Looking For A Good Repair Shop in Toronto Area.

[LucyS]

I'm in the Toronto area, but don't mind travelling to the suburbs. Does anyone know of a good service/repair shop where I can take my 35mm Minolta XG-1 in for cleaning and a bit of repairs? When I rewind the film, I feel and hear a grinding and I think it's about time someone professional looked at it. It was my very first camera and it has sentimental value to me.
Thank you kindly.

 

[Toffle]

I'm not sure I can help you, but you might try Stan Nycz. I don't know if he is still around or not. I believe he was not in the best of health a couple of years ago. (it was Gord McArthur who told me about Stan. Alas, Gord is now gone; a good man. )

Here is some contact info I found online:

Stan Nycz has operated his camera repair and exchange business in the west end of Toronto for many years. In that time he has repaired many of the mechanical cameras of the thirties, forties, and fifties. He can be reached at International Camera, 816 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON M8Z 1N5, telephone (416) 255-3072.

Let us know if this works out for you. I've been meaning to look him up myself.

Cheers,

 

[LucyS]

Thank you so very much for that great info Tom! I will indeed check that out today.
Actually The Queensway is very close to where I live.
I'll post a reply as soon as I find out.

 

[Jeff L]

I think International is still there. I was in there about a month ago and he was trying to sell up and retire.

 

[cowanw]

If you can drive to Hamilton you won't go wrong with Roger at Camtech
Dead Link Removed

 

[Mike Wilde]

Stan is still there, albeit with very less then full time retail hours. He has a shop full of great old used camera gear; alas in this age of *bay and the rise of digicams, it is all now quite overpriced.

I mailed in a Minolta X570 with a wonky shutter release and an Oly XA with inoperative shutter back in late October.

I followed up with a call in mid December to see if he had looked at the cameras. He called back a few days later to say that he could sell me a xd-11 or something cheaper than fixing the x-570, and that the XA would be $90 to fix. I said go ahead and fix the XA, and I will keep the x-570 as a parts unit.

No sign of any new progress at mid January.

So if you are in a rush to get a camera fixed, you may want to look elsewhere.

 

[LucyS]

YES!!!! Stan is still there! I just got off the phone with him and described my problem with my camera and he said "no problem, just bring it in." I'm taking it in tomorrow! Now his hours are the following: Thursdays and Fridays 11-6, Saturdays 11-3. I look forward to meeting him!

Thank you Tom for your great help and to everyone who posted with their advice and help. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[TimeShare]

International Camera is closing down as Stan is selling his stuff. You could try Halton Camera in Georgetown.

 

[Uncle Bill]

I would look into Bodo up at Halton Camera in Georgetown. The last few times I was in at International Camera Stan looked like his heart was just not in it anymore to run a storefront operation, I have heard speculation he would be working from home but treat it as that, speculation.

Another option would be Winball Camera in North York, they did amazing work on my Nikon F Photomic Tn two years ago, it's better than new when they were done with it.

For those with Leicas and Rolleiflexes, I highly recommend Gerry Smith (no relation) up at Kindermann, even he is working part time (three days a week). I have my M3 up there right now and I know it will cost a small fortune but to have a factory trained Leica tech work on it is worth the fiscal pain.

 

[modernatlantian]

Check out Sun Camera Service Ltd. at 2150 Steeles Ave. West (at Keele St.) http://suncameraservice.ca/

They are an authorized service agent for Canon Canada but they service all kinds of cameras. I got my Nikon FG CLA'ed and replaced the light seal there.