Yashica-Mat CLA cost?

unwantedfocus · Mar 29, 2021

Recently my Yashica-MAT started acting up. Once I left it two days sitting the shutter was very slow and the gears didn't move that well (Shutter lagged and was open longer than it suppose to). On my last roll 6 images were blank, I really like the camera very much so I decided to give to a repairman. Since I live in Germany and there is no Mark Hama, I used google and sent it to a old school shop who had some good reviews on google. He called me after inspection and told me he needs to open the leaf shutter and re-grease/clean the whole camera. I suspect the camera never had a CLA in the first place. It is a bit busted and has its wear but everything else is fine and it always served me with good images. He will charge 140 Euros about 160 Dollars. I read the Yashica MAT 124G has a similar pricing when it comes to a CLA. Is the service overpriced? This is my first CLA ever..

Thanks

pbromaghin · Mar 29, 2021

Sounds about right to me. He has to make a living, too. And when he's done you'll have a camera that's good for years.

unwantedfocus · Mar 29, 2021

I already agreed to the repair i'm just asking because I literally have no idea how much the cost is usually, I was only able to get the rates from Mark Hama online. Considering he has to open the leaf shutter and clean it the price seems fair!

grat · Mar 29, 2021

It's not unreasonable. Mark Hama also services the shutter as part of the CLA, so that's probably a fair price.

StanMac · Mar 30, 2021

I recently sent Mr. Hama a recently acquired 124G with a broken battery terminal, which is all I could determine was needed. He also did a CLA - total cost $200. The camera feels and looks new off the shelf. So repairing/CLAing any “vintage” camera is a pricey proposition these days. I am into the 124G for near $400, which is about the going rate for a Mint example. I think it was worth repairing. The price you agreed to is more than reasonable IMO.

Stan

Wayne · Mar 31, 2021

StanMac said:
I recently sent Mr. Hama a recently acquired 124G with a broken battery terminal, which is all I could determine was needed. He also did a CLA - total cost $200. The camera feels and looks new off the shelf. So repairing/CLAing any “vintage” camera is a pricey proposition these days. I am into the 124G for near $400, which is about the going rate for a Mint example. I think it was worth repairing. The price you agreed to is more than reasonable IMO.

Stan

How recent? There have also been some recent (the last few months, and current) issues and concerned customers.

StanMac · Mar 31, 2021

A couple of months ago. Those problems have passed I believe. I sent Mr. Hama a Yashica YK for shutter work about two weeks ago and got a call from him on the cost a few days later. Whatever problems he was having are apparently past.

If you follow the auction sites you have probably noticed an uptick in consumer and prosumer level camera prices, especially medium format. Interest in those film cameras has increased significantly since I started collecting them about six years ago. I suspect that the remaining mechanical and electro-mechanical camera repair services that are still in business are seeing many of those cameras come to them for repair or CLAs. Turnaround times also seem to have increased.

Stan

grat · Mar 31, 2021

I don't know who started those reports-- I believe he had some personal issues in 2019, but I've seen reports from other people who've sent him cameras in the past year and been satisfied with the result.

I sent Mr. Hama a camera in October, and received it back on schedule a few weeks later, working like new. The thing with Mark Hama's CLA is that it's a full camera teardown and service. Anything that was wrong, is likely to be fixed when you get it back. Even if you didn't know there was a problem,

Nitroplait · Mar 31, 2021

unwantedfocus said:
It is a bit busted and has its wear but everything else is fine and it always served me with good images. He will charge 140 Euros about 160 Dollars. I read the Yashica MAT 124G has a similar pricing when it comes to a CLA. Is the service overpriced? This is my first CLA ever..

Thanks

In EU that is quite a bit to the low side if it is including German VAT - to the point where I'd be a little suspicious - theres almost a days work in pulling the shutter and camera apart and back. But if you have reason to trust the place, I'd say it is an excellent price, and if all goes well, please share the name of the place.

Alex Varas · Mar 31, 2021

I sent my camera to him in October as well, long story and the outcome was not satisfactory at all communicating with him, true I live outside US and that was the main difficulty.
Anyway as result I got another model m February (mine was beyond repair) that I’m still trying to fix a light leak and I fixed already one spacing problem of plus the cleaning of the taking lens.

Happy to read some people got the camera in good shape and working, I hope the trending will continue positive.

For the OP, price is fine.

Wayne · Mar 31, 2021

He's had my camera for 4 months. Granted its a basket case and its not a Yashica, but I did talk to him before sending it. If I had known it would take this long I would definitely have sent it somewhere else. I paid 4 months ago.

I'm not going to be too harsh about it because I know he's still having troubles due to the loss of his wife in 2019, who helped in the business. And he's got to be near 80. But I am getting a bit concerned.

shutterfinger · Mar 31, 2021

I charge $125 for a shutter CLA (Compur (all versions), Copal, Seiko) and will not touch a a TLR for less than $225.

unwantedfocus · Mar 31, 2021

shutterfinger said:
I charge $125 for a shutter CLA (Compur (all versions), Copal, Seiko) and will not touch a a TLR for less than $225.

Thanks for your reply, the post got kinda out hand... I will post and update once I get the camera back.

ChristopherCoy · Mar 31, 2021

shutterfinger said:
I charge $125 for a shutter CLA (Compur (all versions), Copal, Seiko) and will not touch a a TLR for less than $225.

what do you charge to rebuild one? I kinda took mine apart and can’t get it back together.

Grim Tuesday · Mar 31, 2021

$150 is highly reasonable price. For others looking for TLR repair recommendations, I have personally had a great experience with Mark Hansen (Zeiss Ikon Rollei Repair). He is both very competent and very ethical. My personal experience with him was with a very beat up Rolleiflex, which he ended up working on and telling me that the internals of the camera were so worn out that he wasn't able to guarantee the repairs he did, and he therefore wouldn't be charging me any more than the $50 bench fee, even though he had fixed the camera of all its ills. He just wasn't sure the repairs would stick, due to the wear on some of the parts, so he didn't feel like it was fair to charge the full price. He is also very good at communication and fun to chat with. There's a reason he is backed up by 20-24 weeks right now! For anyone who needs work done right now, Dan Daniel is a member of this forum and though I haven't personally done business with him I have heard nothing but good things about his work and if I wasn't trying to learn how to work on TLRs myself right now I would not hesitate to send my cameras his way.

Sirius Glass · Mar 31, 2021

From my experience you are being charged a low price. I recommend that you do not complain about the low price to him.

Wayne · Mar 31, 2021

yes its a perfectly reasonable if not low price. If he does good work, its well worth it.

Yashica-Mat CLA cost?

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