Why do you do your own repair?

[eli griggs]

Because I needed a hobby away from a computer

I find that a bit ironic, seeing how I depend on on-line data based and video off YouTube to walk me through the how tops.

For example, one of the simple repairs to my Hasselblad 500cm, how to unjam the camera and lens when locked up, I learned on YouTube, which is fortunate for me, seeing how many photographers send their camera and lens out to expensive repair people for what is a simple enough job to do well, with the correct long shaft screwdriver.

Replacing magazine light sales is a common self repair, and I am still learning by taking apart some of the broken or non-functioning Hasselblad kits some folks have sent me.

I'm still asking for this stuff, by the way.

I've always rather to repair the simple things in my life than use monies I do not have to hire the job out.

Replacing light traps on, for example, on the Canonet QL 17, typical 35mm SLRs or rangefinders, like a Minolta Hi-Matic 9, which had become loose at some point before i got it, and experienced a thin red power wire cut by it slipping between loosened focusing parts, was a bit daunting, at first, but it was a simple repair and I'm glad I tried to fix it myself or it would become just another benched "collectable" on a shelf.


I find it fun and challenging to keep kit going and intend to continue as long as I'm shooting my own kit.

Godspeed Everyone.

 

[eli griggs]

An unexpected discovery for me was the joy of the camera itself as medium for expression.

It began when I custom-painted a FED-2, and I found the results very satisfying.

Then I realized that pitted metal finishes or cracked plastic housings might be an opportunity to experiment with kintsugi-type repairs, in which the repairs are visible, and can be beautiful features in their own right, with lacquer or epoxy being left in it's natural color, or combined with a decorative element such as powdered gold.

And I might have sought out an exact replacement part for a Pentax with missing plastic trim piece, but I opted to experiment with hand-carving the part from bamboo instead. But if I knew how to work with such substances, it could just as easily have been turquoise or malachite.

I suggested that we, photographers that repair our own kit, start using Kintsugi on our own camera kit, honoring their long lives of photographic service.

I'm glad to see you're already using those methods on you cameras, etc, because it gives me hope others will start doing this on Good Functioning Repairs.

https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/

 

[dxqcanada]

I started at a very young age being interested on how things worked ... around 9yrs I took the bolts of a toilet so I could see where the water went.. My family fed me anything that was broken just to keep my attention on something. In school I always enjoyed the "tech" courses ... machine shop, electronics, metal shop, electricity, even home ec (I was trained by my grandmother on the sewing machine, and my father was a carpenter). After I got into photography I wanted to take the National Camera Course so I could be a trained repair person ... after a stint in the photo industry, I ended up in the world of Computers. I only got into doing repairs in the past decade as a hobby. I buy broken stuff, fix it, sell it, then buy more broken stuff. Great that the Nat Cam course is free on the Internet now.

 

[awty]

I'm always disappointed when I buy something advertised as junk/ not working and there is nothing wrong with it apart from needing 10 minutes of TLC.

There are too many Randy's in the world.

 

[titrisol]

I find that a bit ironic, seeing how I depend on on-line data based and video off YouTube to walk me through the how tops.

For example, one of the simple repairs to my Hasselblad 500cm, how to unjam the camera and lens when locked up, I learned on YouTube, which is fortunate for me, seeing how many photographers send their camera and lens out to expensive repair people for what is a simple enough job to do well, with the correct long shaft screwdriver.

Replacing magazine light sales is a common self repair, and I am still learning by taking apart some of the broken or non-functioning Hasselblad kits some folks have sent me.

I'm still asking for this stuff, by the way.

I've always rather to repair the simple things in my life than use monies I do not have to hire the job out.

Replacing light traps on, for example, on the Canonet QL 17, typical 35mm SLRs or rangefinders, like a Minolta Hi-Matic 9, which had become loose at some point before i got it, and experienced a thin red power wire cut by it slipping between loosened focusing parts, was a bit daunting, at first, but it was a simple repair and I'm glad I tried to fix it myself or it would become just another benched "collectable" on a shelf.


I find it fun and challenging to keep kit going and intend to continue as long as I'm shooting my own kit.

Godspeed Everyone.

That is partly true, as the work is in real world, despite using electronic books/documents
This is mechanical work and you are not only using your eyes and the tip of you fingers but most of the other senses as well

 

[eli griggs]

"This is mechanical work and you are not only using your eyes and the tip of you fingers but most of the other senses as well"

Yep, that's a very big part of the joy of working with your hands.