So much for mechanical cameras

[Bill Burk]

I have to send my ES-II back for warranty service… the hotshoe mount has a crack, and the mirror occasionally sticks up.

I was surprised that it needs service so soon. It had just had a full indepth CLA.

Fortunately shipping is free.

Just have to carry it to my darkroom and get out the repair kit.

 

[MattKing]

I have to send my ES-II back for warranty service… the hotshoe mount has a crack, and the mirror occasionally sticks up.

I was surprised that it needs service so soon. It had just had a full indepth CLA.

Fortunately shipping is free.

Just have to carry it to my darkroom and get out the repair kit.

And does your repair tech respond promptly when you have questions?

 

[Don_ih]

And does your repair tech respond promptly when you have questions?

I bet he finds him impossible to get on the phone.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I've fixed some of my own cameras to the point where I could probably fix them for others but it just isn't worth it. I rebuilt a Canon 7 a few years ago and it operates like butter now. Paying someone to completely disassemble, clean and adjust to perfect a $100 camera like that just wouldn't be very smart. For me "value" is about usefulness, not money. That is why I rebuilt the Canon 7. Totally worth it.

Even some "mechanical" cameras are a bit complicated electronically. I have a Minolta Hi-Matic E that needs to be rewired. The wires in it were cloth covered and just didn't last, especially after I started fiddling with them, ahem. I'll get to it one of these years. At least I have a schematic for it. One thing that is nice these days is the amount of info out there. Repair manuals and videos just weren't available years ago.

I enjoy fixing things sometimes. Sometimes I enjoy throwing things away. I always scavenge all the screws and bits first though.

 

[cliveh]

A lot of it has to do with how much quality is in the original camera. I'll buy a working Leica that is 70 years old without a thought ... the machining and design in those are top rate. With proper service every couple of decades it will continue to work pretty much forever (unless really heavily used -- anything wears out.)

My experience with electronic cameras is less good -- but then, most of those I've dealt with were cheaper models. The Leica R3 is its own horror story, but in general I have found that less-expensive electronics in cameras do not last and when they go bad service is harder. At least with a mechanical camera you are dealing with bits of metal that can be removed, cleaned, oiled and put back. Magnets in electronically controlled shutters, and condensers and so forth, are something else.

Spot on. I have a 1934 Leica II and recently had it serviced and cleaned. It works sweet as a nut.

 

[Bill Burk]

And does your repair tech respond promptly when you have questions?

Depends how much he’s had to drink.

I bet he finds him impossible to get on the phone.

Always a busy signal.

 

[Bill Burk]

Well it’s fixed, so he says. Good thing it had a 2-year warranty.

 

[Bill Burk]

That’s the thing that drives me crazy about “guarantees”, “warranties” and other assurances.

Alkaline batteries are all “guaranteed” not to leak… but they all do. And it ruins your camera.

Mercury batteries didn’t do that (and that’s another story).

What you want is a mechanical camera that will always work. And that list is short.

Leica is a good choice, as is Hasselblad and Rolleiflex.

A Nikon F2 may fit the need.

There are others we’ve mentioned but it’s interesting to note that very cheap cameras such as a Diana will always work.

 

[Pioneer]

That’s the thing that drives me crazy about “guarantees”, “warranties” and other assurances.

Alkaline batteries are all “guaranteed” not to leak… but they all do. And it ruins your camera.

Mercury batteries didn’t do that (and that’s another story).

What you want is a mechanical camera that will always work. And that list is short.

Leica is a good choice, as is Hasselblad and Rolleiflex.

A Nikon F2 may fit the need.

There are others we’ve mentioned but it’s interesting to note that very cheap cameras such as a Diana will always work.

And the old Kodak No 2 Brownie.

 

[Roger Cole]

There are still manufactures of tubes in China and Russia, theres also plenty of good old tubes still out there. Modern circuit boards will fail and not be repairable, but its still viable to make a solid state or tube amp. Ive made several.

