Garry's Camera Repair: Repair videos for Minolta SRT, Canon AE-1 and now Minolta X-700

Andreas Thaler · Dec 5, 2024

Garry regularly posts repair videos for Minolta SRT, Canon AE-1 and now Minolta X-700.

One of the most active and interesting sources for all DIY repairers of 70s/80s cameras!

Garry’s Camera Repair

Thank you for watching my channel. This channel is dedicated to those interested in learning the process and techniques of camera repair. We are an online-based camera repair facility specializing in service and repair of most major 35mm SLR brands - Minolta, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Nikon, etc...

www.youtube.com

bernard_L · Dec 5, 2024

Since you mention AE-1, I browsed the videos of Garry's camera repair, and found for the AE-1 (plain, not program) just one "short"
that I found un-informative: music, but the actual action take place outside the field of view of the smartphone.

For removal of the mirror box, I found this video to be much better:

Andreas Thaler · Dec 5, 2024

bernard_L said:
Since you mention AE-1, I browsed the videos of Garry's camera repair, and found for the AE-1 (plain, not program) just one "short"

See

Garry’s Camera Repair

Thank you for watching my channel. This channel is dedicated to those interested in learning the process and techniques of camera repair. We are an online-based camera repair facility specializing in service and repair of most major 35mm SLR brands - Minolta, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Nikon, etc...

www.youtube.com

ic-racer · Dec 5, 2024

Real 'how to do it' videos and threads are rare. Not only in the field of camera repair, but in other fields too, like guitar and automobile restoration.

Andreas Thaler · Dec 5, 2024

ic-racer said:
Real 'how to do it' videos and threads are rare. Not only in the field of camera repair, but in other fields too, like guitar and automobile restoration.

Possible reasons for this:

business interest,
no desire for additional writing and video production,
lack of confidence in the quality of one's own work.

bernard_L · Dec 5, 2024

Andreas Thaler said:
See

Garry’s Camera Repair

Thank you for watching my channel. This channel is dedicated to those interested in learning the process and techniques of camera repair. We are an online-based camera repair facility specializing in service and repair of most major 35mm SLR brands - Minolta, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Nikon, etc...

www.youtube.com

Thank you for pointing this out. When I read your OP, I went directly to the X-700 video, and from there I saw only a selection of all the repair videos of Garry's.

So I found this
Canon AE-1 - Complete overhaul and lubrication services
Still, at 2'50", before removing the top cover, he moves the shutter dial to B and he might also be moving the ASA ring to 3200. Two important steps to avoid a whiplash of the tungsten wire, potentially catastrophic (how do I know?). But he doesn't say a word. Just the music.
As you wrote in the previous post, one can only speculate about the reason for this lack of information.

Still an impressive collection of repair videos, and thank you for the heads up.

vandergus · Dec 5, 2024

Andreas Thaler said:
Possible reasons for this:

business interest,

no desire for additional writing and video production,

lack of confidence in the quality of one's own work.

As someone who has tried to make high quality how to do it videos for youtube, it's almost certainly number two. It takes a lot of work to put together a video that goes deeply into detail about how mechanisms work and what needs to be done to fix them. I setup multiple cameras to cut between tight shots and wide shots, had to employ extra lighting (you always need more light), had to work more slowly and more intentionally to make sure I got the shots I needed, had to record voiceover separately because it's really hard to provide good commentary in the moment...you get the idea. I would spend an hour on the bench doing a repair then 8 to 10 hours editing it into a watchable 20 minute video. I turned my camera repair hobby into video production hobby. Oops.

A simple top down, talking hands video is much easier to produce, which is why most people default to this style. It's not as informative or interesting but it's better than nothing. I keep hoping that someday we will get the Wrist Watch Revival channel for camera repair, but it ain't gonna be me.

As for Garry's videos in particular, they seem to stick to the bare minimum amount of work needed to get the camera working. It makes sense from a professional point of view, he needs to maximize the value of his time. But sometimes he takes too many shortcuts. His K1000 and Spotmatic "CLAs" are not impressive.

logan2z · Dec 5, 2024

vandergus said:
I keep hoping that someday we will get the Wrist Watch Revival channel for camera repair, but it ain't gonna be me.

