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?
I thought those cheap microfiber cloths from Amazon were fine until I inspected one under a 10x loupe and saw it was full of tiny grit that was scratching my coatings. Has anyone else found that spending $15 on a proper Zeiss cloth made a real difference?
Some dude came into my shop last month with a Polaroid Land Camera that had a cracked bellows and jammed shutter. He kept saying 'it's just a simple camera' while I tried to explain the vintage glue is impossible to match anymore. Has anyone else had customers who think old gear should be easy to repair?
I was chatting with a retired repair guy at a swap meet in Portland last Saturday, and he said to use a tiny dab of eyeglass cleaner on a microbrush instead of alcohol. Tried it on a sticky Pentax prism and it cleared up way faster without leaving streaks. Anyone else have a weird cleaning fluid they swear by?
I was working on a beat up Canon FD 50mm last week and noticed the screws around the lens mount were all chewed up. The previous owner obviously tried to open it with a Phillips head when it takes a JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) driver. They look almost the same but the JIS has a sharper point and sits deeper in the screw head. If you use a regular Phillips it cams out and strips the brass threads every time. I used to do this too until a repair guy in Chicago told me about it after I ruined a $40 lens. Now I keep a set of JIS drivers on my bench for any Japanese gear. How many of you guys still use Phillips on older Nikkor or Canon lenses?
Went with the proper bench setup after ruining a Yashica-Mat with a $15 eBay kit last month, anyone else burned by cheap cleaning tools?
I was at a camera swap meet in Portland last March when a guy showed me a Yashica he'd put through one of those $60 ultrasonic cleaners. The lens looked fine but the shutter mechanism was completely locked up from solvent damage. I've seen three more cameras come in this month alone with the same issue from those cheap units. The problem is the frequency and temperature aren't adjustable so you end up rattling delicate parts loose or warping plastic. For $200 you can get a proper refurbished lab grade unit that won't destroy your work. Has anyone else found a better alternative for cleaning shutter blades without risking the whole camera?
Last Tuesday I took in a Pentax 6x7 from a guy who said it was just sticking a bit on the advance. I thought it would be a simple clean and lube job like the old days. But when I opened it up, the main gear train was cracked in two spots. Plastic parts from the 90s just don't hold up like the metal ones from the 70s. I had to call him and say it would cost more to fix than the camera is worth. He wasn't happy, but I can't fake a repair that won't last. Has anyone else run into these old Pentax gear failures and found a good source for replacement parts?
Had a Leica M3 come in with a stuck shutter, a Canon AE-1 with a broken advance lever, and a Rolleiflex with fungus all on the same day - my bench was totally full by noon. I tried to rush the Leica shutter clean and ended up snapping a curtain spring, which set me back two days and cost me $45 in parts to fix my own mistake. Do you have a rule for when to just say no to a repair job or do you take everything that walks in the door?
I was cleaning the taking lens on my Yashica-Mat EM last weekend, just some dust off the rear element with a blower and a microfiber. Put everything back together and now the shutter mechanism feels like it's got a rock jammed in it... the winding arm won't move past halfway. I tried a tiny drop of lighter fluid on the blades and worked it a bit, but now it's even stiffer. Has anyone else had this happen after taking the lens off? I'm about $80 deep in this camera and wondering if I should just send it to a pro.
Last week someone brought in an old AE-1 that hadn't been serviced since the 90s and I spent three hours just getting the shutter speeds right. It reminded me of when I started out 15 years ago and those were the only cameras I worked on, now it's all digital electronics and circuit boards. Does anyone else miss when repairs were more about gears and springs than soldering tiny components?
I've had three K1000s come through my bench this month alone with the exact same problem. People bring them in saying the shutter hangs up at 1/1000 and they think it's a major repair. But 9 times out of 10 it's just the foam bumper on the mirror box turning into sticky goo. That stuff gets old and grabs the mirror, then the timing goes off. I spent an hour cleaning that gunk out of a $40 thrift store find last Tuesday and now it runs perfect. Am I missing something else that causes this or do you guys see the same thing?
Picked up a beat-up Nikon F service guide at an estate sale in Tacoma. Page 34 literally says to rub the slow speed escapement gear with a rubber eraser to clean it. Tried it on a beater body I had sitting around and the 1/2 sec speed actually stopped lagging. Anyone else run into old school tricks that actually work?
I was at a workshop in Portland last June and this guy with a Leica tried to tell me I was ruining my cameras by using canned air on sensors. He said I had to buy a $200 vacuum kit. Look, I've been cleaning sensors with canned air for 8 years and never had a single issue. I just hold the can upright, give it a quick burst from 6 inches away, and go. Has anyone else had good results with the cheap method?
I was fixing up a Leica M3 for a regular when my mug tipped over and coffee soaked the focus patch. Had to completely disassemble the viewfinder assembly to clean out all the residue and realign the beamsplitter. Anyone else ever had a sudden shop accident that took a simple repair and turned it into a nightmare?
I keep seeing people swear by that fancy German helicoid grease for lens repairs. But after rebuilding a beat-up Pentax 6x7 last month, I tried it both ways on the focus ring. The cheap NyoGel from a local camera shop (like $8 a tube) actually felt smoother to me and didn't get stiff in cold weather. Maybe my technique is off, but I got better tension and zero backlash with the budget option. Has anyone else had better luck with the cheap grease on older screw-mount lenses?