c/camera-repairers

I finally found a way to fix sticky Canon shutter blades without a full teardown

Had a Canon AE-1 with shutter blades sticking at slow speeds for months. Tried the usual stuff like cleaning the surface with lighter fluid but it only helped for a day. Then I read somewhere about using a tiny drop of naphtha on the pivot points while cycling the shutter. Did that on a bench test last Thursday and it ran smooth through 50 test shots at 1/30. No more sticking at all so far. Anyone else tried this trick or got a better fix for blade drag?

PSA: Found a dead spider inside a Pentax K1000 mirror box yesterday

I was working on a Pentax K1000 that came in with a stuck mirror, and when I finally pried the thing open, a big dead spider fell out... it was wedged right behind the mirror mechanism. Must have crawled in years ago through the lens mount or something. The whole inside was covered in web dust too, like it had been living in there for a while. Took me an extra 20 minutes just to clean all the gunk out before I could even start on the shutter. Has anyone else run into bugs or critters inside a camera body? I'm wondering if this is more common with older gear that sat in a basement.

Appreciation post: hitting 50 Yashica repairs in one year

I hit 50 Yashica camera repairs last month, which surprised me because I usually work on Nikons. Everyone online says avoid the Electro 35 series due to the pad of death issues. But after doing a bunch of them, I think they're actually easier to fix than people claim. Has anyone else found a specific model that's way more reliable than the forums suggest?

Rant: Tried to fix a sticky shutter and made it worse

I was working on a Pentax K1000 last Saturday and the shutter was sticking at slow speeds. Thought I'd clean the blades with a little lighter fluid like I've done before. But I put too much on and it got into the mirror mechanism. Now the mirror won't lock up at all. Lost a full repair job because of that mistake. Anyone else have a fix go totally sideways and cost you more than just time?

PSA: double check your lens element order after cleaning

I spent three hours last Tuesday trying to figure out why my 50mm f/1.4 was giving me soft corners after a deep clean, only to realize I swapped the front and rear elements by accident has anyone else mixed up their glass order and had to backtrack like that?

Finally figured out why old shutters stick in summer

Tbh I never realized humidity makes the wood swell until I read a forum post from a guy in Florida. He measured his shutters at 1/8 inch wider in July than in December. Anyone else run into weird seasonal stuff like that with wood parts?

That old Rolleiflex I thought was junk turned out to be worth saving

Picked up a beat up 2.8F at an estate sale for $40 five years ago, figured I'd strip it for parts. Ended up spending 6 hours cleaning the shutter blades and it fired perfectly after, now I use it as my daily shooter. Anybody else had a camera surprise you like that?

I compared JIS screwdrivers to regular Phillips on a Minolta and the JIS won by a mile

Been repairing a beat up Minolta SRT-101 I picked up at a flea market for $15. Stripped two screws with my standard Phillips set before I learned about the JIS standard. Grabbed a vessel JIS screwdriver set for like $25 on amazon. The fit is way tighter and I didn't cam out even on screws that were already chewed up a bit. Has anyone else found certain brands of JIS drivers work better or are they all pretty similar?

Tried a heat gun vs a hair dryer for softening old leatherette covering

I spent two hours last week trying to peel the leatherette off a 1970s Yashica with a hair dryer and it was like pulling teeth. Switched to a $30 heat gun from the hardware store and that old glue gave up in 10 minutes flat. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that somehow beats the 'right' one for a job like this?

Watch out for those old shutter curtains crumbling on you mid-job

I was in the middle of a CLA on a Pentax Spotmatic from the late 60s yesterday, and right as I got the mirror box cleaned up, the shutter curtain just started flaking apart at the edges. It wasn't torn or anything obvious when I first opened it, but the material had gotten so brittle over 50 years that a gentle touch made it crumble like old newspaper. I had to stop everything and source a replacement curtain kit, which set me back 3 days waiting on shipping from a seller in Ohio. The worst part is I already quoted the customer $95 for a standard overhaul, and now I'm eating the extra cost for the parts. Has anyone else dealt with these late-model cloth curtains that look fine but disintegrate the second you breathe on them?

Talked to an old wedding photographer last week who changed my mind about cla frequency

Hit 200 shutter replacements on vintage SLRs last month and it changed how I work

I keep a log of every repair I do. Simple notebook on the bench. Last month I hit 200 shutter replacements on vintage SLRs. Mostly Canon FTbs and Minoltas. That number surprised me. I started thinking about how much time I waste on the same problem. Same sticky shutter blades. Same slow speeds. I should have a system by now. Instead I still break down each one like its new. Does anyone else keep stats on their repairs? Do you use that data to speed things up?

