UK - List your preferred camera repairer here

Ian Grant

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Aug 2, 2004
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Thanks that's useful. I had my Mamiya 645S repaired/serviced by the importers & it came back with the same faults the first time and a chipped prism the second and it still clips off one edge of the image. They also botched the replacement of the diaphragm on a Tamron 17mm wide angle.

Ian
 

skinnyvoice

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Sep 29, 2008
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London UK
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I know this is an old thread but rather than start a new one I would like to recommend Brian Mickleboro. My Rolleiflex 3.5F had a sticky shutter release, dodgy 1s shutter speed and a depth of field indicator that had lost its connection to the aperture dial (the usual problems of a camera that had not been used for years). He turned it round in a week for a very reasonable cost and I have a 3.5F that feels new! He seems a nice guy to deal with on the phone too.

Mr. Brian Mickleboro,
6 Fairway
Bishop's Stortford
Herts, CM23 5LT
e-mail: bjmick@aol.com
Phone 01279 755862

'Formerly of The Studio Workshop, London. Mr. Mickleboro is factory trained and has 30-40 years of experience in servicing Rollei cameras'
 

alexmacphee

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Aug 13, 2009
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Surrey, UK
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I can add to the recommendation for Newton Ellis in Liverpool. The fixed the broken frame counter on my little Yashica 72E half-frame, and their price was within their telephone diagnosis when I described the problem to them. When the camera came back, they'd also got the selenium meter working, and tightened up the wobbly lens assembly, at no extra charge.

I can also recommend Protech Photographic, at http://www.protechrepairs.co.uk/. They were recommended to me by other Contax users, and they repaired my Contax 167MT when the electronic readouts on the LCD and in the viewfinder packed up. Once again, spot on with the telephone estimate and diagnosis, and a speedy turnaround.
 

xtolsniffer

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Mar 27, 2008
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Yorkshire, U
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Protech camera repairers in Sussex http://www.protechrepairs.co.uk/
A small outfit asscoiated with mxv photographic. I sent in a Mamiya Sekor C 65mm for a service and it came back quickly, and they did a superb job for a very reasonable price. I'd certainly use them again.
 

Wishy

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Feb 28, 2008
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UK
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Nikon specialist - Aztech Services
'Oakwood'
Ringwood Road
Bransgore
Dorset
BH23 8AA

Phone/Fax: 01425 674004
E-mail: aztech.services@btopenworld.com

Work undetaken
Nikon FE2 with broken aperture coupling (Rusted spring aparrently). Had a problem a bit after (First roll, but wasn't aparrent when i first recieved it) - dealt with under warrenty professionally, reasonably and quickly - which i guess is the mark of a good repairman.
Nikon F3 with "not quite right" aperture couple and a sticky DOF button.

Very competitive price, turnaround approximately 2 weeks. About 65 + postage for a full CLA of the more mechanical cameras (F4/F5 are a bit more)
 
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Wishy

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Feb 28, 2008
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Exakta Specialist - Tom Page
+44 1843 848115 Afternoons only

15 St Magnus Close
Birchington
Kent
England
CT7 9UW

Work undertaken
Exakta VX - Replaced shutters and CLA'ed
Exakta Varex IIA - Replaced shutters and CLA'ed
Kine Exakta - CLA'ed (Supprisingly, 1938 shutters still intact)

Turnaround about 3 weeks, price around 35+parts+postage (But call to check)
 

namke

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Jul 9, 2007
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94
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35mm
Just steeling myself for the fact that my F4s and F90x both need to be looked at (flashing alert light on the F4 after taking a shot; f90x doesn't consistently recognise my Nikon AF lenses - dodgy contacts in both cases I think).

Or is it just cheaper to buy replacements...?
 

John Lawrence

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Nov 8, 2007
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67
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35mm RF
I'm late to this thread. However, reading through here are some of my experiences:

Optical Instruments (Balham) - I've used this company for polishing / re-coating lenses and they did a superb job at a very reasonable cost. Others have commented on the length of time it takes, but I believe this is because they try to keep prices down by batch-coating. Thus if your lens happens to go in just after a batch has been done, you could face a bit of a wait. Having said that though, I spoke to a couple of top Leica repairers who couldn't believe the low price they charged me for repair!

