I was working on a Pentax Spotmatic last Tuesday for a guy who said his shots were always soft at distance. First thing I checked was the mirror stop, it was fine. Then I looked at the focusing screen and sure enough someone had installed it backwards. I see this all the time with folks who try to clean or swap screens without marking the orientation. It throws off the depth of field preview and makes infinity focus impossible to nail. I know because I did it myself on a Minolta SRT about 5 years ago and wasted two rolls of film before figuring it out. Has anyone else run into this or found a trick to stop people from putting them in wrong?
I fought with a stuck focus ring on a vintage Nikon for a week using needle nose pliers and tape. Bought a proper three-pin spanner set from an eBay seller in Ohio and fixed it in 10 minutes flat. Has anyone else found a tool they were stubborn about buying that actually saved you time and money?
Had a Canon AE-1 come in with a shutter button that felt like it was catching on something. I spent three whole afternoons cleaning contacts, checking springs, even swapped the whole button assembly from a donor body. Turns out the screw holding the plastic top plate was just a tiny bit too long and rubbing against the mechanism inside. Filed it down 2mm and it worked perfect. Has anyone else spent way too long on a problem that had a simple fix?
I was working on a Canon FD 50mm f1.4 with some haze between the elements. Figured I'd try this old tip using distilled water and a drop of dish soap instead of my usual lens cleaning fluid. Worked way better than I expected, the haze came right off after a gentle swab with a Q-tip. I'm wondering if anyone else has had luck with homemade solutions for stubborn haze, or if I just got lucky this one time.
Some guy sent me a Nikon F2 from New York with the mount bent inward like someone sat on it. I called him to explain the repair cost before starting, and he swore it was perfect when he shipped it. Took me 20 minutes with a dial indicator just to show him the mount was 0.4mm off from impact damage. Has anyone else dealt with customers who refuse to accept their own gear was dropped before it ever reached your bench?
I was at the Portland Camera Swap back in 2019, BS-ing with some folks, when this retired repair guy showed me how to fix a sticky shutter on a Spotmatic with just a drop of lighter fluid and a Q-tip. Changed my whole approach to cleaning shutters honestly. Anyone else pick up weird tricks from random old-timers at events like that?
Happened Tuesday, spent 45 minutes with a magnet wand and a headlamp crawling under my bench. Finally found it curled up inside an old lens cap a foot away. You ever lose a part in a way that made you question your whole career path?
Pulled out a brand new microfiber cloth from the package last Tuesday to clean a 50mm f1.4 front element. After three wipes I noticed hairline scratches catching light. Turns out the cloth had tiny particles embedded in the fibers from manufacturing. Ruined a $400 lens coating in 10 seconds flat. Now I wash every new cloth twice in distilled water before I touch glass. Anyone else had this happen with a fresh pack of cleaning supplies?
Was fixing a beat-up Minolta from the 80s and that one stupid screw just gave out. Anyone got a good trick for getting those out when they're totally shot?
Stopped by a shop in Portland last month that still does mechanical only work and it got me thinking about how much I miss troubleshooting a simple jam versus chasing a bad capacitor, anyone else feel like the older stuff is more satisfying to fix?
I dropped $80 on a proper Vessel JIS set last month after stripping a screw on a Pentax Spotmatic, and now I swear by it. But some old-timers tell me they've used standard Phillips for decades without issues. Anyone else had a JIS set save their bacon or think it's overhyped?
Used to always use those dry swabs for sensor cleaning. Thought I was careful. Until I inspected a client's Sony A7III at my shop in Portland and saw scratch marks. Realized I'd been dragging dust across the surface for 2 years. Switched to wet method with proper solution and never looked back. Anyone else figure out they were doing basic stuff wrong way later than they should have?
I got a nice old 50mm f1.4 back in March with just a tiny spot of fungus near the edge. Thought it would be fine for a while, didn't rush to clean it. Checked it again two months later and the fungus had spread across like a third of the rear element. The before and after photos were night and day, hazy and soft where it used to be sharp. I learned the hard way that storage humidity matters a ton, my cabinet was sitting around 70% after I tested it. Now I toss silica gel packs in every case and check lenses monthly. Anyone else had fungus jump that fast on them or am I just unlucky?
