c/camera-repairers

My old boss told me to never clean a shutter with alcohol, and I learned why the hard way

He said it would strip the lubricant and cause timing drift, but I thought a quick wipe on a Canon AE-1's blades would be fine. Sure enough, the shutter started hanging at 1/500th after a couple of days. I had to fully disassemble the mechanism to re-lube it, which took me a whole afternoon. What's your go-to method for cleaning sticky shutter blades without causing more problems?

Had a vintage Hasselblad backfire on me during a shoot in Denver yesterday

The shutter curtain jammed halfway through a roll, so I had to explain to a very confused bride why her photographer was now performing emergency surgery with a tiny screwdriver in the middle of the ceremony.

Showerthought: my kid's toy camera made me rethink light seals

The cheap plastic shutter on his plaything jammed open, so I used a sliver of black craft foam to block the light path. Anyone have a better material for a quick seal mock-up before cutting the real stuff?

I was sure those cheap plastic lens spanner wrenches were junk until I fixed a stuck Canon FD 50mm

A buddy gave me a generic one he got online for like $12, and I figured it would just slip or break. But the tips were actually hardened steel and it gripped the notches perfectly without a scratch. Anyone have a go-to brand for these now?

Serious question, I chose to replace a shutter curtain on a 1970s SLR instead of buying a donor body.

The curtain on a Pentax Spotmatic was torn, and a local shop quoted me $150 for a full donor camera. I spent about 4 hours carefully doing the swap myself, and it actually worked perfectly on the first try. Does anyone think using donor parts is always the better choice, or is a careful repair sometimes worth the effort?

Rant: That one shutter curtain ribbon on a Pentax 67 that just would not cooperate

Had a Pentax 6x7 come in with a shutter capping issue. Figured it was a simple ribbon replacement, maybe an hour. Wrong. The old ribbon adhesive was basically fossilized. Spent three hours just cleaning the channel with solvent and a dental pick. Got the new ribbon in, but the tension was impossible. Too tight and it jammed, too loose and it dragged. My mentor always said to set it by feel, but I must have redone it fifteen times. The whole job took two full days. Is it better to just replace the entire curtain assembly on these when the glue gets that bad, or is the meticulous clean-out still the right call? What's your breaking point?

Chatted with a retired Leica tech at a swap meet in Portland

He said he never used canned air on a shutter, only a soft brush, because the propellant can leave a film. Anyone else avoid air cans for specific jobs?

Appreciation post: That one week where every camera was a sticky, gummed-up mess from the same beach wedding

Last week, I had three separate Nikon F3s come in, all from different photographers but the same outdoor ceremony, and each one had sand and salt in the film advance that felt like grinding peanut butter.

Question about a stuck shutter on a Pentax K1000 that took me a whole weekend to fix

Rant: A guy at the flea market said he 'cleans' lenses with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel

I was picking up an old Minolta body from a seller in Phoenix last weekend and he started bragging about his lens cleaning method. He said he just dabs some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and wipes the glass in circles. I almost dropped the camera. I tried to gently say that's a good way to strip coatings, but he just shrugged. Has anyone else run into this kind of advice out in the wild, and how do you handle it without starting a fight?

Warning: I just found out how many of those tiny screws are in a single Canon 5D mirror box

I was cleaning out a parts bin and counted 27 separate screws just for the mirror assembly and shutter mechanism. Found the breakdown in a 2008 service manual I downloaded from a forum archive. Has anyone else had to deal with this specific model's disassembly?

I always thought the 'tap and twist' method for stuck lens rings was a joke

Had a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 come in last week, the filter ring was totally seized. I was about to get the penetrating oil and strap wrench, but my buddy from the shop said to just give the side of the ring a few firm taps with a small plastic mallet while applying gentle twist pressure. Tried it, and after maybe five taps, it broke free without a scratch! I've been doing this for three years and never gave that old trick a real shot. What other simple fixes have you guys been surprised actually work?

I finally listened to a customer who said my repair notes were too vague

A regular client brought back a Canon AE-1 I fixed last month, saying the shutter was sticking again and my invoice just said 'cleaned shutter.' He asked for specifics on what was cleaned. Now I write down every step, like 'removed front plate, cleaned curtain rails with lighter fluid, checked spring tension.' Do you think detailed notes are worth the extra time for repeat business?

