Opened my 500th camera this year and it was a Pentax K1000 from 1980

I keep a simple tally on my shop wall, and hitting that number made me realize how many film bodies are still in daily use. The shutter was stuck, but a basic clean and lube had it firing like new in about an hour. Are you guys seeing more old mechanical cameras come across your benches too, or is it just my area?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherwilliams1mo ago

That's a surprising number of mechanical repairs. My experience has been the exact opposite. I've seen a real drop in people bringing in those old all metal cameras over the last few years. Most of what comes into my shop now is for electronic point and shoots from the 90s, the ones with the circuit boards that are failing for good. The K1000 is a tank, but I worry the parts and knowledge to fix them are drying up. The trend seems to be moving toward cameras that are harder to repair, not easier.

seanh911mo ago

Yeah the parts drying up is the real killer. Honestly I just hoard dead K1000s for spares now, it's the only way to keep the good ones running.

jadeg811d ago

Actually @christopherwilliams, that shift you're seeing might depend on your location. In my area, the old metal bodies are still coming in pretty steady from folks who want that hands-on feel. The electronic ones are definitely a dead end when the board goes, you're right about that. It just seems like the repair scene is splitting into two groups now. You have the simple mechanical stuff that hobbyists can keep alive, and the complex electronics that are basically trash once they fail.