Hot take: those plastic spudgers are ruining more cameras than they fix

I was at a shop in Portland last month and overheard a kid bragging about using a plastic spudger to pry open a jammed shutter on a Nikon FM2. Thought he was joking until I saw the cracked plastic gear sitting on the bench. People treat those things like magic wands but they're just soft enough to snap under torque and leave shards inside. I've pulled three mangled shutters this year alone where the root cause was a bit of red plastic wedged in the mechanism. If you're reaching for a spudger before a proper JIS screwdriver, you're probably making more work for yourself and me. What's the worst damage you've seen from someone using the wrong tool?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice_wilson733d ago

Wait, someone actually used a spudger on a Nikon FM2?

janaw113d ago

@alice_wilson73 "actually used a spudger" got me lol. Nobody's talking about how a spudger is literally the worst tool for an FM2 since the shutter dials are metal and any wrong angle scratches the finish. Better off using a cut up credit card or something.