c/camera-repairers

Question about that new batch of generic shutter lubricant

I had a Nikon F3 come back last week with the blades sticking after a full clean, and the only thing different was the grease. Anyone else seeing issues with the stuff from the big online parts house?

I bought a $300 ultrasonic cleaner for lens elements and it was a total game changer

Had a vintage 50mm f/1.4 come in with haze that just wouldn't budge with normal swabs and fluid. I was about to write it off as a lost cause. On a whim, I got a small ultrasonic cleaner, filled it with distilled water and a drop of lens cleaner, and ran the elements for a few cycles. The haze completely dissolved, and the glass looked brand new. Has anyone else had a stubborn cleaning job that an ultrasonic finally fixed?

Stubborn shutter curtain on a Pentax 67 finally got me to switch methods

For years, I'd just use a cotton swab with a tiny bit of lighter fluid to clean old grease off the silk ribbons. It worked, but it was slow and I'd always worry about fraying. About six months ago, a repairer in Seattle mentioned using a synthetic chamois cloth dampened with pure isopropyl. I tried it on a sticky 67 last week, and the cloth lifted the gunk without leaving any fibers behind. It cut the cleaning time in half. Has anyone else found a better material for this specific job?

Had a moment with a Leica M3 at a flea market in Portland

The seller said it was 'just sticky' but the rangefinder patch was completely gone. I bought it for $200 and realized I'd been ignoring the simple stuff while chasing bigger repairs. Anyone else get a camera that made you rethink your whole checklist?

I was cleaning shutter blades with the same cloth for months.

A customer brought in a Leica M3 with a tiny scratch on the curtain, and I realized my cloth was picking up grit. I switched to a fresh microfiber for every camera now. Does anyone else have a set number of uses for their cleaning cloths before they toss them?

Pro tip: A tiny bit of beeswax saved a stuck lens ring on a Leica M3

Had this old Leica M3 come in last month with the aperture ring totally frozen, wouldn't budge at all. The owner said he tried everything, even some weird oil he got online. I was about to start a full teardown, which is a big job on those. Then I remembered my grandpa, who was a watchmaker, used beeswax on stiff threads. I had a little block of it for my tools. I rubbed the tiniest amount on a toothpick and worked it into the seam of the ring, let it sit for an hour. After that, I warmed it gently with my hands and it turned smooth as butter, no force needed. Felt like a total hack but it worked perfectly. Anyone else have a weird household item that's saved a tricky repair?

Warning: I was told to never touch the old Kodak Retina shutter springs and it cost me a job

My old boss at the repair shop in Cleveland always said, 'Those tiny springs in the Retina IIc are factory-set, you mess with them, you ruin the whole timing.' So for two years, I'd turn away any Retina with shutter capping, saying it couldn't be fixed. Then this local collector brought one in last month, and I finally decided to just try adjusting the slow-speed spring tension by a quarter turn. I mean, I had nothing to lose. The shutter is now perfect, firing at all speeds. I feel like an idiot for listening to that blanket rule for so long. Has anyone else found that some of those 'never touch' rules are just fear talking?

Rant: A customer brought in a 1968 Nikon F with a stuck shutter from a flood in New Orleans, and I had to decide between a full strip-down or a targeted fix.

I'm torn because the full teardown is the 'right' way but risks breaking brittle parts, while the targeted fix is faster but might miss hidden corrosion, so what's your rule for water-damaged classics?

Found a vintage camera shop in Portland with the weirdest 'repair' I've ever seen

I was checking out a little store on 3rd Avenue last weekend. In the back, they had a display case with a beautiful old Leica IIIf. The description card said it was 'professionally restored.' I got a closer look and saw they had glued the film advance lever back on with what looked like hot glue. The blob was huge and cloudy. I asked the clerk about it, and he just shrugged and said, 'It holds.' Has anyone else run into a 'repair' that made you just laugh out loud?

Just fixed a stuck shutter on a Pentax K1000 that had me stumped for days

A customer brought in the camera last week, saying the shutter button wouldn't press at all. I took the top plate off and saw the old lube had turned to glue, jamming the whole mechanism. After three tries with different solvents, a tiny drop of naphtha on the right lever finally got things moving. Cleaned and re-lubed it, and now it sounds perfect. What's your go-to method for freeing up old, sticky shutter assemblies?

Unpopular opinion: I think that new 'universal' sensor cleaning fluid is a bad idea

Had a guy bring in a Leica M10 last week with a sensor that looked like it had been wiped with syrup, and he swore he only used two drops of the stuff. It left a residue that took me three hours with pure alcohol to get off without damaging the microlenses. Has anyone else seen this happen with the blue bottle stuff from that big online store?

Got a Leica M3 in from a collector last week that was jammed solid with honey

Turns out his kid thought it was a fancy bear and tried to feed it. Anyone have a safe solvent for cleaning crystallized honey out of a shutter mechanism?