A lot of the Chinese tubes are absolute junk.

I was considering replacing the 811As in my AL-811H amateur radio amp with 572Bs for (if I could get NOS GOOD 572Bs) essentially unlimited tube life. But after asking around I found that the Russian made version of the 811A actually is far more reliable and long lived than the crappy Chinese 572Bs.

 

[Don_ih]

And the old Kodak No 2 Brownie.

Almost every box camera I've ever picked up worked.

 

[Tony-S]

What you want is a mechanical camera that will always work. And that list is short.

Meh. The trade-offs aren't worth it, IMO.

 

[Sergey Ko]

In June 2023 was closed the LAST Photo technics Repair service in Vilnius, Lithuania. The owner is too old & retired, his younger pupils found some other working positions. I am lucky they made me prophylactic for Robot Royal 24 and Werra RF! But the new items in my 16mm collection, GaMi-16 & Rolley-16S still need attention
I want to sell all expensive mechanical-elecronical film cameras (like Hasselblad Xpan & Fuji GA645zi) because I am afraid in 10 years there will be no possibility to repair them. Like it happened with Konica RF with Error ##...
Now at least you can get good money for them.
For the future I prepared the "Japan Linhof" -Horseman with 3 lens, RF, viewfinders & a lot of extras.
I always can make a glass plates for it

 

[Sergey Ko]

Just this morning, I was making a list of things to worry about. So far:

1. Lethal heat waves and extreme storms will prevent me from going outside to take photos.

2. Putin is going to push the Big Red Button, and it will be too radioactive to go outside and take photos.

3. Civil war will be followed by a complete breakdown of society, and it will be too dangerous to go outside and take photos.

4. My four mechanical SLRs will all break, and I wont be able to go outside and take photos.

5. A collapse of the financial system will wipe out my life savings, and I will have to move outside and live in a tent camp and eat whatever I can find in dumpsters.

Now, all I have to do is make sure the items on my list are in the right order, so I will know which ones to worry about the most. ;-)

Living 20 km from Belarus border I did not took in my hands cameras since 24-02-2022
Really there are some other things in this world to worry about...

 

[runswithsizzers]

Living 20 km from Belarus border I did not took in my hands cameras since 24-02-2022
Really there are some other things in this world to worry about...

My point, exactly. But only once in a lifetime do we get the opportunity to photograph the End of the World.

 

[Besk]

Living 20 km from Belarus border I did not took in my hands cameras since 24-02-2022
Really there are some other things in this world to worry about...

I know how you feel. My wife is visiting in Minsk just now. I was to visit last summer but didn't. May be a long time beforeI go back.
Vilnius is very photogenic. Love Druskininkai area!

 

[eli griggs]

When was the last time parts for a Barnack Leica were manufactured or available off the shelf? Who's suggesting you can't have these repaired anymore? So there you go, it's too simplistic to throw your hands in the air and wail, keeping cameras going is as much to do with desire than sulking about difficult to find parts. This isn't even true yet for a Barnack Leica but when the camera becomes rare enough to have a true value the parts will be repaired, sourced from damaged cameras, or remade. In the meantime it's going to be a fact of life that when a Nikon fails and it's too expensive to have it repaired, buy another.

As far as parts are concerned, you do not explore the never known before, the multiple ways of various 3D printing methods, polymers, metals, laser cutting from thin stock, small 3D parts scanners, the easily available metals, and other materials.

If I had to chose between having a decent shooting Leica, Minolta tlr, view camera, etc with a/several polymer parts or laser cut metals never used before, or having my inoperative camera sitting on a shelve, I'll take the mended camera, always.

I'll go further and suggest that photographers explore replacing parts that are prone to occasional failures, with more suitable and modern available materials that will function, at least as well and hopefully better than, what is being replaced.