Vent: I had to choose between a cheap replacement shutter curtain or a full CLA on a Pentax K1000

The curtain was $15 and the clean, lube, adjust would have been over $100, so I went with the cheap fix. It worked for about a week before the shutter started dragging again because the old grease in the mechanism was still gummed up. Has anyone else had a quick fix totally backfire because you didn't address the root cause?

Warning: A tiny spring from a Nikon FM2 launch pad flew across my workbench yesterday

I was replacing the mirror foam in my home shop when the small spring for the film advance lever shot out. It bounced off my lamp and landed somewhere in the carpet. I spent about 45 minutes with a magnet on a stick and a bright light before I found it under my stool. Has anyone else had a close call with a part that almost got lost for good?

PSA: That 'sticky' film advance lever on a Pentax K1000 can be a real trap

Had a guy bring in his dad's old K1000 last week. Said the film advance lever was just stuck. Figured it was a quick fix, maybe some old grease. Opened it up. Cleaned the usual spots. Still stuck. Spent an hour checking the wind mechanism, the ratchet, everything. Finally, after like three hours, I'm about to give up. I look at the bottom plate one more time. There's a tiny, almost invisible piece of dried foam from the old case liner. It had gotten wedged in the linkage under the advance shaft. Pulled it out with tweezers. Lever worked perfectly. Felt like a total idiot. Three hours for a speck of foam. Anyone else ever get fooled by something that simple?

Showerthought: I always thought my old mentor was wrong about using a certain solvent on shutter blades.

He insisted for years that only Ronsonol was safe for cleaning the titanium blades in Hasselblad 500 series lenses, and after ruining a set with a modern cleaner last week, I finally have to admit he was right all along, so has anyone found a reliable modern substitute that actually works?

Finally got the shutter timing right on a 1972 Nikon F2 after three evenings of trial and error.

Had to choose between a full replacement of the curtain drum or just adjusting the existing tension springs, went with the springs, and now it fires at a perfect 1/1000th again.

A customer told me his old Nikon F3 was 'just a paperweight' now and it got under my skin

He brought it in for a shutter issue, but when I gave him the quote, he shrugged and said he'd just buy a new mirrorless camera instead. He called the repair a waste of money on a dead system. I spent the rest of the day cleaning that camera, thinking about how much skill and history is in these things that people just toss. It's not just fixing a part, it's keeping a story working. Do you guys ever get that feeling, like we're preserving something bigger than just gear?

The great shutter curtain glue choice of 2023

Had a 1972 Nikon F2 with a sticky curtain, and the old foam was dust. My choice was between using a tiny bit of fresh rubber cement or trying to cut and fit a whole new foam strip from a donor camera. I went with the cement, thinking it was the smart, fast fix. Spent an hour with a toothpick and a magnifier, got it perfect. Two days later, the client brings it back because the curtain is now stuck open. Has anyone else had a glue fix backfire like that on an old focal plane shutter?

I thought the 'freezer trick' for stuck lens rings was total nonsense until my buddy in Austin swore by it.

Heads up about those new adhesive light seals from a certain supplier

For years I cut my own foam strips and used basic rubber cement, which worked fine but took forever. Last month I bought a pack of pre-cut adhesive seals from a supplier in Texas to save time. Ngl, after a week in a hot car, the adhesive on three separate repairs completely failed and the seals just fell off. Now I'm back to cutting my own and using a stronger cement I trust. Has anyone else run into this with the newer pre-cut kits?

Bought a $150 ultrasonic cleaner for shutter blades, and it's the best thing I've done this year.

A customer in my shop changed how I see old Polaroid cameras

A woman brought in a broken SX-70 last week, the kind with the folding leather case. I was ready to give her the usual talk about how parts are hard to find and it's often not worth fixing. She just said, 'My dad gave this to me. Every picture in it is a memory he made for me.' That stuck with me. I spent three hours tracking down a replacement gear for the film door online. It wasn't about the repair bill, it was about keeping a story working. Now I ask people why the camera matters before I give an estimate. What's the most sentimental repair you've ever taken on?

Cleaning a stuck aperture ring with a drop of lighter fluid

Had a Minolta X-700 come in with a 50mm lens where the aperture ring wouldn't turn past f/8. After cleaning with isopropyl didn't work, I put one tiny drop of Ronsonol lighter fluid on the ring seam and worked it back and forth for about five minutes. The gunk dissolved and it moves smoothly through the full range now. Anyone know a better solvent that's safe for the painted numbers?