I always thought ultrasonic cleaners were overpriced gadgets that couldn't do much a toothbrush and some solvent couldn't handle. Then I picked up a dirty Canon AE-1 shutter assembly that had years of gunk baked into the blades. After 10 minutes in a borrowed cleaner at a shop in Portland, the blades moved like new. Has anyone else had a specific part that changed their mind on these things?
I had this Yashica-Mat from the 70s where the shutter blades were sticking at slow speeds, tried blowing it out with canned air and nothing helped. Finally took a fine sewing needle, dipped it in lighter fluid, and very gently worked it around the edges of the blades to break up the old gunk and now it fires clean at every speed. Anyone else got a weird hack for getting oil off shutter mechanisms without taking the whole lens apart?
I was swapping stories with this guy who worked on Minoltas for 40 years at a shop in Cleveland, and he told me he'd never replace a shutter ribbon unless it was actually snapped because the old ones just seat better. He said most people toss perfectly good shutters just because they sound dry. Anyone else ever run into a repair vet with totally opposite habits from what you learned?
Used to waste so much time with a regular iron trying to fix broken flex cables. After one job where I fried a ribbon on a Canon AE-1, I bought a cheap hot plate for $40 and now I can do a flex cable repair in under 5 minutes. Anyone else make the switch or still using a standard iron?
Thought it was a dried out shutter mechanism issue so I spent 2 hours cleaning everything. Turned out the mirror bumper foam had turned to goo and was just grabbing the curtain. Anyone else waste a ton of time on simpe fixes that should have been obvious?
I was about to strip a screw on the bottom plate of my K1000 last month using a regular Phillips head. Figured I'd test out a JIS set I saw recommended on a repair blog for $35 before I messed anything up. Fit perfectly on that tight screw near the rewind knob that always gives me trouble. Now I'm wondering how many other screws I've chewed up over the years just using the wrong driver. Anyone else made the switch and noticed a big difference on older Japanese metal bodies?
I was out of sensor swabs for my Canon 5D Mark III last week so I grabbed a clean rubber squeegee from the darkroom, and somehow it picked up the dust without leaving streaks, has anyone else tried something weird like that in a pinch?
Been using isopropyl alcohol to clean shutters for years. Found out last week it can melt the cloth curtains on old focal planes. Caught it just before I wiped down a 1954 model. Anyone else have a cleaner they trusted that turned out to be bad?
I was at a workshop in Portland last spring and an old Nikon repair guy watched me swab a sensor. He said I was putting too much pressure on the edges and that was why I kept getting streaks. I switched to a lighter touch and a slower drag and haven't had a single smear since. Anyone else get bad habits from just doing things the same way for years without thinking?
Picked it up at a thrift store for $15. The mirror was stuck up and the curtains looked frozen solid. I figured it was a parts camera at best. But after a few days of gentle work with lighter fluid on the cloth and some careful actuations, the shutter came back to life. The speeds are all within a stop of where they should be now. Does anyone else mess with these old cloth shutter cameras or is it just not worth the hassle compared to the metal ones?
Pulled a 1970s Pentax Spotmatic apart last month and spent 6 hours just scrubbing congealed lubricant off the blades before I could even think about adjusting the speeds, has anyone else burned a whole Saturday on something that simple?
Was working on two classic SLRs last month, a Pentax Spotmatic and a Canon FTb, both with stuck shutters. The Pentax had those cloth curtains that take forever to tension right, but the Canon's metal Copal square shutter was way more straightforward to get firing again. Has anyone else noticed certain brands just have better service design, or am I just getting lucky with the Canon stuff?
Sent a beat up Nikon F2 to some guy in Ohio for $80 and got it back with shutter speeds dead on and the meter working for the first time in years. Has anyone else had good luck with the cheaper online repair shops or am I just lucky?
I cracked open my 500th shutter repair last Tuesday on a beat up old Pentax Spotmatic from a shop in Austin. Never thought I'd get that deep into leaf shutters and cloth curtains, but here we are. The weird part is I still get nervous opening up a Compur shutter for the first time on any given day. Anyone else keep a running count of specific repairs they've done?
I used to always use compressed air first on shutter blades, but a customer in Seattle told me their Canon AE-1 came back with oil spots after I did that. I switched to using isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips on the blades first, then air for dust. It takes longer but I haven't had a single complaint since. Anyone else run into this with older shutters?
I was diagnosing a stuck shutter on a Canon AE-1 Program and found out the flex cable was busted even though the camera was stored in a dry box. Turns out Arizona's low humidity can make those old ribbons brittle over time, not just moisture. Anyone else dealt with dry climate failures on older gear?
I was working on an old Zeiss Ikon Nettar from the 1950s, one of those 6x9 folders, and after replacing the bellows I couldn't get the focus right. Turns out the mirror that flips up for the viewfinder was just caked with 60 years of dust and grease. Cleaned it with some isopropyl and a q-tip, and suddenly the rangefinder lined up perfect. Has anyone else had this issue with those old folding strut cameras?
Had a guy walk into my shop last tuesday with a Nikon F3 that smelled like a compost bin. I opened the back and someone had shoved a whole raw potato in there where the film should go. He said his girlfriend's kid thought it would "fix the camera" like a battery or something. Has anyone else ever found food inside a camera body?
At a camera swap meet in Portland last spring, this retired tech named Dave watched me use a wet cleaning swab and just shook his head. He said I was stripping the coatings and to just use a rocket blower and a brush 95 percent of the time. Took me 6 months of testing on junk sensors to admit he was right, now I barely touch wet cleaning at all. Anybody else ever get humbled by some old timer's advice that actually worked better?
I told him I wouldn't touch it until the smoke residue was cleaned off. The haze buildup is real - I learned that lesson after a repair job last year where I skipped the deep clean. Anyone else run into this with smokers gear?
I tried to order a replacement flex cable for a Canon AE-1 Program shutter from a seller in Ohio. The part got stuck in shipping for 3 weeks and when it finally showed up, the connector was cracked. I could have just cut and soldered a new one from bulk ribbon cable for about $4. Has anyone else had better luck sourcing these things locally?
For like 6 months I was cleaning the shutter blades with lighter fluid and couldn't get consistent speeds below 1/30. A buddy at the camera co-op in Brooklyn told me to check the gear train for old grease, and sure enough it was all gummed up. Anyone else waste time cleaning the wrong part before realizing the real issue?
I ran into this old guy at a camera show in Chicago last month who fixed Nikons for 40 years. He told me I was wasting my time cleaning shutter blades with alcohol because it leaves a film. Said he used lighter fluid back in the day and then switched to this pure naphtha he got from a chemical supply house. He pulled out a beaten up F2 he still uses and the shutter sounded PERFECT, not a hint of drag. Has anyone else tried naphtha instead of alcohol for sticky blades?