Repairs: Do it yourself or have it done?

[KerrKid]

There's an easier way than that. A stiff piece of wire or a small thin nail with the end turned over (think of a small crochet needle) can be inserted down through the rewind crank hole, held to one side and then gently pulled upwards releasing the back catch. Working on 35mm Pentaxes, the rewind crank usually has to be removed before the top plate can be lifted off. If the back cover is closed and the rewind spindle ends up plopping inside the camera, which it often does sooner or later, then the ability to open the back easily is very welcome. Attached is a picture of the tool I made for the job. Apologies for the grimy thumbnail - a leftover from replacing the car gearbox seal yesterday!

Steve

A great tip (no pun intended) but I already tried that method and it didn't work. I had to resort to the more invasive method which, with its tiny screws and sleeves, is not for the clumsy. The film door latchwork seems to move up and down (I lightly lubed it) but something inside where the shaft goes is not budging. I couldn't put the rewind shaft back up through the hole due to that. A further teardown of the camera will be necessary. Maybe some lube left to soak in that area first?

 

[Andreas Thaler]

Thanks

The book of Michio Ozeki comprises a chapter with detailed information regarding the Nikon FM and its disassembly:

Let’s Try! - Repair and Maintenance of Cameras: Japan Hobby Tool https://a.co/d/gCyrwpm

 

[Saganich]

My first attempt was to free up a really stiff aperture ring on an old Elmar 50mm enlarging lens...straight forward right. I separated the body and elements , almost lost some tiny ball bearings and springs that fell out. I separated the elements from their barrels noting their orientation and cleaned them, but my notes weren't precise enough and there was confusion regarding convex vs concave assembly of one group. After figuring out the lens groups and cleaning everything I went to reassemble and upon picking-up the barrel I dumped all the aperture blades out. I spent half a day learning how to reassemble, then 2 weeks trying to do it. It became a daily routine, to spend an hour trying to get the last blade in. Back to the tiny spring and ball bearing. Since it fell out while disassembling I had no idea how it was supposed to go back together. The ball bearing was easy, there was a little notch for in under the aperture ring, but that spring? No clue. I decided the spring must go under the ball bearing. Took a while to get that right. I reassembled it all, it worked fine, but I vowed never to take anything apart again unless it was absolute necessary.

 

[Steve Roberts]

A great tip (no pun intended) but I already tried that method and it didn't work. I had to resort to the more invasive method which, with its tiny screws and sleeves, is not for the clumsy. The film door latchwork seems to move up and down (I lightly lubed it) but something inside where the shaft goes is not budging. I couldn't put the rewind shaft back up through the hole due to that. A further teardown of the camera will be necessary. Maybe some lube left to soak in that area first?

Advice that I've always followed is generally to err on the side of caution with lubrication and to use the absolute minimum required. It sounds as if the latch that should be sliding doesn't do so, which could be because of congealed lubricant so I'd try a drop of lighter fluid first. Tomosy uses lighter fluid for general freeing up but do keep it well clear of shutter curtains and other rubber/foam components as it may attack the adhesives. I used lighter fluid (Ronson - other brands are available!) to good effect recently on the self-timer of a Praktina FX that I'm currently working on. In that case the mechanism is easily accessed by removing the base plate and the fluid can be easily applied without danger of getting it all over the place. The once the mechanism was working I allowed plenty of time for the fluid to evaporate before applying watch oil with my tiniest flat-blade screwdriver.
Good luck with the Spotmatic!

Steve

 

[KerrKid]

I turned the Spotmatic into more of a parts camera today. Doh. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. On the shelf it goes. I have another one that works well and it's an Asahi Pentax, so I don't need this one to work. Just playing with it.

 

[campy51]

Just bought this on ebay for $22 including shipping. Let's see what I can learn.

Kowa 150mm f/3.5 Medium Format Lens for Repair​

Lens is offered for parts or repair. The pins on the back of the lens do not move into the correct position to mount the lens on the camera. There is a screw missing from the side of the lens. Lens was in the inventory of a camera repair shop. It was likely disassembled and messed with in the past. May have broken or missing internal components. There is fungus in the internal optics. Aperture blades are clean and move properly. Focus is smooth to turn.

Finish on lens barrel has some scratches and wear.

Invludes Vivitar UV filter. There are some scratches on the filter glass. Does not include caps.

 

[4season]

I spent a number of pandemic hours practicing my camera-repair skills: It seemed more productive than complaining about boredom, or buying random junk online! Digitizing my older photos allowed me to "travel the world" during lockdown, and camera-repair gave me many toys to play with.