For a personal example, I want to replace what I believe is a Bakelite battery cover on my Leica MR-4 meter, rather than simply mending with an adhesive, that may just snap at an inconvenient and critical moment.

Ask yourself, would you rather your prize camera, in my case a Hasselblad CM, working or waiting for an OEM replacement that may never show up?

Cheers

 

[Chan Tran]

Alkaline batteries are all “guaranteed” not to leak… but they all do. And it ruins your camera.

The reason all alkalines batteries are guaranteed not to leak because they do.

 

[Craig]

As far as parts are concerned, you do not explore the never known before, the multiple ways of various 3D printing methods, polymers, metals, laser cutting from thin stock, small 3D parts scanners, the easily available metals, and other materials.

The dimensional tolerances in 3D printed parts fall well below what would be required in a camera, and similarly the strength of the parts would not be anywhere near a metal part. I can make tolerances much finer on a manually operated lathe or milling machine than a 3D printer can do.

3D printing might be useful for something like a cover or top plate where exact dimensions are not critical, but not for internal parts like gears, bearings or shafts.

 

[bjorke]

Tools. Even crowbars and hammers rust out eventually.

 

[BMbikerider]

Well, cars in the southern US and cars in southern Europe are going to last longer than cars up here in the heavily salted north. The engines never fail but the rest of the car rusts out pretty quickly. And I put about 100k miles on a car in 5-6 years. Everywhere you go here is an hour in one direction or other.
There's no denying the reliability of cars and how much more reliable they are than ever before. But they still get turned over at a remarkable rate, here - and any accident that sets off the airbag past their 4-year-birthday is a write-off (it costs more to replace the airbag and dash components than the list price of the car).

The same can apply to modern motorcycles. You can put phenomenal mileages on them with no problems - usually but when they go wrong they really go wrong. You have to have a degree in computer science and a licenced computer from the manufacturer to diagnose the problem. Then with the old bikes it was easy. simple. and cheap to replace a failed component. I owned a 1987 BMW K75s which I bought with 19K miles recorded and it ran and ran and ran. The only major problem in the 24 years it covered 182,000 miles I owned and it was a failed water pump and a Hall sensor (Part of the ignition system) let the side down. It even had the same clutch it came with! Once I had the parts I did the work myself and I was back up and running in no time. No specialist knowledge needed, just a knowledge of what spanner fits what part!

With the event of electrical vehicles providing the lithium batteries don't self combust, they will probably go one for many miles but any servicing will have to be done by a trained and qualified engineer in a franchised garage because there will be no technical details generally available to the back street garage and possibly too dangerous for them to deal with anyway.

 

[BMbikerider]

Tools. Even crowbars and hammers rust out eventually.

Only if you miss-treat them.

 

[250swb]

Ask yourself, would you rather your prize camera, in my case a Hasselblad CM, working or waiting for an OEM replacement that may never show up?

Cheers

I kind of think you miss the point. When a Barnack Leica fails it's likely to be things like shutter cloth and ribbons, easily repairable. Good repair people can also make things. So it's not an 'either or' question, they can be repaired. But of course it's at a price, and most Nikon's do not meet the crossover point between repair costs and buying another similar camera instead. Sure, have a techie repair your Hasselblad but that wasn't the point.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The dimensional tolerances in 3D printed parts fall well below what would be required in a camera, and similarly the strength of the parts would not be anywhere near a metal part. I can make tolerances much finer on a manually operated lathe or milling machine than a 3D printer can do.

3D printing might be useful for something like a cover or top plate where exact dimensions are not critical, but not for internal parts like gears, bearings or shafts.

If 3D printers were as good as the users think they are, then all the machine shops in the world would be out of business. That has not happened.

 

[Chan Tran]

If 3D printers were as good as the users think they are, then all the machine shops in the world would be out of business. That has not happened.

I don't think they are any where as good as machined parts but even if they are the speed of production is too slow compared to regular CNC machining.