c/camera-repairers

Just counted my collection of stripped M2 screws from old camera plates

I hit 247. It's a weird milestone, but it means I've opened that many cameras with stuck or stripped base plates. The worst was a Pentax K1000 from a flea market, the screws were basically welded in. Anyone else have a weird pile of parts that tells a story?

Rant: A client in Austin insisted I just 'blow on the sensor' to fix his DSLR.

He said his buddy told him it works every time, but that's a great way to get oil spots and make it worse. What's the most misguided fix you've ever heard a customer suggest?

I always thought those tiny screws in old lenses were just a pain, but I found out they have a real purpose

I was fixing a 1970s Pentax lens from a flea market find, grumbling about the three tiny screws holding the aperture ring. I figured they were just there to make my life hard. Then I dug into an old repair manual I bought online for five bucks, and it said those screws are actually set to a specific torque to keep the ring's click stops feeling just right. Too tight and the ring feels stiff, too loose and it gets sloppy. I tested it on a junker lens, backing them off a quarter turn each, and sure enough, the clicks went totally soft. It's a small detail, but it shows they really thought about the user feel back then. Has anyone else found a weird little design choice that actually makes sense once you know why it's there?

My uncle said to always replace the whole shutter assembly, but I fixed a single blade for $3

He told me that last year when I had a Canon AE-1 with a stuck blade. He said, 'You'll waste hours and ruin the camera.' I took it apart anyway and found just one bent blade. I used a tiny pair of needle nose pliers to straighten it, and it's worked fine for six months now. Has anyone else had luck with a small fix instead of a full swap?

Had a real 'oh no' moment with a Canon AE-1's shutter curtain in the shop yesterday

The curtain was sticking halfway, and I realized the old foam light seal had turned to goo and was gumming it up. What's your go-to solvent for cleaning that sticky mess without hurting the curtain material?

TIL a lot of folks are using the wrong grease on old film advance gears

I keep seeing people use standard white lithium grease on the advance gears of 35mm SLRs like the Canon AE-1. That stuff is too thick and gums up after a year. You need a light synthetic grease, like Molykote EM-30L. I fixed three cameras last month that just needed a full clean and re-grease because the old stuff turned to glue. It's a small thing, but it makes the advance feel smooth and stops future problems. What's your go-to grease for clockwork parts?

Warning: I was told my lens cleaning method was too rough

A customer brought back a 50mm f/1.8 last week saying the coating looked hazy. I always used a microfiber cloth and a bit of lens cleaner, same as everyone. He said, 'You're pushing too hard, it's like you're polishing a car.' I looked closer and he was right, I was leaving micro-scratches. Now I use a rocket blower first, then a single drop of fluid on a fresh cloth, and just let the weight of my finger do the work. It adds maybe 30 seconds to the job but the results are way better. Anyone else get called out on a basic habit they had to fix?

Spent $400 on a specialized vacuum tweezers set for sensor cleaning. Some guys say it's overkill and canned air is fine, others swear by the investment. What's your take?

Watching a 1980s Nikon F3 shutter curtain after a month of sitting in a dry box

The curtain's bounce and timing were completely off compared to the day it came in, all from the foam light seal degrading just a bit more. Has anyone else seen a camera's condition shift that much from simple storage?

Hot take: I think the push for full sensor cleaning on every repair is a waste of time. Had a Nikon D850 come in last month with a stuck shutter, cleaned the shutter assembly, tested it, and sent it back. Client called saying there was a dust spot in their photos. They never asked for a sensor clean, so why is that suddenly my problem?

Got a 1962 Pentax Spotmatic back from the dead after three months of head scratching

This thing came in with a shutter that would only fire at 1/500, no other speeds worked at all. I spent weeks checking the usual stuff, the slow speed escapement, the gear train, you name it. The real change happened when I finally got my hands on a copy of the original service manual, a real paper one from the 60s. It had a tiny note about a specific pivot post on the speed selector cam that can seize up with old grease. Sure enough, after a careful clean and a tiny drop of Nye Synthetic on that one post, the whole timing assembly started moving smoothly. Now it clicks through all its speeds like it's brand new. It's crazy how one little stuck part can stop the whole show. Has anyone else run into that specific pivot post issue on the older M42 bodies?

PSA: The antique mall in Dayton had a box of 'for parts' cameras with stripped screws on every single one.

I spent an hour looking and every body plate was mangled by someone using the wrong driver. Has anyone found a good source for vintage replacement screws that aren't junk?

Why does nobody talk about the old Kodak Retina shutter springs?

