Camera repair courses in the UK/a plea to any camera repairers!

ic-racer said:

Yes! I also hope that as the electronic Nikon (and other) cameras get older people will reverse-engineer the software packages and interface modules for these cameras.

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This is a great diagram, although I've not seen a floppy disc used in anger since I was about 7 years old I'll happily take any info on these arrangements people are willing to give.

There may be some manuals from (long defunct) national camera school.
Some have decent pics, others not so much.

John Koehrer said:

There may be some manuals from (long defunct) national camera school.
Some have decent pics, others not so much.

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Thanks John, I have the National Camera course as PDFs that I need to spend some time working through properly!

I think that the most important thing is simply to get started, without worrying whether you have every conceivable tool.

An older edition of Thomas Tomosey's Camera Maintenance and Repair was my starting point.

Probably the #1 most bit of maintenance that I perform (aside from cleaning) is replacing rotted foam light traps and mirror cushions. And while those sorts of tasks don't require a lot of tools, they are good for improving one's manual dexterity.

You may be interested in my repair projects presented at digicamclub.de (German)


Nick: „Ando“

I'm learning how to repair photo equipment as an autodidact and I'm having a lot of fun doing it.

Books, sites, videos or service manuals help, but in the end you have to discover every technical system yourself. Feedback from colleagues in the forum also helps.

As lovers of yesterday's photographic technology, we have to become active ourselves. And we mustn't wait for someone to guide us. Because there is nobody there anymore.

Good luck!

Also of potential worth; practice your soldering skills. I got a Konica c35 for $10 at a sale earlier this spring. The meter was inoperative. I pulled the top cover and found a wire (the red one) had broken loose from its terminal. The wires a pretty short, and my soldering skills are crap. I melted the battery chamber.

How rare are camera service manuals? I've seen Graflex ones for sale more than once, but I don't think I've ever seen a Nikon or Pentax one.

MTGseattle said:

Also of potential worth; practice your soldering skills. I got a Konica c35 for $10 at a sale earlier this spring. The meter was inoperative. I pulled the top cover and found a wire (the red one) had broken loose from its terminal. The wires a pretty short, and my soldering skills are crap. I melted the battery chamber.

How rare are camera service manuals? I've seen Graflex ones for sale more than once, but I don't think I've ever seen a Nikon or Pentax one.

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Particularly when leaky batteries were involved, contaminated old solder tends to form beads rather than flowing nicely. In some cases, I've had to remove as much of the old solder as possible, replace wires, and use liquid flux. Battery electrolyte can seep into wires like a candle wick and travel a surprising distance.

I just stumbled upon camerabooks.com, because I was searching for Larry Lyells, who also created some of the National Camera manuals - check it out. Seems to cover more modern items than the older National Camera / Camera Craftsman / Infotech offerings.

eBay seller "Goodygifts" is another source, particularly if you seek some of Ed Romney's manuals.

I started acquiring camera service manuals in the 1980s or 90s, and even then it was mostly photocopies or microfiche.

Hello @Twotone !

I was in your position about 5-6 years ago, I have made my way till today and recently I started my own repair camera business here in Spain.
My training was reading a lot, watching lots of videos (of not all people, just the few that they are good), reading service manuals and most important facing the problem and asking myself why this person designed this precisely this way, if I was not able to find an answer I was emailing some of the kindest people I ever met online that knows how or knows the right person. And I still do when I something is unclear.

Feel free to contact for folders/TLRs/leaf shutters, I think they are my strong. I will be happy to help if I can.

4season said:

Particularly when leaky batteries were involved, contaminated old solder tends to form beads rather than flowing nicely. In some cases, I've had to remove as much of the old solder as possible, replace wires, and use liquid flux. Battery electrolyte can seep into wires like a candle wick and travel a surprising distance.

I just stumbled upon camerabooks.com, because I was searching for Larry Lyells, who also created some of the National Camera manuals - check it out. Seems to cover more modern items than the older National Camera / Camera Craftsman / Infotech offerings.

eBay seller "Goodygifts" is another source, particularly if you seek some of Ed Romney's manuals.

I started acquiring camera service manuals in the 1980s or 90s, and even then it was mostly photocopies or microfiche.

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Thanks.

Learncamerarepair.com and its associated FB group has already been mentioned and its the best place to start really. Bear in mind there are a great many real experts there and their views may be a shock if you have been learning from YT videos. LCR is kind of where I started the journey proper.

My advice (and I have been learning and refining the art for 5 years) is decide what cameras you would like to work on and start there but bear in mind some cameras will be kinder to beginners than others for a number of reasons.

Theres no point aiming to be the world greatest tech on the NakkiMakki 9000 if:

The NakkiMakki 9000 requires highly specialised tools
The NakkiMakki 9000 even in terrible shape costs £500 - you wont be able to acquire spares easily.
The NakkiMakki 9000 has no following
The NakkiMakki 9000 is known for suffering catastrophic issues.
I realised early on that my dreams of being an all rounder were unlikely to happen - I am quite old and I realised I would not live long enough to ever get good on everything so I focused on a limited number of cameras where I could reasonably expect to be able to acquire the skills to manage them.

It's taken me around 5 years to get good, good enough to CLA, debug, repair etc almost any of the cameras I can do. I specialise on Minolta SRTs and X series. More by accident than design.

The biggest hurdle I think for many is the cost of tools - a decent shutter tester is likely to knock you back £500 for openers and I dread to think what all my tooling (sparse as it is) would cost if I bought it in one go.

I am hardly the worlds greatest expert but more than capable so I have devoted time of late to create guides to cameras - I cant teach anyone but at least I cam make useful guides which may help others get a leg up at the start of their journey. The firts guide is on LCR and covers the CLA for a Minolta SRT - I am currently working on one for the X-700. The guides are designed with the novice in mind and avoid overly technical talk and shows tips and tricks to get stuff done.

Mel Parker Jones said:

Learncamerarepair.com and its associated FB group has already been mentioned and its the best place to start really. Bear in mind there are a great many real experts there and their views may be a shock if you have been learning from YT videos. LCR is kind of where I started the journey proper.

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Greetings to the team, it would be nice if the National Camera course continued, documents on repairing SLRs/focal plane shutters are still missing as far as I can see

I would also like to point out the autodidact and self-study path, which is certainly the hardest.

It develops perseverance, self-organization and gives you the opportunity to develop your own style, independent of the dictates of others.

The disadvantages are the lack of practical instructions, wrong turns and the associated higher investment in time and work.

But I think no path is more worthwhile because it challenges you in every respect and gives you the freedom to develop yourself.

It certainly also depends on your personal inclination. As far as I am concerned, I am too stubborn to let anyone teach me anything personally

Welcome aboard @Mel Parker Jones !

This bit...

Mel Parker Jones said:

Theres no point aiming to be the world greatest tech on the NakkiMakki 9000 if:

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...was followed with some bits of very useful common sense. Thanks.

Mel Parker Jones said:

a decent shutter tester is likely to knock you back £500 for openers

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You'll find at least two threads on this forum about projects to DIY one for a fraction of the cost; one I'd particularly recommend is this one: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...al-plane-shutters-cheap-easy-it-works.197756/
It'll be plenty accurate for all intents and purposes - with the possible exception of the NakkiMakki 9000's shutter, which we all know moves in mysterious ways.