What is the MOST frustrating thing that ever happened when repairing / cleaning?

David Lyga · Feb 23, 2015

This has to be an exercise in frustration (and formulation of but new four letter words): Sometimes things go wrong at the wrong time. This has happened to me SEVERAL times.

You take the time to remove the top of a 35mm SLR, like a Spotmatic, or SR-T or other mechanical SLR, for the sole purpose of cleaning that prism area. (NB: if the specks are out of focus, somewhat blurred, most likely those specks are on the underside of the Fresnel and access is, instead, from the mount opening: use a very soft brush and DO NOT touch that foam or you will get a royal mess on the Fresnel screen.) But, back to the top area: You carefully brush all the top parts immediately after removing that top. You tighten the strap lugs. Then you remove the prism, clean the viewing area (both sides) then carefully brush away the dust that has accumulated on the glass/Fresnel area, even using a soft tissue with a drop of glass cleaner to get everything just right and immaculate. Then you do the same with the actual prism. Done.

You test your work by replacing that prism and looking through the viewing area to make certain that all is spotlessly clean. It is. You then begin the laborious task of replacing that top, putting back all screws and, in the interim, several times (at each successive stage of replacing the top), you confirm the cleanliness of that prism area through the viewfinder. All is finally secured, the top is on fully, all screws and knobs have been put back.

Then ... one final confirmation viewing and ... lo and behold! ... there is now a giant black speck in that viewfinder! The miscreant was hiding within the tiny crevices of the prism area and manifested only when the body was shaken for the tenth time. No way could that piece of debris have rendered its ugly face BEFORE that top was secured.

This, with one camera, happened THREE consecutive times. And, to FINALLY remove all debris, I had to spend a total of more than two hours and countless outpourings of utterly gross profanity.

Has anything similar happened to you? - David Lyga

benjiboy · Feb 23, 2015

I don't have them I'm a photographer not a camera repair technician.

removed account4 · Feb 23, 2015

it wasn't with a camera or lens, but with a travel clock.
i still have it on my shelf to remind me never to open the back
and try to repair it or anything like it ... twas like in a loony tunes cartoon ...

Truzi · Feb 23, 2015

When I was a kid I used to take apart toys to see how they worked, and try to put them back together. What often happened with the better electric motors (with spring-loaded carbon brushes) is similar to what frustrates me on the very few camera repairs I've attempted...
...a tiny spring sails across the room.

Alan W · Feb 23, 2015

David,I feel your pain.This always seems to happen to me with lenses-there's always a tiny fleck of fiber or speck of dust between the elements when I reassemble them,(if I succeed in reassembling them!)So much so that unless I can do without the camera or lens,i.e. it's cheap enough to ruin,I won't go at it at all.

benjiboy · Feb 23, 2015

At the risk of repeating myself although in my youth I was an apprentice trained precision engineer, I have always considered having my equipment professionally maintained by specialists as part of the cost of my passion for photography not buying more and more cameras, which is one of the reasons I have had the majority of my equipment for more than thirty years, and it all still works perfectly.

David Lyga · Feb 23, 2015

As far as springs flying across the room: they indeed do, and do so silently, like black death in the dead of night. With lenses, the problem is not (usually) as extreme, but, beware folks, if you do attempt to take apart any lens shorter than 28mm, you had better be absolutely positive of both the direction and the order of the elements that you remove from the rear. The 24s are amazingly complex and I could imagine how complex are the shorter still.

Many a time I have crawled on the floor and used my hand (or a damp rag), to scour that floor for a ball bearing that has lost its bearing. They ALWAYS, ALWAYS hide in places that never see the light of day. But, again, yes, the springs, especially the ones which hold that ball bearing (try the Pentax K mount, 2/50mm for new ventures of frustration) are amazingly potent in their trajectory. I have YET to learn after all these years to ALWAYS place a clean, white towel immediately underneath the work that I am doing. I keep telling myself "It's just one thing that I have to remove" and then all goes to H---!

One tip I can offer to those who will learn better than my obstinance allows is this: when taking the aperture ring off the lens body, place the whole lens in a food storage bag and then take off the ring. THEN, if the ball bearing and spring go flying, they will not go far because they will be captured within that bag. I say this but 'inconvenience' has yet to tether that logic to my damn brain.

