like a slow buildup that throws off the springs. I've got an old F3 that might be a victim of my own lighter fluid phase, gonna have to crack it back open.
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betty_scott186mo ago
Honestly, that whole "tiny film" thing sounds a bit overblown to me. I've used lighter fluid on old metal shutters for years and never had a comeback. Tbh, if it was really that bad, we'd see way more totally dead shutters from it. Maybe it's a bigger deal for those specific titanium ones, but I bet for most cameras it's fine. Switching to alcohol is probably cleaner, but I doubt you ruined any past jobs.
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wade5585mo ago
Come on, that film is real and it gums stuff up bad over time. I've seen it kill shutters that worked fine for years after a cleaning.
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