A guy I know from the local camera shop gave me a bottle of some generic lens cleaner he mixed himself. Looked like water with a hint of blue, smelled like cheap window cleaner. I laughed and shoved it in my junk drawer for like 8 months. Last week I had a stubborn smudge on a 50mm f1.4 that my regular wipes wouldn't touch. Figured I'd give that mystery spray a shot just to prove it was useless. One spritz on a clean microfiber cloth and that oil spot was gone in two swipes. No streaks, no haze, nothing. I still don't know what's in it but I'm embarrassed I ignored it for so long. Anybody else have a weird DIY solution that turned out better than the store stuff?
I had an old Pentax Spotmatic sitting on my shelf for about 8 months. Pulled it out last Tuesday to show a friend and the shutter curtain just... froze halfway open. Turns out the foam seals had turned into sticky goo from humidity. I had to spend 3 hours cleaning that mess with isopropyl alcohol and q-tips. Has anyone else had shutter curtains seize up from sitting too long in a damp closet?
I followed his advice on a 1950s Compur shutter last Tuesday and the lubricant just dissolved into a sticky mess that took me three hours with isopropyl to fix, so has anyone else run into bad tips from the old-timers on this forum?
Bought this fancy ultrasonic cleaning set from Kyoto last year for $60 and it scratched my front element on the first try. Has anyone else had bad luck with those ultrasonic cleaners for delicate glass?
I was stuck on a sticky shutter issue for weeks, then I sat down at Tommy's Diner with the body and a screwdriver while waiting for my club sandwich. Watching the mirror box mechanism work through the bottom plate while a waitress yelled 'Order up!' just made everything make sense. Has anyone else had a repair epiphany in a weird spot like that?
Had a Nikon FE that kept firing at random speeds no matter what I did. Turned out a tiny piece of foam from the mirror bumper had wedged itself into the gear train. Anyone else ever chase a ghost like that for way too long?
I was going through my repair log for a customer query and noticed I've done exactly 50 K1000 bodies since I started this in my garage back in 2018. That felt like a lot for one model, especially an all-mechanical camera. Most of them just needed new light seals and mirror foam, but a handful had broken shutter curtains or stuck aperture mechanisms. Has anyone else lost track of a specific camera they've fixed the most?
I used to rub lens elements with a microfiber cloth in circles like everyone else. This old timer at a camera show said I was just grinding dust into the coatings. He showed me to use a blower first, then a wet clean with Pec Pads and Eclipse from the center out. Has anyone else gotten better results switching to that method?
I was just cleaning up my workbench after fixing a Nikon D750 for a client in Portland when I totaled up my logbook. Somehow I hit 100 shutter count repairs exactly, which felt weird because I never set a goal or anything. Most of them were D600s and D610s with the oil spot issue, but seeing that number made me realize how much time I've put into just one specific problem. Anyone else track specific repair types and get surprised by the numbers?
I used to think I could wing it without keeping a strict log of each camera I worked on. But last week I hit my 50th repair of the month and realized I had no clue how long each one actually took. That number made me start tracking my time with a simple stopwatch app. Now I charge customers based on actual labor instead of guessing, and my profit margins are way better. Has anyone else had a milestone like that force them to change their process?
I know I'm gonna get heat for this but I just don't see it. Yesterday I was cleaning out a Pentax Spotmatic that had some sticky shutter blades. Everyone online says hit it with compressed air first, get all the dust out. So I did, and all it did was push the gunk deeper into the mechanism. I ended up having to pull the whole shutter stack apart anyway to get the old grease out with naptha. Now I've got a partial disassembly on my bench that took me 3 hours just to get the speeds right again. Compressed air is great if the camera is already clean, but for sticky shutters it's a waste of time. Has anyone else had better luck just going straight for the solvent clean instead?.
I was replacing the light seals and that little screw near the film takeup spool just rounded off on me, anyone got a better trick for stripped screws that small besides the rubber band method?