One ends up having immense respect for camera technicians. The level of disclipline (and parallel satisfaction in finally getting the job done correctly), are profound. After literally decades of honing this work, I cannot yet call my self a camera repairman, but I can say, without equivocation, that I can clean internal elements as well as a 'clean room' can. I am left-handed: The secret, above all, (for me) is to wipe elements in a circular fashion after wetting them with glass cleaner, holding the element between the right thumb and index finger while holding a soft tissue with the left thumb and index finder and, again, with the right hand, turning that element disc around repeatedly. You MUST use a cleaner that contains a bit of soap, because using alsohol, alone, will set up static and dust will cling. The soap (only a bit) removes that static. - David Lyga

benjiboy · Feb 23, 2015

One ends up having immense respect for camera technicians.

So have I David, and despite my engineering training I appreciate what a specialized trade it is, and the more I look at the service manuals for my cameras the more I realize my own limitations in this field because my background and experience are in a completely different branch of engineering, and I believe every man to his own trade.

Jeff Bradford · Feb 23, 2015

I'm a complete vandal when it comes to camera repair. When I accidentally dump all the parts on the floor, I get the flashlight and set it on the floor so the tiny parts can cast a big shadow, making them easy to spot.

The worst thing? I removed a focus screen to clean it, then scratched it while re-inserting it. Well, more like chiseled it with the tip of the screwdriver I was using. Now I just ignore the dust specks in the view-finder.

Kirks518 · Feb 23, 2015

My most recent grumble moment was I completely restored a nice Agfa Karat, relubed the helicoil, clean everything from top to bottom, etc. Then I noticed the stupid film reminder on the rewind knob was not working the way it should. Long story short, I busted the retaining spring for the rewind assembly, now you can't rewind the film. GRRRRrrr....

Second worst was when I first started DIY'ing stuff. Had a nice Biotar that had a hunk of dust towards the middle elements. I learned the hard way that you have to mark the point of separation when you take the helicoid (helicoil?) apart. It's still sitting in two pieces on a shelf. About every 6 months or so I try and reassemble it. Thus far I have not been lucky enough to match the threads so that it actually focuses to infinity. I've been close though...

trythis · Feb 23, 2015

I have a few to share if I may ignore the "worst" requirement:

I was curious about converting my Canon FL 58 1.2 - to EF mount. When opening the back of the lens at 1:00AM over a rustic wood table in front of my laptop and sitting in a chair half on concrete and half on a wool rug, I lifted the rear plate off and SPATTER! That's the sound of ~85 < 1mm ball bearings going everywhere. I found all but 4 in the cracks of the table, between the laptop keys, stuck in the helical grease, and in the rug. At 3:00 AM I put them all in a film cannister and went to sleep. I now, ALWAYS, open gear inside a large, deep tray so that ball bearings and tiny screws stay close by. I think it took 4 tries to get them back in right but microtools was out of the correct size bearings so I had to buy 6 types of ball point pens until I found the correct size bearings and chopped them out of the tips. I just cant sell that lens knowing how much work I put into it and no, it cant be converted without a lot of machining like the 55mm version can.

I had a minty FTBn body that needed a new battery wire and internal cleaning. I took it all apart, fixed it and after cleaning it all and resetting the prism I guess something was slightly out of place and I heard a familiar sound of glass cracking ever so slightly....Yep, a corner of the prism shattered and its the one that the shutter speed wheel occupies. I parts binned the whole camera...bummer.

Replacing the shutter curtains in a canon IIIF rangefinder when the old ones were broken off so I had no way to know where to attach the new ones. It took 6 tries to get it right and it took months because I needed emotional breaks from the stress. It is STUPID difficult to replace those things without robotic fingers! I have since inherited a Leica IIIc and while the viewfinder in the Canon is better, the internals of the Leica are so much easier work on. adjusting the curtain springs in the leica is a cake walk by comparison. Luckily the Leica curtains are in great shape!

tkamiya · Feb 23, 2015

Yup.... lens cleaning is pain.

Almost all of my EL-Nikkor needed deep cleaning. They look fine on first glance but often, there are definite haze on internal elements. So I take it apart and clean. I make sure there are no dust. Put it all together and inspect again. Argh! So take it apart again and clean again.... Argh! I usually do this 4 to 5 times until I get it right.

By the way.... As David says, order and top/bottom is critical. I usually put a DOT with a sharpie on top side of the lens before remove it from barrel. Then put them in order on far end of my desk. The mark easily comes off during cleaning and makes it fool proof on top/bottom issue. I also work on one assembly at a time, so at most, I'm dealing with 2 to 3 elements.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 23, 2015

APUGuser19 said:
... shoes come off first--right where they are. Then clothes (gently) ...

