Celebrating camera repair experts

[dexdog]

I was rather dismayed about a recent thread questioning the ability of a well-known technician to repair a camera. I get it that everyone makes mistakes from time to time, even expert camera techs, but owning up to one's mistakes is the honorable path and all good camera repair folks do this. I have sent a number of cameras and lenses to various repair folks over the years including Henry Scherer, Ken Ruth/Photography on Bald Mountian,Youxin Ye, Don Goldberg and Procamera in Charlottesburg VA. I have always been thrilled to get the fixed items back in excellent working order. In the one instance I encountered where a repaired camera did not work properly, the tech remedied the problem under warranty and got it back to me within a month. I have attached some pics illustrating my point for one particular camera tech/magician, but this is only one of many examples that I have accumulated over the past 20 years. I think that repair of old cameras is a dying art unfortunately and that we should appreciate the folks that still take the time to fix our old gear. I can do simple camera and lens maintenance, repairs and cleaning, but need the real experts to resurrect my rare or really old gear. This is my Nicca 3L

Inside of said camera.
I keep this email from Ken Ruth curled up in the Nicca where the take-up is located.

 

[dexdog]

Ken fixed the shutter drag on this uncommon old camera and replaced the spring that allowed the rewind knob to pop up when twisted the correct direction. His expertise facilitated the joy I got from running some film through this old beauty. Also, I would be interested in any info that folks may have about Frederick Foxall, Ltd in Manchester (England, probably)

 

[farlymac]

I've dabbled enough in camera repair to know when to leave something to the experts because I don't have anyone to teach me the fine points of adjusting certain mechanisms. One gets good by repeated work on similar equipment, then they can branch out to other gear using the techniques they have learned. It also helps to have access to the manufacturers manuals, and a good supply of spare parts.

PF

 

[dexdog]

I have been able to fix slow-speed issues with my Contax IIa/IIIa cameras due to old internet post by Rick Oleson and shutter lubrication issues through reprints of various Canon repair manuals for Series IV, V and VII series found on eBay. I can usually deal with common lens issues like cleaning crud off of lens elements, but need lotsa help on deeper dives.

 

[TenEleven]

What an odd coincidence, I recently started to watch YouTube videos of "RetinaRescue"s Chris Sherlock. The man has the patience of a saint, narrates everything thoroughly and the videos as a result are immensely instructive and also very entertaining and relaxing to watch.

Also when he (very rarely) gets flustered you know that someone send him a true turd of a camera. (Like in the case of a Japanese sellers early Retina)

https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisSherlock/videos

While I have not yet send him a Retina (I fully intend to do so this year, though!) I have purveyed his abundant knowledge and resources, and he always is very courteous in his communications.

 

[splitimageview]

Quality techs are rare, and getting moreso. That's why I never pressure them to get something done quickly. Quality takes time. DAG, Ye, Lazzari, ProCamera, Alan Starkie, Sover Wong, Peter Robinson ( monopix here) have all done superb work for me over the years, from the highly intensive, to the simple tasks. They need to be treasured.

[ Envious of the lens on that Nicca. And the Nicca, too. 🙂 ]

 

[johnf04]

There is a group of camera repair professionals promoting the learning of camera repair, for those who are interested. There is a website

https://learncamerarepair.com/

and also a Facebook group.

 

[rfaspen]

I have successfully repaired a number of my cameras....all dumb luck. An equal number have had to go to a pro. Mostly Don, but a couple to YYe. Both are great. Don is amazing.

I have only had one repair shop destroy my camera....oddly it is a well regarded shop in NW Oregon. I cringe when I see gear for sale proudly described as recently serviced by David shop......no thanks.

 

[oldwino]

Everybody does the best they can. And nobody is infallible. Heck, even Leica has the reputation of "almost always getting it right" when it comes to repairs.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

https://learncamerarepair.com/productlist.php?category=8

Just think- decades ago this was such a popular profession that they had a magazine and businesses that specialized in tools and repair parts.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Ken Ruth! Yes! There was a great guy. Passionate about photography and could manufacture parts too.
When I got my Brooks Veriwide it had some issues..so he just told me how to fix it and most importantly the preparation etc..and I did it.
Sorry he retired. But the last time I sent in my Brooks for a CLA..he forgot to lube the self timer..
So even the greatest..
..age and time catches up..