That guy's channel is amazing. I discovered it recently and have been binge watching it.

bernard_L · Dec 5, 2024

Possibly I'm hijacking this thread, but it's a closely related question.
Do you prefer, to learn about the repair of a particular camera, a video, or photos plus text? I much prefer the latter. High definition images, no need to freeze the video and peek at a so-so image, then go back to hear once more a complete sentence, proceed at your own pace, etc... Besides the nice reports/tutorials by @Andreas Thaler I like this style:

Zeiss Contaflex II Shutter Removal

Further adventures along the way to fixing this camera. PF

www.flickr.com

(starting at the 4th image, mouse-over reveals frames outlining key elements) Unfortunately, can't be archived locally because the fancy popups need the flickr framework.

So : video or stills+text?

vandergus · Dec 5, 2024

bernard_L said:
Possibly I'm hijacking this thread, but it's a closely related question.
Do you prefer, to learn about the repair of a particular camera, a video, or photos plus text? I much prefer the latter. High definition images, no need to freeze the video and peek at a so-so image, then go back to hear once more a complete sentence, proceed at your own pace, etc... Besides the nice reports/tutorials by @Andreas Thaler I like this style:

Zeiss Contaflex II Shutter Removal

Further adventures along the way to fixing this camera. PF

www.flickr.com

(starting at the 4th image, mouse-over reveals frames outlining key elements) Unfortunately, can't be archived locally because the fancy popups need the flickr framework.

So : video or stills+text?

They're each good at different things. Text+Pics is best at conveying the simple but critical information. Order of assembly, exactly which screws to remove, reverse threaded screws, what adjustment points do what, etc. Video is best at showing the more complex tertiary information. How exactly to you reinstall a complicated mechanism. How does a particular mechanism work and how does it interact with other parts of the camera. How to solder a flex cable connection. What technique do you use for cleaning optical surfaces. Things like that.

I've started to focus more on posting repairs to iFixit when I decided youtube was too much work. They have a great infrastructure for it. And you can even download PDF's of the guides! Here's my page for the Pentax Spotmatic as an example.

Pentax Spotmatic Repair Help: Learn How to Fix It Yourself.

A 35mm SLR introduced by Asahi Optical Company in 1964. It was one of the first SLR's available with Through-The-Lens (TTL) metering.

www.ifixit.com

bernard_L · Dec 5, 2024

vandergus said:
I've started to focus more on posting repairs to iFixit when I decided youtube was too much work. They have a great infrastructure for it. And you can even download PDF's of the guides! Here's my page for the Pentax Spotmatic as an example.

Pentax Spotmatic Repair Help: Learn How to Fix It Yourself.

A 35mm SLR introduced by Asahi Optical Company in 1964. It was one of the first SLR's available with Through-The-Lens (TTL) metering.

www.ifixit.com

Real Neat !
Too bad I'm going towards downsizing and my only Pentax, a Spotmatic, is on the out list. Nothing wrong, but I can't keep them all.

cmacd123 · Dec 5, 2024

vandergus said:
As for Garry's videos in particular, they seem to stick to the bare minimum amount of work needed to get the camera working. It makes sense from a professional point of view, he needs to maximize the value of his time. But sometimes he takes too many shortcuts. His K1000 and Spotmatic "CLAs" are not impressive.

Garry does charge a fairly low price for looking over your Camera. Just checked and he wants under 80 dollars plus shipping both ways for clean lube and replace light seals on a K-1000 or Spotmatic. to be able to do this he must be well practiced in working on these units (which shows in the speed he works in the Videos.) I have sent him Cameras in the past and they did work better when I got them back! (shipping cross the Can/US border costs a fair chunk of change these days so I have ben not sending anything to the States lately)

other folks will quote more and perhaps dig deeper.

vandergus · Dec 5, 2024

cmacd123 said:
Garry does charge a fairly low price for looking over your Camera. Just checked and he wants under 80 dollars plus shipping both ways for clean lube and replace light seals on a K-1000 or Spotmatic. to be able to do this he must be well practiced in working on these units (which shows in the speed he works in the Videos.) I have sent him Cameras in the past and they did work better when I got them back! (shipping cross the Can/US border costs a fair chunk of change these days so I have ben not sending anything to the States lately)

other folks will quote more and perhaps dig deeper.