Last month I grabbed one of those all-in-one lens cleaning kits from a well-known online store. It had a spray bottle, some microfiber cloths, and a brush. First time I used it on an old 50mm f1.4, the spray left weird streaks and the brush actually scratched the coating. I ended up paying a local shop $40 to fix the damage. From now on I stick to just a blower and a specific brand of lens wipes. Has anyone else had bad luck with those multi-piece kits?
I used to use 99% isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth on every lens that came into my shop. Last month an old repair guy told me that's stripping the coating off older German glass. He showed me his method: just breath mist and a clean lens tissue, nothing else. Tried it on a 1950s Tessar lens and the haze came off way cleaner than my alcohol method ever did. Anyone else made the switch away from solvents on vintage glass?
Found this microscopic coil spring lodged behind the curtain drum that I must have launched across the bench 3 years ago - the shutter was dragging by half a stop this whole time. Has anyone else found random parts they lost ages ago still causing issues inside a body?
Last week a guy at the camera swap meet in Portland told me to toss my old microfiber cloths after every dozen cleanings and after trying his method on a beat up lens cap I could actually see the difference under a bright light so now I'm ordering a bulk pack of 50 from a local supplier has anyone else noticed cloths getting rough after a while?
I've been using a cheap jeweler's screwdriver and some patience for years on stuck retaining rings, always figured a real spanner was overpriced. Picked up a vintage one from a retired tech in Portland for $20 and it freed a stuck front element on a Minolta Rokkor in under 2 minutes. Anyone else put off buying a specific tool and then regret not doing it sooner?
Was working on an old Pentax Spotmatic from the 70s, you know the ones with the cloth curtains. Read online that lighter fluid was safe for cleaning off that sticky residue. Tested a tiny corner first and it seemed fine. So I go ahead and soak a Q-tip, clean the whole curtain. Looked great. Come back 10 minutes later and the edge where I started is literally dissolving and curling up. Never again. What do you guys actually use for stubborn gunk on cloth shutters without wrecking them?
Last month I went to a camera repair meetup at a shop off South Congress, and someone handed me a vintage 50mm f/1.4 that skidded right off my oily fingers. It hit the concrete floor and the focus ring seized up instantly. The guy wasn't mad, but I felt terrible and spent the whole day kicking myself. Has anyone else had a close call like that, and did you switch to wearing mechanic's gloves after?
I've been using those canned air dusters for years to blow out mirror boxes and sensors. Tried one of those rubber bulb blowers last week on a dusty Nikon D750 and honestly it worked way better. No propellant residue worries and I got better control over the air stream. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference on stubborn dust spots?
I been using those cheap blue flexi-clamps to hold bellows open for years. He showed me how they pinch the same spot every time and leave permanent creases. Has anyone else switched to something softer and seen less damage?
I bought the Vevor 2L model after seeing it in five different repair threads. Ran it for 10 minutes with a Pentax K1000 shutter assembly and it did absolutely nothing, just warm water with some bubbles. Had to disassemble everything again and clean it by hand with lighter fluid like I always did. Anyone else find these things are just a gimmick for camera work?
The mirror was jammed on the return, and after three YouTube tear-downs I found the gear was just off track by a hair. Has anyone else MacGyvered a repair with random household junk or am I the only one risking their gear like this?
Was working on a Yashica Mat 124G for a customer, had it on my bench getting the winding mechanism sorted. Phone rang, I spun around and my elbow caught it. Hit the floor lens first. Smashed the taking lens, bent the front plate a little. After I finished swearing I pulled the whole thing apart to see if the body itself was straight. Its fine, but now I gotta find a replacement taking lens assembly for a Yashinon 80mm f/3.5. Anyone know a good source for parts cameras or lens groups that might work?
Had this Nikon FM2 come in with the shutter stuck halfway. Tried the usual stuff - cleaning the blades with lighter fluid, cycling it manually. Nothing worked. Then I remembered an old trick from a forum about using thin plastic to free up sticky blades. Took a 0.5mm guitar pick, sliced a tiny piece off, and wedged it between the curtain and the frame. Gave it a gentle nudge and the shutter snapped right back. Reassembled and it's firing fine now at all speeds down to 1/4000. Anyone else use random household items for repairs?