My favorite adhesive for camera repairs is Cemedine Super-X. Small tubes can be had from Japanese eBay sellers. Unlike Pliobond, it has little odor, and initially, it has only a little adhesion. But once set, it's perfect for camera leather or cloth shutters, because it remains flexible and does not seem to become brittle with age. I originally became aware of it via the Aki-Asahi website.

Cameras like Zenit can be very good training tools, because they have a "less is more" design which is relatively easy to understand. I am fond of mine, because I started with someone else's broken cameras, but now they are reliable, and I have fussed over small details which make them perform better than new, such as painting shiny internal parts with Culturehustle Black.

 

[benjiboy]

In my previous remarks about camera repairs and incompetent surgeons, I would just like to add that although I retired about twenty years ago, in my youth I was an apprentice trained precision engineer, in the aircraft industry, and later became a member of the British Institute Of Mechanical Engineers , that it's because I know how complex electro/mechanical devices modern S.L.R cameras are.
It's because I lack the tools knowledge and test equipment to do the work that I prefer to pay a qualified camera repairer to service my equipment if and when it's required.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

In my previous remarks about camera repairs and incompetent surgeons, I would just like to add that although I retired about twenty years ago, in my youth I was an apprentice trained precision engineer, in the aircraft industry, and later became a member of the British Institute Of Mechanical Engineers , that it's because I know how complex electro/mechanical devices modern S.L.R cameras are.
It's because I lack the tools knowledge and test equipment to do the work that I prefer to pay a qualified camera repairer to service my equipment if and when it's required.

Could you give us tips/advice for our repair projects based on your experience, training and work?

Many repairs are not accepted by workshops or are not cost-effective, so we are left to our own devices.

 

[benjiboy]

Could you give us tips/advice for our repair projects based on your experience, training and work?

Many repairs are not accepted by workshops or are not cost-effective, so we are left to our own devices.

My training was as a mechanical engineer, I know little about optical science or electronics.

 

[Andreas Thaler]

My training was as a mechanical engineer

This is exactly what is very welcome, as there is probably no special training for precision mechanics anymore.

 

[Steve Roberts]

I turned the Spotmatic into more of a parts camera today. Doh. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. On the shelf it goes. I have another one that works well and it's an Asahi Pentax, so I don't need this one to work. Just playing with it.

I had a "parts" Pentax K1000 kicking around for a while. I then acquired a free second K1000 parts camera. I'd already nicked the meter movement out of the first one to repair a KM and the meter in the second was u/s. In one of the lockdowns during covid I robbed the second camera of enough parts to get the first operational. It looks as rough as rats and doesn't have a meter, so I guess as a meter-less K1000 it amounts to a bayonet mount version of an S1a or SV.

Don't write off your Spotmatic yet. Come back to it in a couple of weeks and you may see it in a new light!

Steve

 

[mshchem]

I just finished installing a new Bosch dishwasher. Perfectly planned for installation by a nitwit. Me!

 

[mshchem]

I had a "parts" Pentax K1000 kicking around for a while. I then acquired a free second K1000 parts camera. I'd already nicked the meter movement out of the first one to repair a KM and the meter in the second was u/s. In one of the lockdowns during covid I robbed the second camera of enough parts to get the first operational. It looks as rough as rats and doesn't have a meter, so I guess as a meter-less K1000 it amounts to a bayonet mount version of an S1a or SV.

Don't write off your Spotmatic yet. Come back to it in a couple of weeks and you may see it in a new light!

Steve

I love Spotmatics!! My first SLR.

 

[KerrKid]

I had a "parts" Pentax K1000 kicking around for a while. I then acquired a free second K1000 parts camera. I'd already nicked the meter movement out of the first one to repair a KM and the meter in the second was u/s. In one of the lockdowns during covid I robbed the second camera of enough parts to get the first operational. It looks as rough as rats and doesn't have a meter, so I guess as a meter-less K1000 it amounts to a bayonet mount version of an S1a or SV.

Don't write off your Spotmatic yet. Come back to it in a couple of weeks and you may see it in a new light!

Steve

I won't write it off, but it was rough to begin with. I managed to shear the head of the small screw that holds the film advance winder down. That was after having to file down a tiny screwdriver to work those micro screws loose that hold on the film advance winder cap. Whose stupid idea was it to use these screws? THREE of them. Anywho...In reality, it would probably make zero sense to repair this camera or even part it out.

I have a Spotmatic SV and SP II in perfect shape so this beater camera will sit on the shelf in the closet with a bag of its parts.