Vent: People who treat vintage lenses like they're made of gold

I had a guy come into my shop yesterday with a beat up 50mm f1.4 from the 70s. Haze, scratched front element, sticky aperture blades. He wanted $200 for it. I told him it's basically a paperweight and he got mad. Used to be you could find these for $20 at garage sales. Now everyone thinks their old glass is a treasure. Has anyone else seen this shift over the last 5 years or so?

A chat with a museum conservator about old lens haze

I was fixing a 1950s rangefinder and mentioned the haze looked permanent, but she said they often clean it with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia under UV light. That trick saved a lens I thought was junk. Has anyone else tried this method on vintage glass?

I finally gave up on my old ultrasonic cleaner from 2005 and got a new one with a heater... the difference on shutter blades is night and day.

Got a vintage Leica M3 in with a shutter that wouldn't fire...

Was cleaning the curtain tracks in my shop and found a tiny piece of brass shaving stuck in the mechanism. Took an hour with tweezers and a loupe to get it out without scratching anything. Ever have a random piece of debris cause a major fault like that?

Saw a guy in Portland using a dental pick for shutter curtain repairs

I was at the camera swap meet in Portland last weekend and watched a repairer use a dental pick to tease out a tiny spring on a Nikon FM2 shutter. He swore it was the best tool for the job, but I've always used a set of fine tweezers. It got me thinking about how we all develop our own weird little tool hacks. Anyone else have a go-to tool that seems odd but works perfectly for a specific repair?

Warning: don't trust those cheap lens spanner wrenches from the online marketplace

I tried one of those $15 generic spanners on a stuck Nikon 50mm f/1.8D helicoid and it just flexed, nearly stripping the slots. Switched to a proper, solid steel one from a real tool supplier, cost me about $60, and it worked perfectly on the first try. The difference in metal thickness and heat treatment is night and day. Anyone have a go-to brand for these that won't bend on you?

PSA: A client's comment about my lens cleaning made me switch tools

A regular brought in a Leica M6 with haze, and after I cleaned it with my usual microfiber, they said the front element still looked 'streaky under a certain light'. I swapped to a fresh Pec-Pad with a drop of Eclipse fluid for the final pass, and the difference was clear. What's your go-to method for a streak-free finish on coated glass?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to use a guitar pick for old film door latches

I was fixing a Pentax K1000 last week (you know, the one with the sticky film door latch that everyone hates) and this older guy at the parts swap in Austin said to use a thin guitar pick. I thought he was joking, like some weird hack that would scratch things up. But I was stuck, so I tried it with a cheap Fender pick I had in my truck. You slide it between the door and the body to gently pry the latch open without bending the metal. It worked perfectly on the first try, no marks at all. I've used it on three other cameras since then and it's saved me so much time. I guess some of the old tricks really are the best ones. Has anyone else found a weird tool that actually works great for a specific camera job?

Had to choose between a $200 donor body or a new shutter assembly for a Canon AE-1. Went with the donor, saved a client $150.

I was at the antique market in Springfield last weekend and saw a guy selling a box of 'untested' Polaroid SX-70s for $50 each.

He had about eight of them, all pretty dusty. I asked if I could pop the hood on one, and he got really defensive, saying they were sold as-is. It made me wonder how many of those 'untested' cameras just need fresh batteries or a simple roller clean, and how many are truly bricked. What's the most common quick fix you've found on a camera someone else wrote off as junk?

Just realized my old boss in Seattle was right about one specific screwdriver

My first boss at the repair shop, Frank, always told me to use a JIS #2 driver for old Nikon F mirror box screws, never a Phillips. I thought it was just him being picky until I stripped a screw on a customer's F2 last month, turning a simple CLA into a real headache. Has anyone else run into this and found a good source for JIS drivers that won't break the bank?

Had a Minolta X-700 shutter curtain jam on me yesterday

The customer said it just stopped firing halfway through a roll. When I opened it up, the second curtain was stuck about a third of the way across. In my experience, it's often the magnet that gets gummy. I cleaned the magnet and its contact plate with some isopropyl on a q-tip, and that did the trick. The whole fix took maybe 20 minutes once I had it apart. Has anyone found a better cleaning solution for those old Minolta magnets that lasts longer?

Spent three hours chasing a 'broken' shutter on a Pentax K1000

Turns out the owner had jammed a single grain of sand from a beach shoot in Santa Monica into the film advance lever mechanism. It was so tiny I only spotted it under my bench magnifier after checking everything else twice. Has anyone else had a repair where the actual problem was something ridiculously small like that?