I agree. I think he charges a fair price for the work he does, and he has lots of satisfied customers.

Andreas Thaler · Dec 5, 2024

I think you can also learn from Garry which solutions require the least amount of effort to get something working again. As a professional, he has to work like this to be efficient and that's not a bad thing.

I was impressed by his method of thoroughly cleaning the outside of an SLR body.

He used a wide bristle brush that was probably dipped in alcohol. It was quick and the result was nice:

(From position 23:02.)

MFstooges · Dec 5, 2024

I like his video, he is very handy but few of his methods are questionable to me. i.e. using CA glue or cleaning mirror and screen like this Go to time stamp : 49:20

Andreas Thaler · Dec 6, 2024

MFstooges said:
I like his video, he is very handy but few of his methods are questionable to me. i.e. using CA glue or cleaning mirror and screen like this Go to time stamp : 49:20

If you clean the mirror and viewfinder screen with a damp cloth, you can do it that way, I think. It's difficult to remove dirt any other way. You always have to accept the risk of light scratches when cleaning these parts, it's just a matter of weighing up what's more important.

I once had a Nikon F4 that had an oily coating on the mirror. I was able to clean it with a cloth and isopropyl alcohol, but two light scratches remained.

This was better than a limited functioning mirror, which also lets light through for exposure metering and AF.

Otherwise, I try to avoid touching the mirror and focusing screens.

MFstooges · Dec 6, 2024

vandergus said:
They're each good at different things. Text+Pics is best at conveying the simple but critical information. Order of assembly, exactly which screws to remove, reverse threaded screws, what adjustment points do what, etc. Video is best at showing the more complex tertiary information. How exactly to you reinstall a complicated mechanism. How does a particular mechanism work and how does it interact with other parts of the camera. How to solder a flex cable connection. What technique do you use for cleaning optical surfaces. Things like that.

I've started to focus more on posting repairs to iFixit when I decided youtube was too much work. They have a great infrastructure for it. And you can even download PDF's of the guides! Here's my page for the Pentax Spotmatic as an example.

Pentax Spotmatic Repair Help: Learn How to Fix It Yourself.

A 35mm SLR introduced by Asahi Optical Company in 1964. It was one of the first SLR's available with Through-The-Lens (TTL) metering.

www.ifixit.com

I like your pictorial instruction. Youtube can present moving parts better but then again the repaired object usually is jammed or have abnormal movement and very often I have to pause or rewind just to see the part more clearly.

MFstooges · Dec 6, 2024

Andreas Thaler said:
If you clean the mirror and viewfinder screen with a damp cloth, you can do it that way, I think. It's difficult to remove dirt any other way. You always have to accept the risk of light scratches when cleaning these parts, it's just a matter of weighing up what's more important.

I once had a Nikon F4 that had an oily coating on the mirror. I was able to clean it with a cloth and isopropyl alcohol, but two light scratches remained.

This was better than a limited functioning mirror, which also lets light through for exposure metering and AF.

Otherwise, I try to avoid touching the mirror and focusing screens.

Listen to the sound, he scratched that focusing screen for sure and for no reason. Should use air first before even touching it.

Andreas Thaler · Dec 6, 2024

MFstooges said:
Listen to the sound, he scratched that focusing screen for sure and for no reason. Should use air first before even touching it.

The blower won't help if the dirt is stuck. One option would be to remove the mirror and soak it in cleaning solution, but even then you have to at least remove any streaks that remain. An ultrasonic bath might work better.

MFstooges · Dec 6, 2024

Andreas Thaler said:
The blower won't help if the dirt is stuck. One option would be to remove the mirror and soak it in cleaning solution, but even then you have to at least remove any streaks that remain. An ultrasonic bath might work better.

He didn't blow it. He just scratched it.

Andreas Thaler · Dec 6, 2024

MFstooges said:
He didn't blow it. He just scratched it.

It's about the method, and I think it's appropriate (bellows - dust brush - wet cleaning).

The application is another matter, everyone has to know what they're doing.

Garry's Camera Repair: Repair videos for Minolta SRT, Canon AE-1 and now Minolta X-700

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