Malcolm Taylor - Repaired Leicas for me that others have been unable to. Fantastic service, can't recommend him highly enough.
 
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Brook Hill

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Feb 14, 2005
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136
Location
Bookham Surr
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35mm
An excellent film camera repairman is Dave Illot of Aztech Services. He specialises in Nikon but is equally competent an all other makes. He does not charge to look at a camera and has no minimum charge. If it costs say £10 then that is what he will charge, if it can't be repaired then there is no charge.
His contact is by email :- aztech.services@btopenworld.com
Telephone:- 01425 674004
Address:- The Workshop,
Oakwood,
Ringwood Road,
Bransgore,
Dorset,
BH23 8AA.
Tony
 

Wishy

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Feb 28, 2008
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UK
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The F90X - they're pretty robust and generally its quite hard to find a bad one on ebay. You probably wouldn't pay more than £50 for one. So its uneconomical to repair (Or maybe its time to upgrade to an F100)

The F4 is almost certainly worth getting a CLA done on it, and no doubt once its had a bit of TLC it'll be good for many more years. Aztech (As mentioned by Myself and Brook above) have a standard rate of £86.25 + 8 quid postage, and probably the same to get it to him by special delivery. So £100 all in.
 

namke

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Jul 9, 2007
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35mm
Wishy said:
The F90X - they're pretty robust and generally its quite hard to find a bad one on ebay. You probably wouldn't pay more than £50 for one. So its uneconomical to repair (Or maybe its time to upgrade to an F100)
Click to expand...

Oof. Not sure how that'd go down with the missis! I suppose that my worry is that getting a replacement might just leave me with different problems!

I've dropped Aztech a line, so hopefully they'll be able to give some advice as well.

Thanks
 

Wishy

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Feb 28, 2008
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namke said:
Oof. Not sure how that'd go down with the missis! I suppose that my worry is that getting a replacement might just leave me with different problems!
Click to expand...

That's a toughie, I guess its a risk, same as your current one being unrepairable and still having to pay postage.
What I will say is there are a hell of a lot of F90X's about and I've heard of very few with faults. The odds are in your favour.
 

rulnacco

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Mar 20, 2008
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Indianapolis, IN
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Medium Format
Wanted to add another recommendation, for Leica repairs. I will also heartily endorse the work of Malcolm Taylor. I've had to get into Leica the cheap way, buying slightly dodgy but useable lenses.

For very reasonable prices, he's brought an old goggled 35 Summaron and a rigid 50 Summicron to almost good as new spec. He's legendary for his skill - he has actually fabricated parts to restore historically valuable cameras - and he offers lens recoating amongst his services.

His turnaround time is very rapid. And a phone conversation with him is always a very pleasant and instructive interaction!
 

Roger Evans

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Feb 29, 2008
Messages
6
Location
Hertfordshir
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Multi Format
Anyone know who can repair a Hassie back in the UK ? The film counter isn't detecting the film and winding on. I'm sure it's a simple repair job ( probably cleaning and lubrication), but I can't afford to pay official Hassie repairers a fortune for an occasional hobby camera. There must be lots of semi retired former Hassie engineers around. ( Herts/Cam area) Or can anyone provide instructions on how to do it myself ? best wishes, Alan.
 

Gunfleet

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Jun 1, 2009
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Medium Format
Film camera repairs

Graham Playlord, Riley Road, 19g Tower Workshops, London SE1 3DG
020 7394 5060 is very nice to deal with and didn't charge much to sort out electrical problems on my Mamiya 7II.
 

freecom2

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Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
116
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35mm
Do you know if Graham (Playford?) has an email address I could contact him on? I got my Pentax MX CLA'd by Miles Whitehead (for the purposes of this thread - charges very reasonably and I was happy with the work), but was wondering who else was out there.
 

Gunfleet

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Jun 1, 2009
Messages
93
Format
Medium Format
Hi Tom, I've just found your question. It was poorly soldered connections, he told me. Reckons they're common on Mamiya 7 IIs which is a pity as mine hasn't lived a hard life. I think most of the cost was in taking the thing apart sufficiently to solder safely. Good luck with yours
John
 
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