Sometimes you just have to shake your head...

C

CharlesDAMorgan

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I bought a camera 3 days ago online from a dealer from whom I have bought over £400 in addition to this in close to a month.

I opened a brand new set of Duracell SR44s to give it power, and it seemed to work fine, so I put in a test roll of Foma so I could take some photos with it to check the meter. By the following morning, it was as dead as a dodo. Another set of SR44s from another camera was tried, no dice.

So I returned it (paying the return postage as I you have to). By law, dealers are required to give 2 weeks from arrival for internet purchasers to decide to keep the goods and you can return it for any reason (or indeed, none).

First I got from the dealer - were the batteries faulty? (brand new Duracell's that did indeed light it up).

Then I got we've tested it and it's all fine. Do I want it back? No I reply - I do not want a camera that in my hands exhibits electrical issues.

Then I got we tried it over night and it's all fine - do I want it back? If not he'll give me a refund and get it back on sale asap

Now, all of this is monumentally silly, but I'll let you guess the rough value of the camera. (By this stage I've spent £11 on having it delivered and returning it - and adding in the batteries, about £14.)

I'm not going to name the dealer!
 
I am guessing this camera is 30 years old or more. This is par for the course. I have been down this circus maybe a dozen times. These are old cameras. Electronics are by definition flakey. We know it, now you know it.
 
I've had numerous issues before, it's more the dealer approach to something I could easily have returned with no reason given.

The camera is a £35 Nikon EM, so not worth having an argument with your customer about!

Which, intriguingly, is still continuing!
 
Quirky electronic problems can drive me nuts. (Admittedly a short trip.)
Had those type of issues with a EM10 that would operate fine for 2-3 days and then severely under expose the first frame every time it was turned on, only for the problem to disappear, then reappear days later.
Fortunately KEH didn’t bat an eye and replaced the camera with another EM10.

Even though they can certainly fail, fully mechanical cameras are still my solid preference when using film.
 
Sorry you're having a problem like this. It's always a pain.

By and large, MOST of the electronically timed shutter old film cameras I've purchased over the past twenty years have worked perfectly, while MOST of the mechanically timed shutter old film cameras have required a service. So I disagree with the notion of "Electonics are by definition flakey." Various cameras with electronic components have proven flakey, for sure, but it's been a rather restricted subset in my experience. The Nikon EM is one of them ... I had two of them flake out on my 30 years ago for no reason whatever. The EM was Nikon's first real foray into low-end, all electronic, consumer cameras ... I think that has a lot to do with it. I'd stick with the FM/FE series cameras from that era: much better built.

Just to try to end this on a positive note: I recently ordered a Hasselblad V-system 32E extension tube from a vendor I've dealt with in the past. When it arrived, it looked beautiful but I was busy and I set it aside to test and use later. A week went by in an eye blink, and I pulled it out to use it. Hmm. Could not put a lens on it. Could not fit another extension tube on it. Hmm. Every lens or extension tube jammed within a few degrees of being turned. I didn't see anything stuck in the flanges ... An hour's time inspecting it with an 8x loupe and finally saw the problem: one flange was bent down by 0.2mm. I sent a note back to the vendor explaining the problem, and apologizing that I'd taken so long to check the tube out. I received a note back within six hours: "Sorry to hear that you've had a problem with your purchase. We are issuing a 100% credit back to you. Don't worry about returning the item: if it is damaged it is not worth the cost of repair or wasting the cost of returning it."

I'll do business with that vendor again. :)

G
 
Not cameras, but motels. I booked, pre-Wuhan, $750 in motels for the spring and summer. It has been a pain getting a credit, it finally was finalized last week. But like the OP I expended a lot of effort to receive my credits.
 
Good dealers are hard to find. Sadly its not a new phenomenon. I ordered a 50mm f1.8 Ais pancake Nikkor from one of the biggest dealers years ago, described as Mint. Its a sad day when so called Mint items look like they have been cleaned with scotchbrite. No names no packdrill, but lets just say not too many dealers are spelt with a double F.
 
