First love remains: Camera repair at an advanced age

Andreas Thaler

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The cameras you grew up with remain...

… and as you get older, you start caring for them like patients.

That's how you get into camera repair at an advanced age.

And that's how I explain this strange drive to keep yesterday's cameras in good working order with great love and perseverance.



Minolta X-700 (1981)

This is a Minolta X-700, a 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera made by Minolta of Japan between the years 1981 and 1999. It was the last advanced manual focus Mino
mikeeckman.com


First love remains

For me, born in 1966, it's the Minolta X-cameras, with the X-700 as my first self-earned SLR, which I used until the 2000s.

Back then, in the mid-80s, Minolta's AF cameras were just coming onto the market as true bombshells, but were beyond my reach. And with their many new features, they were so exotic that I only shyly admired them in photography magazines and in the windows of camera shops.



Canon T90 (1986)

This review is part of the Cameras of the Dead series which I have been publishing every year on Halloween and "Halfway to" Halloween, featuring three cameras
mikeeckman.com

The Canon T90, Canon's last top-of-the-line MF camera, reached technical heights that even the specialist magazines couldn't fully explain. I remember a report in which the well-known Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani held a T90 in his hands in disbelief.

And if professionals in that league were amazed, what were we amateurs left with?



Minolta X-700: A renovation project

As announced, the first project in the new year will be the renovation of an X-700 with obvious moisture damage. Today the cheaply purchased and well used X-700 arrived and I did an initial inspection. The goal is not to get the camera back to full function at all costs, but to see what damage...
www.photrio.com

Then digital came along, and today I try to keep those very same cameras from my youth in good working order.

First love never fades; you have to grow older to experience that.

And sometimes there's a new beginning!
 
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BrianShaw

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“Born in 1966” and you consider yourself old and of advanced age?? Wait 10 years and revisit that thought…
 

paul ron

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hahahaha old cameras? i still have bulk rolls of panatomic film that expired in 1966. my 1960s black body spotmatic and my nikons still work as good as new n never needed any repairs to this day.

your cameras were decent but considered plastic disposables because no one expected those electronic cameras would ever see their 10th birthday... most never made it.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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paul ron said:
your cameras were decent but considered plastic disposables because no one expected those electronic cameras would ever see their 10th birthday... most never made it.
Click to expand...

It's strange that so many of these plastic cameras are still working - after decades.

And that's no surprise, since maintenance-requiring mechanics are mostly replaced by electronics, motors, and actuators.

Take a look inside one of these cameras in its outwardly used condition; you won't notice any wear.

Then open up your Nikon from the 1960s, which you never serviced, and see the work that lies ahead.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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What about shutter speed control after 60 years, which isn't electronically controlled, but mechanically, including wear and tear? What about the light meter, if it has one, and its aging measuring cells? What about the transmission mechanism between the winding lever, film transport, mirror, and shutter? Is the self-timer mechanism still working, or has it long since seized due to insufficient lubrication?

The beautiful metal casing doesn't help either, which after every drop stores the received energy as a dent
 
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Chan Tran

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I don't say those plastic electronic cameras are not durable and generally at least they are more accurate than the old metal mechanical cameras. However, I am surprised that you're attracted to them.
 

paul ron

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"Then open up your Nikon from the 1960s, which you never serviced, and see the work that lies ahead."


those cameras are still being used by my kids. you cant kill those oldies. they were over built to last forever. the most they ever needed were shutter ribbons to nothing at all.

but im glad you are working on those slrs. it gives me hope you will inspire others to get off the phone n do something with their hands. its a lost art andreas. no one is criticizing you for it... its just we never put much faith in plastics n electronics.

ever wonder why camera manufacturers put shutter counters in new cameras?... planned obsolescence.

i serviced thousands of cameras but none like the 1970s rb67, bronicas n hassys that were professional work horses doing school year books n portraits n advertising n product n studio photography for their entire lives that shot hundreds of thousands per year and are still on the road today, with only basic service maintenance.... just regular cla, nothing major. today these cameras are still used, mostly by hobbiests that are too cheap to service them... but they love them because how rugged they are and use them to the grave, you cant kill m that easily.

lets see how many of your overhauls will make their centenial birthdays?
 
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Andreas Thaler

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Chan Tran said:
I don't say those plastic electronic cameras are not durable and generally at least they are more accurate than the old metal mechanical cameras. However, I am surprised that you're attracted to them.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "plastic"?

The chassis of the SLRs I work on is die-cast, and certainly the mirror box that holds the bayonet and lens. This ensures the flange focal distance.

The casing is made of high-quality plastic, which in some cases unfortunately doesn't last for decades. But that can be remedied to a large extent.

The electronics are wear-free.

The sensible combination of plastic and metal, including the mechanics, makes the SLRs lighter and enables a design that isn't possible with metal. That's progress.

I'm not talking about low-end SLRs here, but rather the Nikon F4 and F5, the Canon T90, the Minolta 7000 AF and 9000 AF, 7000i and even the X-series.

You can only make valid statements about the overall quality of an SLR if you've seen it from the inside. That's why I'm showing lots of photos from my trips here to dispel the recurring preconceptions.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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paul ron said:
those cameras are still being used by my kids, who are older than you.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with my age

After 60 years, you should have your Nikons serviced so they're back to where they should be. It costs money, of course, but it's like a mechanical watch. It will only show you the time correctly if you have it serviced regularly.
 
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paul ron

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speeds on my old mechanical cameras are still within specs. but how accurate is the film that needs speeds to the thousandths? 1/3 stop is close enough. ok your electronics are very accurate but can you see any difference in the photos?... no.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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I like to go where it's not customary

I don't take criticism personally, and why should I, but I do defend my beloved 80s SLRs, which have to endure so much prejudice.

When you see the technical detail in these cameras, you'll be humbled.
 

paul ron

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not overhauls, just basic cla. i hope you use them regularly? they die of lonelyness in the dark.
 
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Andreas Thaler

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paul ron said:
speeds on my old mechanical cameras are still within specs. but how accurate is the film that needs speeds to the thousandths? 1/3 stop is close enough. ok your electronics are very accurate but can you see any difference in the photos?... no.
Click to expand...

My camera tester answers that question. If the curtains travel too far, you'll have uneven exposure in the image.

And once it may be a slide film that does not forgive
 

paul ron

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keep up the good work.

btw you shoot film? we need every film head we can get to keep analog alive.

ok im out 10-4
 
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Andreas Thaler

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My current threads demonstrate that "the plastic cameras" still need a lot of PR.

Where else can you deliver page-long monologues to experts in a forum without objection?
 
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