How are your old camers holding out?

Again a suggestion, not a command.

Trail Images said:

A very long time friend and excellent photographer told me he tore one of his malfunctioning lenses apart to make necessary "repairs". He said it all went well but had a few parts left over.......say what?....:confused:

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As I always tell my wife, at the end of a repair project...

If I can't put it back together with fewer parts than the person who designed it, then I am no smarter than (s)he is.

I am on my fourth nikon 35ti. Nikon will no longer repair these, and no other shop is willing to either, besides, its cheaper to get another one.
I should point out that one of those four cameras fell out of my camera bag while i was riding a motorcycle somewhere in the Australian great divide (i think thats what its called). I think they are not designed to be used on a daily basis.

My EOS3 has had a funky shutter since the day i got it but is still working.

I guess i ride my gear hard. Two speed graphics are no longer with us, but the Canham which has seen abuse from desserts to snowstorms is actually looking pretty good, despite 10 years under its belt.

When my wife was working for a daily newspaper zipping around on her motorcycle with her long tele zoom in the top box, we used to take it in for service every 6 months or so, and the guy would make a count of how many screws were missing, broken or bent. The shorter lenses fared little better and the cameras no longer had any black paint after a while. that said, for the most part they all still worked (albeit digitally...), and to that extent, a colleague who was shot at with a "rubber coated" bullet by local army soldiers walked over later with his still working canon and said he now has a waist level view finder. His head was in one piece. I wonder what it would have looked like had it been an old clunker nikon F or some such.

Lets see, the most recent count is:
two 8x10s, (one Deardorff, the other a Gowland) working
one 4x5 (GV2) working but in storage.
one 12x20 working, but in storage.
five 5x7s, one (Speed Graphic) working, and four Agfa/Anscos needing minor attention (a wee bit of bellows patching and one short length of rail to re-attach) I actually enjoy working on these cameras!
F2 Nikon works like a champ
Rolleiflex T, also working like a champ
Two Kodak Reflex Brownies succumbed to Fungus feasting on the plastic lenses so they serve as book ends
F-8 Aerial camera, working but in storage
K-17 Aerial camera probably works, but after the hernia I'm not supposed to lift it

Over the years---
Richard Ritter did some work on the focus rail on the 5x7 Speeder.
I did some work on the Deardorff with parts and guidance from Ken Hough
I did have a foam seal replaced on the Nikon at a local camera repair shop.
The Agfa Anscos 5x7s are very easy to work on and quite a lot of fun, really.

As jnanian has pointed out, there are still plenty of camera repairmen who will welcome your camera.

I have an old Agfa 6x9 folder from the 30s with a 105mm f/6.3 lens that still takes great photos. I would have no problem relying on it if I had to.

I own a couple old Leica Barnacks and Contax IIs from the 30s that work great and are very reliable.

I use some Zeiss Ikoflex and Rolleiflex 6x6 TLRs that date from the late 40s and early 50s that are more reliable than some much newer cameras I own.

But I also have no problem whatsoever sending them off for attention if that is necessary. I feel privileged to be able to preserve this equipment and pass it along in as good a shape, or better, than it came to me. I just sent my early model Ikoflex II off to have the shutter cleaned and the lenses cleaned.

Obviously, when working with very old equipment, there are no guarantees.

Obviously, when working with very old equipment, there are no guarantees.

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An excellent point, Dan. If I'm shooting locally I carry along one camera, out of town gets two cameras, just in case......

Finding a good repair technician is actually easier now with the internet. I find that most old cameras, like most old automobiles, work just fine if they haven't suffered abuse.

GKC said:

Finding a good repair technician is actually easier now with the internet. I find that most old cameras, like most old automobiles, work just fine if they haven't suffered abuse.

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exactly, and while it might be useful to know how to fix or jury rig something by oneself ( soak things in benzine, blow graphite dust in things, unscrew and wind things &c )
it isn't necessary ... a box, plastic bag, bubble wrap and shipping peanuts and postage are cheap

I have 29 Gaflexes (both graphic and graflex slr varieties), and of these 22 work. I'm hoping to repair some of the others as I find parts. Of those working is: an "accordion" hood 4x5 Auto Graflex made somewhere between 1906-1910; a top handle 5x7 speed graphic made between 1912-1915; a 4x5 RB Auto Graflex made between 1915-1918; a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 RB Tele Graflex made in 1918 (I shot my sister-in-laws wedding with this); a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 RB Series B made in 1926-1927; a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 RB Auto Graflex from 1931; a 4x5 RB series D from 1934-1937; a 4x5 anniversary speed graphic from 1945; a 5x7 Auto Graflex from 1916-1917; a 4x5 Revolving Back Auto Graflex from 1906-1908; and a K20 4x5 Graflex roll film aerial camera from 1942. There are also a couple miniature speed graphics from the 40's. All work.

Except for a few needing batteries for their light meters, most are pretty good. My Nikon F has a shutter spring issue, rendering it a shelf-queen until further notice. One of my Mamiyas is missing a focus knob, but its on the left side and I'm right-handed. I have a Kodak Motor-Matic whose winding-ratchet-spring lets go once in a while. I have a Nikon FM whose film-advance jams, but it always works after a couple tries. It got dropped and has a huge dent by the advance lever, so the fact that it is 99% functional is nothing to complain about. In fact, they're all doing better than I am and just need to be used more often.