I picked up this beat-up AE-1 from a guy in Portland for 40 bucks. Got the shutter fixed and the light seals replaced, but the meter is still way off by about 2 stops no matter what I do. Has anyone else run into a persistent meter issue on these old Canon bodies where adjusting the pot doesn't seem to help?
I bought one of those cheap CLA kits off eBay last month for $150. It came with greases that felt WAY too thick and a spanner wrench that slipped right off the lens ring. Ended up damaging the aperture blades trying to use their stuff. Had to order proper LiClipse grease from a guy in Oregon for $40 and toss the rest. Has anyone else had bad luck with those all-in-one repair bundles?
This guy Bob who used to work at the Wolf Camera in Atlanta told me last year to use Ronsonol on a sticky shutter blade set on a Canonet. I thought he was nuts and went with ultrasonic cleaning instead. Shutter still stuck after three passes. Finally tried his trick two weeks ago and it worked perfect on the first go. One drop, fired it 20 times, and it's been smooth ever since. Anyone else ever get advice that sounded too sketchy to try but actually worked?
I was digging through a box of old cameras at a sale last Saturday and spotted this beat up M3. The guy wanted $40 for it so I figured why not. Got it home and the shutter curtain has a tiny pinhole near the edge, plus the speeds sound off below 1/30th. Anyone here ever patched a curtain hole on one of these or is it better to just send it off to a pro?
I was poking around a small thrift place off Gratiot Avenue and found maybe 15 old SLRs just sitting on a shelf. Most were covered in dust but a few looked totally functional, like a Canon AE-1 with a decent 50mm lens attached. Anybody else ever have luck finding cameras like this for cheap, or is it usually a waste of time to dig through those shops? I'm curious if there's a trick to spotting the good ones fast.
Was picking up a parts donor from a old timer in Milwaukee and he swore by Ronsonol for shutter curtains instead of the fancy stuff I've been spending $30 a bottle on, anyone else go the cheap route on cleaning solvents?
I was out in the field last week shooting some architectural stuff in Chicago and got a big smudge right in the middle of my 50mm f/1.4. I panicked, ran into a BP station and grabbed a pack of those blue microfiber cloths they sell by the counter. Gave it a quick wipe and it looked okay at first but when I got home and held it under a bright desk lamp I saw fine circular scratches all over the front element. The multi-coating is pretty much wrecked in that spot now. I usually use a proper lens pen and some Zeiss spray but I got lazy and cheap. Guess I learned that not all microfiber is the same, the gas station stuff is way too rough. Has anyone else had luck getting a lens recoated after something like this?
I was talking to a retired repair guy at a camera show in Chicago last weekend. He swore by using powdered graphite on Compur shutters because oil eventually gums up. But I've been using a tiny drop of light machine oil on my own repairs and they've been running smooth for like 5 years now. So which is actually the right call for long term reliability? Anyone here dealt with the aftermath of both methods?
I keep seeing posts in here about dropping everything in an ultrasonic cleaner and calling it a day. But I had a Nikon F2 shutter that came out worse after a 3 minute cycle at 40kHz, the blades started sticking in a way they never did before. I tested it on a beater Canon FTb first and saw the same thing, the oil redistributed unevenly. Over the last 6 months I've tracked 4 different cameras that had new problems show up right after ultrasonic treatment. Has anyone else seen this or am I just unlucky with my cleaner?
I was in Shinjuku last week visiting this small repair shop I heard about. The old guy behind the counter had a Nikon F2 open on his bench and he was using actual wooden chopsticks to hold a tiny screw in place. No tweezers or anything fancy. He just shrugged and said it worked fine. Has anyone else run into weird improvised tools like that?
I was working on a beat up Pentax K1000 in my basement shop last Wednesday, trying to replace a broken shutter curtain spring. Got it almost seated when the thing slipped out of my tweezers and pinged straight into my travel mug of black coffee sitting on the bench. I just sat there staring at it for a solid minute, wondering if I should fish it out or call it a loss. Decided to dump the coffee through a sieve into a jar, rinsed the spring with distilled water, and dried it off with a heat gun on low. Put it back in and the camera actually fired correctly after that. Anyone else ever had a part take a swim in something gross and still work fine?
I picked up a Nikon F from a flea market in Portland last month for $40. The shutter was totally locked up at 1/1000th. Took me 3 tries over 2 weeks to get the mirror box out without breaking anything. Turned out a piece of old lubricant had gummed up the gear train. A little lighter fluid and some patience and it fires clean now on every speed. Has anyone else dealt with old F series shutters seizing up like that?
After three hours of testing magnets and rewiring a Copal shutter on this old Mamiya I picked up at a flea market, I finally noticed a tiny crust of old lube stuck to the edge of the blade - cleaned it off with a toothpick and the thing fired perfectly on the first try, anyone else ever miss something that obvious before cracking open the schematics?