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

There is a group of camera repair professionals promoting the learning of camera repair, for those who are interested. There is a website

https://learncamerarepair.com/

and also a Facebook group.

The Learn Camera Repair group on Facebook was started by my friend Gene Pate. Gene has been a professional camera repair tech longer than I have been alive; he's about my dad's age. I have known him since I was14 when I went into his camera repair shop in Fort Wayne to get something fixed. He's retired now, and noted that there is really nowhere for people to learn camera repair except through trial and error. Back in the 70s, he graduated from the now-closed National Camera Repair School, which operated as both a correspondence school and had in-person classes. He got permission from the owner of the copyrights to the National Camera course texts to publish them on our website so that people can learn to repair cameras the correct way, using the materials from a good formal education program in camera repair.

I am the one who built the Learn Camera Repair website for Gene.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The Learn Camera Repair is a real resource for anyone looking to repair their camera.

Thanks to Chris and Gene for that.

In the DC area, we had "Strauss Photo-Technical Service", SPTS stickers in my cameras including my Minolta Hi-Matic 9.
We also had Mora Camera for Nikon- he took care of National Geographic's cameras. He liked mine better, told me he liked working on them because they were in such good condition.

 

[Muggins]

Hvaing spent most of this weekend trying to get the diaphragm blades back into a Prontor-S, only to find that I can't get the fornicating thing to release the shutter (luckily a line to Hans Kerensky has given me some help), I will absslutely second the sentiment. The really annnoying thing is that it wouldn't have needed to come apart again if I hadn't done something dumb (story of my life). And Chris Sherlock has recently helped me get a Retina right - top bloke.

Bravo on the web work, Chris. Crawford - not Sherlock - just realised the potential for confusion there.

 

[farlymac]

I just started looking at the LCR site the other day when it came up in a search for info on the Mamiya M645. Wish I had found it before my wrist started to give out on me, as I could have saved some money on the Leica IIIf repair I had sent out. Nice work on the site, Chris.

PF

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Russ Pinchbeck Kiev Survival Site is relegated to the Wayback Machine, taken down about a year ago. I use that site a lot, cleaned the viewfinders of a Kiev III, Contax II, and fixed a IIIa. Went for instructions for the Kiev/Contax mount J-12 and J-9- to find it gone. Found links to the Wayback Machine, and downloaded the pages I needed.

It's just not the professionals disappearing, but some of the online repair tutorials as well. Download them while they are still around.\

https://web.archive.org/web/20190916071623/http://www3.telus.net/public/rpnchbck/index.html

 

[dexdog]

I occasionally see an article with the statement that what appears on the internet is forever. Clearly not true, a lot of the material on the Kiev site dates to 2005 or thereabouts. Seventeen years is not that long ago, and this stuff has already disappeared. Thanks for posting.

 

[dexdog]

Cruising through the site, saw the article about replacing Kiev shutter ribbons. I did this once on a Contax III, it was a complete PITA and fun at the same time. I do not want to discourage anyone, but I found that getting the proper tension was difficult. I got the shutter running, but the 1/500 and higher speeds are not accurate.

 

[ranger9]

Everybody does the best they can. And nobody is infallible. Heck, even Leica has the reputation of "almost always getting it right" when it comes to repairs.

And back when their US service was in Rockleigh, NJ, their reputation wasn't even that good. I remember sending my CL there and having it come back with an arc-shaped gouge around the shutter ring where someone had gotten careless with a ring wrench. They filled the gouge with flat-black paint and called it good. After that experience several Leica owners told me that those in the know sent their Leicas to well-regarded independents whenever possible, rather than entrusting them to "factory service," although I'm sure many people will chime in about having Leicas fixed in Rockleigh with no problems.

 

[ZivcoPhoto]

Brian, I believe at one point SPTS was a Nikon dealer also. In September1968 I bought a brand new 105mm F2.5 from them for my Nikon F, at their store in Wash DC.

I traded in a new black Nikkormat FTN which I bought in Germany from a Dutch importer (used by US military people) as the 105mm lens was out of stock from them.