amateriat
We're all light!
It's been a while since I stepped foot into a camera repair shop.
Last time something needed a fix, it was one of my Hexar RFs, the only glitch suffered between the two since I purchased them new (if I remember, it was one of those "Error 10" things that stopped it in it's tracks). But in that case, since Konica was across the river, as opposed to a a subway-hop away, I just boxed it up (actually, I boxed both bodies up...nothing was wrong with the other one, but if I was going to this trouble, I decided to have both their VF/RF adjusted at the same time, for good measure, you might say 🙂) and rode to the UPS Store to be shipped.
But I hadn't actually been in a repair facility in something like a dog's age. Some of those visits were memorable: the marathon-session of visits to Pentax's Long Island service center in 1982 when both my then-new Pentax LX bodies repeatedly packed it in for no apparent reason (which eventually was pinpointed as an engineering defect: my first experience of the "B-side" of being an early adopter); one of only three visits I ever made to The House That Marty Built (Professional Camera repair, gone but not forgotten), several years earlier, to pinpoint a bizarre geartrain noise in my then-new Canon A-1 (I went to Marty for a second opinion on this one: a visit to Canon's service facility on the East Side–remember when all these guys could afford to have Manhattan facilities?–resulted in an explanation somewhat to the effect of the current phrase "it's not a bug, it's a feature." Anybody else noticing a pattern here?); and a visit to Chrysler Camera to sort out a small but weird problem with a then-new Minolta Maxxum 9000 (and a throng of RFf members raise hands in unison and shout "Wait, wait...don't tell us!"...).
In another thread, I mentioned my having gotten, via the 'Bay, a very clean Sigma 21-35mm zoom in Olympus OM mount, which made me seriously happy until I discovered (first pointed out to me by a fellow RFf'er, and corroborated by the two test rolls I ran through a day later) that the non-removable lens hood was attached the wrong way, causing crazy-bad vignetting. Oy...need fix real bad. But where?
I then remembered Nippon Camera Repair, on Broadway near West 21st Street. A few people here have had good luck with them. So had I, a long, long time ago (they fixed an Olympus XA for me). I gave them a call, explained the issue, and they told me to come in.
Just before hading out the door with the lens, I remembered the Konica Auto S3 with the missing meter needle and slightly-loose lens mount (both from being dropped), remembered by procrastination in getting it fixed, and decided to bit the bullet and bring it in too, even though I worried about the final tab for all this.
It took a few weeks, but I found out both the camera and lens were ready. (Actually the lens had been ready about a week ago, but I was waiting until the camera had been fixed before swinging by). When they had given me the repair estimate for the Konica, they mentioned that, for a bit more money, they could also modify it to use a silver-oxide battery instead of the bad ol' mercury cell. Naturally I said "hell yes!".
Then came the shocker: the total for all this was a tad under $145. By my lights, that is dirt cheap. Besides the fact that the lend-hood "correction" was more complicated than they had expected, the had essentially given the Konica a CLA (Since they had to take the thing apart, anyway), and the difference showed: not only was the meter needle back in action, the RF, which was suffering minor vertical alignment issues, was now not only perfectly aligned, but brighter and with greater contrast. Also, the film-wind mechanism felt a bit smoother and quieter.
Off the D.L.: Auto S3 and Sigma zoom (OM2 wasn't an issue).
I asked about bringing in my Ricoh GR-1, now the remaining camera on my disabled list. They said to bring it in, and the could send it out to CRIS out in Arizona. Might finally do this next week, though I don't expect to come off as cheaply as I did this time.
So, a hearty three cheers to Nippon Camera. So close, and no sticker-shock.
- Barrett
Last time something needed a fix, it was one of my Hexar RFs, the only glitch suffered between the two since I purchased them new (if I remember, it was one of those "Error 10" things that stopped it in it's tracks). But in that case, since Konica was across the river, as opposed to a a subway-hop away, I just boxed it up (actually, I boxed both bodies up...nothing was wrong with the other one, but if I was going to this trouble, I decided to have both their VF/RF adjusted at the same time, for good measure, you might say 🙂) and rode to the UPS Store to be shipped.
But I hadn't actually been in a repair facility in something like a dog's age. Some of those visits were memorable: the marathon-session of visits to Pentax's Long Island service center in 1982 when both my then-new Pentax LX bodies repeatedly packed it in for no apparent reason (which eventually was pinpointed as an engineering defect: my first experience of the "B-side" of being an early adopter); one of only three visits I ever made to The House That Marty Built (Professional Camera repair, gone but not forgotten), several years earlier, to pinpoint a bizarre geartrain noise in my then-new Canon A-1 (I went to Marty for a second opinion on this one: a visit to Canon's service facility on the East Side–remember when all these guys could afford to have Manhattan facilities?–resulted in an explanation somewhat to the effect of the current phrase "it's not a bug, it's a feature." Anybody else noticing a pattern here?); and a visit to Chrysler Camera to sort out a small but weird problem with a then-new Minolta Maxxum 9000 (and a throng of RFf members raise hands in unison and shout "Wait, wait...don't tell us!"...).
In another thread, I mentioned my having gotten, via the 'Bay, a very clean Sigma 21-35mm zoom in Olympus OM mount, which made me seriously happy until I discovered (first pointed out to me by a fellow RFf'er, and corroborated by the two test rolls I ran through a day later) that the non-removable lens hood was attached the wrong way, causing crazy-bad vignetting. Oy...need fix real bad. But where?
I then remembered Nippon Camera Repair, on Broadway near West 21st Street. A few people here have had good luck with them. So had I, a long, long time ago (they fixed an Olympus XA for me). I gave them a call, explained the issue, and they told me to come in.
Just before hading out the door with the lens, I remembered the Konica Auto S3 with the missing meter needle and slightly-loose lens mount (both from being dropped), remembered by procrastination in getting it fixed, and decided to bit the bullet and bring it in too, even though I worried about the final tab for all this.
It took a few weeks, but I found out both the camera and lens were ready. (Actually the lens had been ready about a week ago, but I was waiting until the camera had been fixed before swinging by). When they had given me the repair estimate for the Konica, they mentioned that, for a bit more money, they could also modify it to use a silver-oxide battery instead of the bad ol' mercury cell. Naturally I said "hell yes!".
Then came the shocker: the total for all this was a tad under $145. By my lights, that is dirt cheap. Besides the fact that the lend-hood "correction" was more complicated than they had expected, the had essentially given the Konica a CLA (Since they had to take the thing apart, anyway), and the difference showed: not only was the meter needle back in action, the RF, which was suffering minor vertical alignment issues, was now not only perfectly aligned, but brighter and with greater contrast. Also, the film-wind mechanism felt a bit smoother and quieter.
Off the D.L.: Auto S3 and Sigma zoom (OM2 wasn't an issue).
I asked about bringing in my Ricoh GR-1, now the remaining camera on my disabled list. They said to bring it in, and the could send it out to CRIS out in Arizona. Might finally do this next week, though I don't expect to come off as cheaply as I did this time.
So, a hearty three cheers to Nippon Camera. So close, and no sticker-shock.
- Barrett