I was fixing a Retina IIc from 1955 last week, and the main shutter spring just snapped when I was adjusting the tension. In my experience, those old springs get brittle and you can't find a direct replacement anymore. What's your go-to source for vintage parts like that, or do you just try to salvage from another camera?

I finally had to choose between fixing a shutter or replacing the whole curtain assembly

A customer brought in an old Nikon F3 with a sticky shutter, and I saw the curtain ribbons were fraying. I could either try a full curtain replacement, which is a big job, or just clean and adjust the mechanism, which is faster. I picked the full replacement, and it took me about four hours to get the new curtains seated right. Has anyone else found a good trick for aligning those tiny ribbon ends without going crazy?

Found out the original Canon AE-1 shutter was tested with a cigarette

Honestly, I was deep in a repair forum rabbit hole yesterday and stumbled on this wild fact. A guy posted a scanned page from an old Canon service manual, and it straight up said to test the AE-1's vertical travel shutter timing using a burning cigarette. You'd hold it behind the curtain and watch the smoke trail in a strobe light to check for even travel. I found it on some niche photography history site while looking up a sticky curtain issue on a 1982 model I'm fixing. Tbh, it blew my mind that was ever a standard procedure. Can you imagine doing that in a shop today? Has anyone here actually seen that manual or used that method back in the day?

Finally gave up on my old hot air station for sensor cleaning

Honestly, I was using a cheap $40 station from Harbor Freight for years to warm up sensor adhesive. Tried it on a Canon 5D Mark III last month and the temp was so uneven it left a residue ring. Switched to a Hakko FX-888D and the exact 80 degree control fixed it in one pass. Anyone else find a specific tool that solved a stubborn cleaning issue?

Appreciation post: Fixed a 1972 Nikon F2 that had me stuck for a month

The shutter was dragging at 1/500th, and I just couldn't find the source of the friction. This week, I finally noticed a tiny bit of old, hardened grease on the edge of the second curtain gear train that I'd missed. Cleaned it off with a drop of naphtha on a cotton swab, and it's running smooth now. It was just one of those jobs where you look at the same thing ten times before you see it. Anyone else have a camera that hid its problem in plain sight like that?

A trick for unsticking old aperture blades seemed too simple to work

I was working on a Pentax Spotmatic with oil on the blades and read about using a tiny drop of lighter fluid on a cotton swab. I was sure it would damage the blades, but after letting it sit for five minutes, they moved freely again. Has anyone else had luck with this method on other models?

Watch out for the new 'self-healing' rubberized lens gaskets

I had a Nikon F3 come in about three months ago with a sticky, swollen light seal. I replaced it with a standard foam kit. The same camera came back yesterday, and the new seals had completely turned to a black goo. The only difference was the kit I used this time had those new 'flexible polymer' gaskets. Over a single summer, the heat in my shop (it gets to about 85 degrees) basically melted them. Has anyone else had these new materials fail this fast?

Spent a full day trying to fix a shutter drag on an old Nikon F3

I was sure the issue was in the curtain tension, so I had the whole thing apart on my bench in Tulsa. After about six hours of tweaking and testing, nothing was working right. My buddy Mike stopped by, watched me for five minutes, and just said, 'You check the mirror damper foam?' I hadn't even thought about it. That old foam had turned to sticky goo and was slowing everything down. I felt like such an idiot for missing something so basic while I was deep in the weeds. A two dollar piece of foam and ten minutes of cleaning later, it ran like new. How many other simple fixes have I overcomplicated because I jumped to the hardest answer first?

My mentor in Austin swore by using a 2mm hex key for every shutter tension adjustment, but I've found a 1.5mm gives me more control.

He trained me on that three years ago, but after a tricky repair on a Nikon FM2 last Tuesday, I'm convinced the smaller tool is better for fine work. Which size do you all prefer for those delicate adjustments?

Working on a Leica M3 in my garage, I accidentally dropped the tiny shutter tension spring into a pile of sawdust.

After panicking for a solid minute, I used a rare earth magnet wrapped in a plastic bag to fish it out without scratching it, so has anyone else pulled off a similar save with tiny parts?

Fixing a film advance lever reminded me of my brother's stubbornness.

A little oil and patience works for both.

That choice between keeping it original or making it work on an old camera

Tbh, back in the film days, a customer brought a classic SLR with a sticky advance lever. Honestly, I found a workaround that got it running but changed a small internal piece. Ngl, was it wrong to tweak the design just to save the repair?

Tried using a fridge magnet to find loose screws, saved my sanity

I started keeping a strong magnet on my bench to catch tiny screws before they vanish. Last week, it pulled a spring from inside a lens I was sure was lost forever. Now I won't work without it.