FallisPhoto
Veteran
Really seriously bad "repair" ideas I have run into. Yeah, I buy a lot of cameras on ebay. Opening them up and seeing what people have done to them is always a surprise. Feel free to add to the list.
1. Using WD-40 or powdered graphite to free up those sticky shutter blades. Why don't they just empty a can of baby powder in there? It would do just as good a job and it would probably be easier to get out.
2. Using superglue inside a camera. Ever seen those CSI episodes where they use superglue to make fingerprints show up? Well, it really does that. Takes a lot of work to get rid of them too. Plus all the glass goes milky.
3. Using wire pliers to loosen a stuck brass or aluminum lens ring (if it wasn't knurled before, it is now).
4. Using wire pliers on the THREADS of lens rings. Instant parts camera!
5. Oiling the shutter blades (yeah, on purpose).
6. If your film advance is stuck DON'T try to force it. If you do, you've probably just gone from "stuck" to "broken."
7. I got a Ciroflex once from some guy who had apparently decided to try to free a stuck focusing rod by beating the face of the camera with a rubber mallet. I am being charitable here and assuming he didn't stomp on it or beat it against the floor. Did he really think that would fix it? What he wound up with was a camera that was still stuck and that had the lenses pointing in different directions.
8. Using isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to clean shutter blades. Ever noticed how those bottles say 70% alcohol? Ever wonder what the other 30% is? Well, it can be a number of things, including oils, balsams, petroleum jelly, and etcetera. The idea is to get the crud off of the blades. If you want to use alcohol, go to the hardware store, not the drug store, and get denatured alcohol (personally I'd get naptha instead though).
1. Using WD-40 or powdered graphite to free up those sticky shutter blades. Why don't they just empty a can of baby powder in there? It would do just as good a job and it would probably be easier to get out.
2. Using superglue inside a camera. Ever seen those CSI episodes where they use superglue to make fingerprints show up? Well, it really does that. Takes a lot of work to get rid of them too. Plus all the glass goes milky.
3. Using wire pliers to loosen a stuck brass or aluminum lens ring (if it wasn't knurled before, it is now).
4. Using wire pliers on the THREADS of lens rings. Instant parts camera!
5. Oiling the shutter blades (yeah, on purpose).
6. If your film advance is stuck DON'T try to force it. If you do, you've probably just gone from "stuck" to "broken."
7. I got a Ciroflex once from some guy who had apparently decided to try to free a stuck focusing rod by beating the face of the camera with a rubber mallet. I am being charitable here and assuming he didn't stomp on it or beat it against the floor. Did he really think that would fix it? What he wound up with was a camera that was still stuck and that had the lenses pointing in different directions.
8. Using isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to clean shutter blades. Ever noticed how those bottles say 70% alcohol? Ever wonder what the other 30% is? Well, it can be a number of things, including oils, balsams, petroleum jelly, and etcetera. The idea is to get the crud off of the blades. If you want to use alcohol, go to the hardware store, not the drug store, and get denatured alcohol (personally I'd get naptha instead though).
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
How about all the wrong uses of canned air (joe will wince here... he knows why)?
How about using a handkerchief to clean the mirror in an SLR?
How about the small eyeglass screwdriver used to tighten a piece, only to find out it's the wrong size/kind/tool?
How about using a handkerchief to clean the mirror in an SLR?
How about the small eyeglass screwdriver used to tighten a piece, only to find out it's the wrong size/kind/tool?
f/stopblues
photo loner
Thread can also be titled, "Things to look for when buying equipment from the following people" 
dlove5
Established
Using pliers where flexiclamps would have been the proper tool.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
SolaresLarrave said:
That one about the canned air: ever seen what it can do to the plastic fresnel focusing screen in an SLR?
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Some more of my favorites:
I once ran across a forum where someone was recommending that someone else clean his focusing screen (a plastic fresnel lens) with a toothbrush.
Another one, in the same thread, recommended cleaning it with ammonia (turns the plastic white).
I once ran across a forum where someone was recommending that someone else clean his focusing screen (a plastic fresnel lens) with a toothbrush.
Another one, in the same thread, recommended cleaning it with ammonia (turns the plastic white).
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Vickko
Veteran
Bake camera in oven to loosen hardened grease, dry freshly applied black paint.
Vick
Vick
Vickko
Veteran
Patch shutter hole with glue and patch, then tension shutter to make sure it stays flat.
Vick
Vick
FallisPhoto
Veteran
dlove5 said:
For larger parts, a small strap wrench works well too.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Vickko said:
Hey! I've seen that last one! If it doesn't just burst into flames, you get freshly applied black blisters! Then they mash the blisters down with their thumb and try to sell it on ebay.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Vickko said:
Wow! The others are pretty bad ideas, but you can kind of understand why people did them. This one is just wrong though. If they know enough to know how to tension the shutter, they know that isn't going to work right.
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kevin m
Veteran
I've got a good one from back when I worked in a movie camera rental house.
A guy had an Arriflex SR on set that wouldn't come up to sync speed. He decided that his 12 volt belt battery didn't have enough "juice," so he stipped one end of the XLR cable and attached it via jumper cables to his car battery. The extra amperage gave him enough juice to ruin a couple of expensive circuit boards, and it made a nice smell, too.
A guy had an Arriflex SR on set that wouldn't come up to sync speed. He decided that his 12 volt belt battery didn't have enough "juice," so he stipped one end of the XLR cable and attached it via jumper cables to his car battery. The extra amperage gave him enough juice to ruin a couple of expensive circuit boards, and it made a nice smell, too.
Kim Coxon
Moderator
FallisPhoto said:
Or trying to free the shutter by "forcing" the selftimer back to it's off position
Others:
Removing very small screws out over a hard surface so they bounce onto the carpet.
Trying to clean SLR focus screens with any fluid.
Removing haze on lens elements with a dry cloth.
Kim
chikne
Well-known
Take the fog out of your lens by blowing hot air with the hairdryer on it (me).
SolaresLarrave
My M5s need red dots!
Hey... I did clean a focusing screen with some nifty lens cleaner and a special cloth. The results were great.
It was also the Nikon F5 I recently purchased (not the one I sold). Or is it that this camera is so tough it can take this cleaning?
It was also the Nikon F5 I recently purchased (not the one I sold).
Or is it that this camera is so tough it can take this cleaning?
dlove5
Established
How about taking a camera apart without good diagrams or taking good notes and/or pictures as you disassemble it.
________Where did this piece come from???????____________
________Why do I have one screw left, but it doesn't fit the remaining hole?????
________Where did this piece come from???????____________
________Why do I have one screw left, but it doesn't fit the remaining hole?????
FallisPhoto
Veteran
dlove5 said:
That can be especially fun if it's a Canonet or a Hi-Matic. It's like having a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle that will keep you sweating for a month -- if you ever get it back together again.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Kim Coxon said:
I've cleaned a few with a barely damp artist's watercolor brush, using distilled water and cleaning the brush every minute or two. You have to go over it about a hundred times, because you can only put enough pressure on it to barely bend the sable hair brush, but it works, eventually. Last one I did like that (Yashica TL Electro) looked like it had been somehow spattered with some kind of soda pop. It was all over the inside of the mirror box. I'm just glad the mirror kept whatever it was from getting on the curtains, because I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to get it out of those.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
ErikFive said:
Does it look like an electronic taco now?
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Kim Coxon said:
Unless it has just been CLAd, using the self timer in the first place is a bad idea.