Looking to start in Repairs

christian.rudman

christian.rudman

digital to analog convert
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May 16, 2011
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I am currently working a ton dealing with camera equipment and sales and repairs, so there is a deluge of information and desires that flood my retinas every day.

I love photography and really enjoy trying to innovate new ways of taking photos, dealing with photos, etc. It's just a fun realm to play around with everything it has to offer.

I have been a tinkerer since birth, and love taking apart things to figure out how they work and put them back together again. So naturally, with all these avenues of love rolling into one road, I see myself diving into camera repair a bit.

I'm well aware it's more complicated than I think, just like computer builds were and my cars that I work on. I want to learn in my off time and incorporate my love for photography into something tangible I work around with my hands.

So I have the desire obviously to start "tinkering" and do not have the want to take on Shelley Krauter or the like, I just want some hobby time in my off time. The question that I am posing really is, of all the Leica repair folks on here, all the tinkerers, I would imagine that there are some good books you can refer me to, maybe some web resources, whatever. I've heard that with the military's usage of Leica cameras over the years they have compiled some great resources for Leica repair and by now should be public domain. I'm just on the hunt for info right now, the actual work will come after some research.

What I am really looking for from this thread is this:
I am not expecting answers per-se, but I am hoping for some good advice on where to start.

Thanks in advance for anything helpful that you wonderful folks can give me.

Cheers!
 
Buy cameras, in good shape and otherwise.

Buy repair manuals (preferably in good shape).

Start the tinkering with cameras with the aid of the manuals.

Learn to do it with your eyes closed. :)

Best of luck!
 
Christian,

Yes...what SolaresLarrave said. :)

Then make your mistakes on your own gear before you take on customer gear.
 
Like I said earlier Biogon, I'm not trying to start a camera repair business and I have no desire for customers. This all me and a learning experience with things that I love.

Thanks for your thoughful insight however.

SolaresLarrave-

Appreciate it, that was kind of the idea I was after. Plan on spending a lot of time and some money breaking cameras before I ever figure out how to fix them. Obviously I am going to be shopping around in craigslist, ebay, garage sales, etc. Any good places short of KEH on where to get fixer-uppers?
 
Hit your local library and see if they have anything by Thomas Tomosy. I'm not a huge fan of his writing but there just isn't a whole lot else that's easy to find.

Google Books displays a good overview of his books, too.
 
I was actually looking at Tomosy's books last night, but it appears as though he tends to glaze over individual repairs rather than be very thorough like one needs to be with intricate camera repairs.

And sorry for calling you Biogon digitalintrigue, I just saw the big lettering in you image and decided that was your name. :)

Yeah, Minty is also prevalent.
 
You could start with former soviet ltm or contax replica cameras and lenses.
They are cheap, plentiful and usually need some attention.
Manuals may be impossible, but they could similar enough to LTM bodies.
 
Start with Compur shutters and progress to Russian Leica copies. Learn to work in a methodical manner, take plenty of digital shots for reference and don't start something new until you have completed the task in hand. Do not improvise with tools, if you can't
get the right tool you'll finish with a nasty hash.

Best of luck,

normclarke.
 
Lots of good links on repairs of a Former Soviet Union lens and camera in this recent thread.

From posts here I have learned that the FSU cameras were tinkered into specs, while the Leicas, Contaxes and Rolleiflexes were produced to such technical specifics that they actually might be easier to work on once you know the drill. Their tight tolerances allow craftsmen to get cameras into specs by using identical procedures on similar repairs, or at least to get close to specs that way and then doing the final precise adjustment.

Until you are willing to risk a Leica, I think getting to know the mechanisms of a Barnack camera while repairing FSU cameras is a good approach. Maizenbergs book (follow that thread link) is a great help with that.

Good luck, enjoy! Consider becoming a full-blown repairman in due time, there's lots of work for good repairmen and good income from it!
 
Thanks for all the great help folks!

This is why I figured I should ask around this forum... I'll be taking all this to heart and really working on finding my own avenue for this venture, but the FSU/Barnack approach seems like the right way for me. And yes digitalintrigue, I'm already looking into that today, plan on asking Jerry for a few ideas on where to start as well. :)
 
Buy some basic tools, a Lens Spanner, Rubber mats, precision screwdrivers. I like the Wiha brand screwdrivers the best. Look on Ebay for cheap lots of cameras and lenses, the cheaper the better. Start practicing on the broken ones.

White lithium grease, 99% Isopropyl alchohol, Ronsonol (lighter fluid), and a cheap ultrasonic cleaner get a workout at my house.
 
Thanks Brian!

I actually was really considering diving into Canon rangefinders first, figuring that was a less costly way to go about this, I'll definitely be reviewing your repair walkthroughs a bit more. Appreciate the solid advice.
 
If you haven't found them yet on your own, also check out Rick Oleson and Jay Javier (zorkikat) on the web. Jay in particular is quite open to improvised solutions, simply because living in the Philippines, sometimes he has no other choice.

There's a vast difference between an improvised but well-fitting tool, and using something unsuitable that will damage the camera.
 
I'll be looking them up later tonight, thanks! I prefer a little DIY even in the tools, but I do understand the limits of those improvisations too. I'm assuming zorkikat is his moniker on here right?

On a nice note, I talked to my boss how I was curious about starting on some repairs myself and we chatted for a while about resources. He apparently has some old army Leica manuals he is willing to let me borrow, along with some other repair books. On top of that, apparently the store is looking for a M3 shutter in working/salvageable condition for a customer's repair. (The guy biffed the shutter trying to fix it himself supposedly) He offered to pay for an M3 as long as there was that part to pull out, and he would walk me through the repair. I told him that all sounded like exactly what I wanted and needed, so I'm on the hunt for said Leica. I'm kinda sad eBay does not have more for repair/parts cameras up, I guess I'll be trolling the classifieds and KEH for a minute. It should be fun to work this all out though!

I'm excited about where this little desire is taking me! Thanks for all the help friends, hoping to be joining the ranks of techies on here soon. :)
 
Go to a Goodwill store and buy all the $0.75 to $2.00 cameras you can. Most of them will have been dropped, and suffered some displacement of panels, levers, and switches. Batteries will have been left in from twenty years ago. People will have tried to work the controls, and messed things up. If you can bring some of those babies back to life, then it's time to step up to the next level. And sometimes you can find something really nice there.

PF
 
I've ventured into FSUs some, but not too far. Just a little cleaning, lubing, pilfering, adjusting, re-adjusting. You'll have fun. Go for it. You'll discover a whole new level of appreciation for these old machines and the men & women who engineered and built them.

Things you'll need:
(1) Jeweler's glasses
(2) Job's patience
 
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