Robin Harrison
aka Harrison Cronbi
Delighted to say I've just had three cameras repaired to satisfaction:
Leica M2 - RF was way, way out. Peter @ CRR realigned the rangefinder prisms.
Hexar RF - RF was way, way out. Kamera Service in the Netherlands was able to fix it.
Bronica RF645 - Camera was electronically dead, and the transport mechanism suspect. Kamera Service have been able to fix both issues, resurrecting the Bronica.
That's one camera that's 50 years old, and two cameras that have long been discontinued that I was able to (reasonably) economically fix. It's never nice when a camera goes wrong, but forking out hard earned cash is less painful than throwing the camera in the bin.
BUT...I worry. My guess is the select number of individuals in the world that can perform these operations is tiny, especially for non-Leica rangefinders. And it ain't getting any bigger. My guess is these guys either worked at a camera manufacturer at one time, or worked through the period when these cameras were introduced and spare parts available. Is there enough demand for this repair work for them to consider apprenticing? I know the two main guys in the UK (Peter @ CRR and Malcolm Taylor) are essentially one-man operations, and I assume (do excuse me if I'm wrong) that they have at least 20, maybe 30 years on me, and I expect them to retire long before I wish to stop shooting film. Would it be possible for someone born today to end up a camera repairman? Or will we soon see the last generation of this venerable profession?
Perhaps we'll just have to get increasingly used to a world in which certain camera are unrepairable. Prices will initially take a drop, but then as the cameras slowly die and become rarer, prices for working copies will rise again.
Leica M2 - RF was way, way out. Peter @ CRR realigned the rangefinder prisms.
Hexar RF - RF was way, way out. Kamera Service in the Netherlands was able to fix it.
Bronica RF645 - Camera was electronically dead, and the transport mechanism suspect. Kamera Service have been able to fix both issues, resurrecting the Bronica.
That's one camera that's 50 years old, and two cameras that have long been discontinued that I was able to (reasonably) economically fix. It's never nice when a camera goes wrong, but forking out hard earned cash is less painful than throwing the camera in the bin.
BUT...I worry. My guess is the select number of individuals in the world that can perform these operations is tiny, especially for non-Leica rangefinders. And it ain't getting any bigger. My guess is these guys either worked at a camera manufacturer at one time, or worked through the period when these cameras were introduced and spare parts available. Is there enough demand for this repair work for them to consider apprenticing? I know the two main guys in the UK (Peter @ CRR and Malcolm Taylor) are essentially one-man operations, and I assume (do excuse me if I'm wrong) that they have at least 20, maybe 30 years on me, and I expect them to retire long before I wish to stop shooting film. Would it be possible for someone born today to end up a camera repairman? Or will we soon see the last generation of this venerable profession?
Perhaps we'll just have to get increasingly used to a world in which certain camera are unrepairable. Prices will initially take a drop, but then as the cameras slowly die and become rarer, prices for working copies will rise again.