After I picked up a beat up 50mm f1.4 from a flea market last month, I figured I'd compare my usual hand scrubbing with a borrowed ultrasonic cleaner. Hand scrubbing took me like 45 minutes on one lens element and I still saw haze, lol. Threw the whole lens group in the ultrasonic for 10 minutes with some simple solution and it came out spotless, like new glass. Has anyone else had luck with cheaper ultrasonics or is it all about the fancy brands?
I had three of these come through my shop last month with the same issue. Everyone online says it's a dried up helicoid grease, but that's only half the problem. The real culprit is the focus ring bumper ring swelling from old lubricant breakdown, which then jams against the metal. I found this out after I broke down a 1.8 FD lens and measured the gap with calipers. Has anyone else run into this or just me?
I just hit 500 shutter replacements on old SLRs and it got me thinking - is tracking numbers like that useful for improving your skills or does it turn the trade into a boring numbers game? I never thought I'd care, but seeing that milestone actually felt pretty good... anyone else counting their repairs up?
I was in my basement workshop last Tuesday trying to fix a Spotmatic that came in with a jammed shutter, and I found a brass gear in the winding mechanism that had completely stripped its teeth. After three hours of hunting through my parts bins I managed to swap in a nylon replacement from a donor body, but now the tension feels a bit off and I'm worried it'll slip under heavy use. Has anyone else tried swapping gears on these old screw-mount cameras, or should I just tell the customer it's a lost cause?
The curtain was catching just enough to hang up halfway, and it took me three hours to realize the take-up spool had a tiny burr on the edge that I kept missing because I assumed the problem was in the curtain tracks themselves. Has anyone else spent way too long chasing a mechanical glitch that turned out to be a simple burr or dent somewhere obvious?
Customer said the shutter sounded off, so I popped the mirror box open and there was a big dried out spider just sitting there jamming everything up. Cleaned it out and the camera fired perfectly after that. How often do you guys find random stuff inside old bodies?
Last Wednesday I pulled apart a 50mm f1.8 that was full of fungus. I tried the usual hydrogen peroxide and UV light method but it was taking forever. So I grabbed my wife's old hair dryer and set it on low, aimed it at the opened lens barrel for 8 minutes. The warmth killed the remaining spores and dried everything out fast. Has anyone else tried heat instead of just waiting for chemicals to work?
Bought a cheap CLA kit off eBay and tried to clean the shutter blades on my AE-1 on Saturday, ended up with oil on the curtain and a jammed mechanism. Had to send it to a proper shop in Portland for a $150 fix, anyone else get burned by those DIY kits?
Used to swear by the expensive brand name adapters for my Canon FDs on Sony bodies. Bought a $15 K&F Concept one off Amazon on a whim after my Fotodiox ring cracked. It's been six months and 2000+ shots with zero light leaks or wobble. Anyone else find a budget adapter that actually holds up?
Got an old Nikon F2 in last Thursday with a sticky shutter release. Simple job, right? Took the whole thing apart, cleaned everything, put it back together. Still stuck. Did that two more times before I noticed a tiny burr on the release lever inside the barrel. Filed it down smooth with a jewelers file and it worked perfect. Total time 4.5 hours for what should have been a 30 minute fix. Anyone else ever chase a ghost like that on a simple repair?
Had a Canon A-1 with shutter blades that kept sticking in humid weather. Dabbed a tiny bit of Ronsonol lighter fluid on a q-tip and wiped the edges, worked like a charm after 3 tries. Anyone else use lighter fluid for stubborn lubricants or am I asking for trouble long term?
I kept my camera bag in the car trunk for like 2 years. One day I pulled out my 50mm and the glass had this weird haze. A repair buddy told me the heat cycles from the car was basically cooking the internal lubricants and making them fog up. He showed me a diagram of how the oil was spreading onto the elements. Has anyone else wrecked gear from bad storage habits?