Showerthought: I fixed a stuck shutter on a Minolta X-700 with a drop of lighter fluid

The curtain was dragging bad, and I was out of the proper solvent, so I tried a tiny bit of Ronsonol on a swab after reading an old forum post. It actually freed it up perfectly and the camera's been fine for a month now. Is using a non-specialized fluid like this ever okay in a pinch, or is it just asking for trouble down the line?

I cleaned a 1974 Pentax K2 mirror box with a cotton swab for years. Stopped after a speck of cotton got stuck on the focus screen and cost me a $150 replacement.

Pro tip: I heard a customer at the shop say they'd rather buy a new camera than fix their old one for $150

This happened just last week. A guy brought in a nice old Nikon film camera with a shutter issue. I gave him a quote for about $150 to fix it, and he just shrugged and said he'd probably just look for a new one online. It made me think... we're not just fixing cameras, we're fighting a mindset. People see a price tag and compare it to a cheap digital point-and-shoot, not the value of keeping a piece of history working. That Nikon is built to last another 40 years if we care for it. The new thing he buys might be junk in five. How do you guys talk to customers about the real value of a repair, especially when the cost gets close to the price of a basic new model?

Unpopular opinion: My old school loupe is way better than my digital microscope for checking shutter curtains.

I was working on a Leica M3 last week and the digital scope just made the tiny hairline tear look like a huge blurry mess. Grabbed my 10x loupe and could see the exact fiber break, fixed it in twenty minutes. Anyone else find analog tools just work better for certain delicate inspections?

Back in 2010 I thought those cheap plastic lens spanner wrenches were a total joke.

I bought a generic one for about $12 to try on a stuck filter ring, fully expecting it to snap. That little tool has now gotten me out of more jams than I can count, and I still have it in my kit today. What's one piece of gear you wrote off that actually earned its keep?

My go-to fix for sticky shutter blades on old SLRs

I used to clean them with a cotton swab and lighter fluid, but that only helped for a week or two. Last month, I switched to using a tiny drop of synthetic watch oil on the pivot points with a needle applicator. The difference is huge. The shutter on a Nikon FM I worked on has been smooth for over a month now with no return issues. The lighter fluid just dried out too fast. Has anyone else found a better long-term lube for these old metal blades?

Visited a camera swap meet in Portland and saw something that made me cringe

I was at the big monthly camera meet in Portland last weekend, checking out some old lenses. I saw a guy selling a beautiful Nikon F3, but when I picked it up, the film advance lever felt gritty and stuck. I asked him about it, and he just shrugged and said 'It's fine, just needs a little oil.' That's a classic sign of dried-up grease and worn parts inside. Has anyone else run into sellers passing off gear that clearly needs a full CLA as 'just a quick fix'?

A customer brought in a vintage Polaroid and insisted I just needed to 'blow on the rollers'

This was last fall at my shop in Knoxville. He handed me his SX-70, said the film was jamming, and told me, 'My granddad always said a good puff of air fixes it, no need to take it apart.' I had to explain that old lubricant hardens into gunk, and blowing just pushes it deeper. I showed him the crusty residue on the disassembled gear train. He left a bit grumpy, but came back a week later amazed it worked. Has anyone else had to gently push back on those 'simple fix' ideas that can actually cause more harm?

Found a tiny spring inside a Canon AE-1 that wasn't in the manual

I was cleaning the mirror box on a customer's camera and this little guy fell out. Spent an hour looking at the service guide before realizing it was just a leftover from a previous repair. Anyone ever find extra parts that shouldn't be there?

Found out the original Leica M3 shutter curtain silk was actually woven in Switzerland, not Germany. Read it in a 1960s repair manual from a shop in Chicago.

Had a guy bring in a 1972 Nikon F2 with a shutter that sounded like gravel

Spent three days cleaning out old grease and replacing a single bent curtain spring. When he picked it up and heard that crisp snap again, he actually got a bit emotional. Anyone else fix something recently that felt like bringing a piece of history back to life?

Had a real wake-up call at a camera show in Chicago last month

A guy brought me a Leica M3 with a sticky shutter, said he'd 'fixed' it himself with some household oil. The whole curtain assembly was a gummy mess. I spent 6 hours cleaning it, replacing two ribbons, and had to charge him way less than the job was worth just to save the camera. Now I always ask point-blank if a camera's had any DIY 'repairs' before I even open it up. Anyone else get burned by a well-meaning but clueless owner?

Heard a guy at the parts counter say he 'fixed' a shutter by hitting it with a screwdriver handle

He was bragging about it like it was a pro tip, but that's a sure way to wreck the timing and bend a curtain pin. Has anyone else had to clean up a mess from a 'quick fix' like that?