Electronic SLRs: Why are there so few repair reports on the web?

[Andreas Thaler]

Well my Nikormat camera is broken. The meter is intermittent. I understand that it is not fixable. It's it?

Of course it can be repaired.

 

[ogtronix]

My electronic SLR nikon N6006 works perfectly, including the shutter, meter, auto and manual settings etc. It's 30 or 35 years old. And although I haven't used it that much, it works perfectly now. If it was to break, I could probably get another one for under a $100. So why would I pay to repair it?

Alot of electronic cameras suffer systematic failures. Sticky magnets and melting rubber bumpers are common - along with the occasional electrolytic capacitor fault, cracked solder joints, and bleeding/ fading LCDs. Not to mention drifting meters and misaligned focusing systems. Trying to find stuff that actually works on the usual websites is an ordeal, and anything still working might not be in just months. It's a real problem with electronic stuff, that they can wake up for a bit to pass an initial check but then start rapidly degrading. Like consider that it'll take a few shutter cycles for a melted bumper to start smearing on the leaves.

For goofing off you can still get cheap and feature-packed cameras to treat as disposable if you shop around and take chances on stuff listed as untested (since nobody's buying weird lithium batteries to see if a £30 thing still works). Prices are continuing to rise on alot of models though, and usually in sudden large jumps. Anything is just a Youtube video away from becoming a cult classic. Plus the increased price of film and processing would make it a shame if the new camera was suffering or develops a fault.

All that is to say; used cameras are a dwindling resource. Less and less of them still function and more and more people want the ones that do.