Perhaps camera repair should be done while naked and shaven.

If I were a novice and wanted to learn to repair behind-the-lens leaf-shutter SLR's, how and where would I start? I know this is a camera repair nightmare, but I'm highly motivated to learn this skill and am sure I've got the mechanical and engineering aptitude for it. Any specific repair manuals? I have the Compur shutter manual.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 24, 2015

Thank you for the information. I know a bit about mechanical watch repair, so what you say makes perfect sense.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread - I will ask further questions in a separate thread. Thanks again.

Nodda Duma · Feb 24, 2015

Dry nitrogen or filtered compressed air flow across your bench is your friend when doing this stuff at home.

There's a free clean air bench on Craigslist in Danvers, MA.

David Lyga · Feb 24, 2015

A clean towel immediately underneath your work area works wonders for mitigating travel of the loose parts. Ball bearings stay put. However, this does not prevent trajectories from manifesting. Springs still fly.

Apparently, I am not the only one who experiences these problems. Still, we repair. And, APUGuser19's caveat when searching for lost parts: about not moving, inspecting all around you before any movement, is true. - David Lyga

Vilk · Feb 24, 2015

mensch, i've just had a vision--a bunch of nekkid body-shaven geezers with their feet on clean towels, springs flying left and right... mmmm... i dunno...

E. von Hoegh · Feb 24, 2015

Whenever possible I look at an exploded view of whatever I'm working on, if parts might get loose put a light towel or piece of sheet over it.
I make drawings, notes, take pictures, etc. Observe how it goes together very carefully before you take it apart. Use something like a tray lined with a towel to lay out parts and subassemblies in order as you disassemble. Stick screws into corrugated cardboard and label them.

Tweezers - file up the points so they are square and meet evenly, parts will be much less likely to go traveling. Stiff tweezers tend to make one hamhanded.

With good habits and good organization, as well as the right set of tools and work area I find this sort of work almost as good as meditation. If you're getting frustrated, something's wrong and you need to back off and see what it is. Sometimes you just need a break, when you sit back down the problem solves itself.

nosmok · Feb 25, 2015

For me it was finding that a near immaculate looking old 616 Kodak had had the lens removed and replaced so it wouldn't make infinity. This started a whole cascade of nonsense with a somewhat happy ending that I'll detail in a separate post.

Brett Rogers · Mar 4, 2015

Theo Sulphate said:
Perhaps camera repair should be done while naked and shaven.

If I were a novice and wanted to learn to repair behind-the-lens leaf-shutter SLR's, how and where would I start? I know this is a camera repair nightmare, but I'm highly motivated to learn this skill and am sure I've got the mechanical and engineering aptitude for it. Any specific repair manuals? I have the Compur shutter manual.

I'd suggest trying something easily and reasonably cheaply available that is not the ultimate in complexity, and go from there. This excludes the various Retina Reflexes and Voigtlaenders (in particular the Ultramatic) as being some of the more challenging designs to work on. If your criteria are flexible enough to include the Contaflex (which is a between, not behind, the lens shutter configuration) I would probably recommend the first Super as a starting point. It was the 35mm lens shutter SLR model made in the greatest numbers (of the German ones anyway, if not of all types). It is a unit focus version so it's quicker and easier to remove the front for access to the shutter (which, if the meter cell is OK, is usually about all they actually need to sing again). It doesn't have the complexity of the later shutter priority auto exposure models incl Super B & BC (not that they are really that bad). Alternatively a Contaflex I or II is front cell focus and a generally simpler design. But the way the distance scale ring and focus ring are installed makes it fiddly to take off to reach the shutter. Once accessed the mechanism is not as complex. I've worked on every model Contaflex with a Compur shutter (except the Contaflex III, and I've just got one of those). They are an interesting design but were beautifully made with quality materials. Which means that if you use due care and take your time they will go back together and work nearly every time. I've got a couple of dozen going again without too many issues. Tomosy covers the Contaflex I, Super, Retina Reflex and Bessamatic in some detail in his books if reference materials are needed, there is a good repair CD for the Bessamatic available online, and Chris Sherlock has an excellent repair article on his site for one of the Retina Reflexes if you are masochistic enough to start with one of those. Contaflex manuals are also available on eBay too.
Cheers,
Brett

What is the MOST frustrating thing that ever happened when repairing / cleaning?

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