I had a run of three Canon AE-1 bodies come in last Monday, all with the dreaded shutter curtain issue. First one needed a new magnet switch, second just some contact cleaning, and the third had a broken advance gear. Got all three working by Friday afternoon, which felt amazing since those repairs usually take me days each. The customers were happy and one even brought me cookies lol. Has anyone else had a streak like that where everything just clicks for a few days?
I was fixing a 1980s Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens last Tuesday and everything went smooth until I hit the helicoid. The old grease had turned into this hard sticky mess that felt like chewing gum stuck in there. I tried to rotate it with my spanner wrench and it wouldn't budge at all. Ended up soaking the whole helicoid in lighter fluid for about 6 hours to break it down. That did the trick but then I had to clean every thread with a soft brush and alcohol before regreasing. Has anyone else run into old lubricant that solidifies like that on vintage glass and found a faster way to deal with it?
He brought in this beat up Nikon FM2 that looked like it had been through a war. The shutter was completely stuck, mirror was locked up, and there was dust all through the viewfinder. I told him it'd be around $250 to fix and he just nodded and said he'd pay whatever it took because it was his dad's camera from the 80s. While I was working on it he told me about how his dad documented their whole family road trips with that thing. I got it running again after 2 days of cleaning and adjusting the curtain tension. When he picked it up he took a photo of me in the shop and said he'd send me a print. He actually did about 3 weeks later. Anyone else had a customer bring in something that was more about the memories than the camera itself?
It was a 3.5F that came in with a stuck focus helicoid. Some patient work with lighter fluid and a brass shim finally freed it up. Anyone else find helicoids on these older Rolleis way tighter than the later models?
He told me to use a tiny drop of dish soap and distilled water instead of all those fancy cleaning fluids. Tried it on a haze-laden 50mm f/1.4 from the 80s and it cut through the grime in one pass. Anyone else got old-school tricks that still work better than the modern stuff?
I've been fixing cameras out of my garage for maybe 3 years now, never really kept a log until a buddy told me to jot down each job. Well I counted up all my CLA receipts and shutter fixes from an old notebook and hit exactly 200 repairs this month. Has anyone else tracked a milestone like that and had it change how they see their own skill level?
I always figured ultrasonic cleaners were overkill for most camera gear. Then last month a guy brought in a C3 that was absolutely crusted with old lubricant and who knows what. Couldn't even advance the film. Tried my usual methods for a few days with no luck. Finally borrowed a friend's cleaner, ran it for 15 minutes with the right solution, and the thing moved like new. Felt dumb for resisting it so long. Anyone else have a tool they ignored for years that turned out useful?
I had a beat-up 1950s Agfa folder with a pinhole in the bellows last month and tried the heat gun trick to shrink the leather back tight, and it actually sealed the leak on the first try. But I've also seen guys cook the bellows so bad they crack into dust, so I'm wondering if it's a real fix or just a desperate gamble. Has anyone else had luck with this or gone another route like liquid patch?
Last month I picked up a beat up 50mm f1.4 from a flea market in Portland. The front element had that spiderweb fungus that usually means the lens is toast. Tried the usual UV light trick for a week, nothing. Then read somewhere that 3% hydrogen peroxide can kill the fungus and wipe it off. Dabbed a q-tip in it, gently rubbed the element for maybe 30 seconds, and the fungus just wiped away. Rinsed with distilled water and dried it. Element looks perfect now. Anyone tried this on coated lenses?
I've seen so many repair posts online where people go straight to relubricating a stuck focus ring without actually cleaning the old grease out first. In my experience, you need to fully remove the old compound using a solvent like naphtha or even lighter fluid before putting anything new on. I had a Pentax 50mm f1.4 come through last month where the previous 'repair' just caked new grease on top of hardened old stuff. It made the focus feel gritty and rough after just a week of use. Has anyone else run into this where a simple clean would have saved a lot of hassle?
I was chatting with a retired repairman named Frank at a camera show in Chicago last month. He said using a bit of lighter fluid on a Q-tip is way better than those fancy sensor swabs for old cloth shutters. I tried it on a beat-up Konica from 1972 and the shutter speeds came right back to life. Has anyone else used lighter fluid for cleaning or is that too risky for newer cameras?
Saw a guy on YouTube claim you can check slow shutter speeds by filming the curtain with your phone and counting frames. Thought it was nonsense. Tried it on a beat up Pentax Spotmatic last month. Counted 1/15th coming out as 1/8th. Grabbed my shutter timer to double check and it was dead on. Now I use it for quick checks before I dive into a full CLA. Anyone else got a trick they dismissed at first that proved useful?