I've had similar experiences but found that after a few days the things worked perfectly. I wonder if the condensers needed reforming and were reforming whilst I was cursing the dealers.

It can be worse, Leica charged £45 to tell me what was wrong and what would be best done in addition whilst they had it...

But, OTOH, I can understand Leica charging for their time checking it thoroughly.

Regards, David
 
I think the thrust of my piece is not that the problem was intermittent or soluble (my experience with elderly Nikon cameras is once you have a drain it doesn't solve itself) but that the dealer, knowing full well he'd have to refund, just decided to have an entirely unnecessary argument - I was not having it back thanks!

He even sent an email today with the refund stating the camera was fully operational with no issues. All this headbutting for a £35 camera with a repeat customer. Beyond baffling!
 
Some shops sell other people's cameras on commission - if they did the mistake of forwarding your payment to the owner (whilst keeping the commission) and you are asking for a refund, then they are in a mess. Possibly that's why they ask you 10 times if you changed your mind.
 
CharlesDAMorgan said:
I've had numerous issues before, it's more the dealer approach to something I could easily have returned with no reason given.

The camera is a £35 Nikon EM, so not worth having an argument with your customer about!

Which, intriguingly, is still continuing!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the dealer should have said...oh really? here's a refund and keep the camera! It isn't worth the hassle on all ends.
 
It's a funny one, I know that my Nikon F2 can have a catastrophic failure at any time too but it doesn't bother me the same way my Yashica T4 did. Electronics are just spooky, man. ;)

I no longer own the T4.. I found a p&s model that still goes for 20 bucks or less that I can't distinguish the images from in a blind test.
 
My solution? Only buy ALL Mechanical cameras, Like a meterless Nikon F or a Leica M3. Not that they can't break, of course, but it's ALL mechanical. No fussy electronics. Good luck.
 
Well there are cameras with solid meters.. Minolta SRTs, the whole series of Praktica L cameras and so on. The Praktica B200 and Contax RTS are all electronic but seem to stand the test of time pretty good (unlike the Leicafles SL and Leica CL aka dead meter cameras).
So a mechanical camera with light meter should be in most cases ok :)
 
santino said:
Well there are cameras with solid meters.. Minolta SRTs, the whole series of Praktica L cameras and so on. The Praktica B200 and Contax RTS are all electronic but seem to stand the test of time pretty good (unlike the Leicafles SL and Leica CL aka dead meter cameras).
So a mechanical camera with light meter should be in most cases ok :)
Click to expand...

Santino, unlike a Nikon EM, a Leica CL meter can be repaired if it breaks down and some technicians like DAG do have parts.
 
I've had a similar experience trying to buy a Rollei 35 (zone focus compact film camera).

Every single one I've checked out has had a defective shutter - speeds under 1/30 sec are random and very long, often acting as B.
Now this is super easy for a shop or seller to check for, as it is a mechanical camera. Just turn the shutter speed dial to 1/30 and under, and fire off some shots. Easy peasy.

And yet, I've had a seller on RFF try to sell me one that was 'perfect' and he acted surprised that it wasn't.
I've had a dealer in San Fran try to sell two of them 'just had a CLA!' that had this issue.
Bunch of other experiences like this, but to top it off , last week a local shop had one, and yup, sure enough, same issue. They too were 'shocked'!

Not sure if people just don't check out stuff, or just fein innocence...
 
Huss said:
I've had a similar experience trying to buy a Rollei 35 (zone focus compact film camera).

Not sure if people just don't check out stuff, or just fein innocence...
Click to expand...

Huss, I think they just don't check stuff out/ don't care..... the old caveat emptor rule applies.....

I don't think these 'just old cameras' get much love or respect other than from photographers who can coax wonderful images out of them
 
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