Here in the repair forum we try to get older cameras and photo equipment working again.
Some people may remember their younger years when these devices were new in the windows of photo shops and repairs were no problem. Send the faulty camera or electronic flash to the manufacturer with a description of the problem and after a few weeks the device was returned repaired. Or the photo shop took care of it.
Today, several decades later
some of these manufacturers no longer exist, or manufacturers no longer service their older photo equipment.
If you are lucky and have the budget, you can find repair shops that can still fix some issues.
With many photo devices, however, you are left alone with this.
I think you should adjust your expectations accordingly
if you still want to work with such photo equipment.
Not everything has to work perfectly, the main thing is that the image taken is usable.
Image editing on the computer helps, for example, to compensate for errors in exposure.
The shutter curtains of a Minolta 9000 can be temporarily freed from sticky residue. If you're lucky, this fix will last for a long time and only the shortest shutter speed will be affected.
But removing and cleaning the shutter is also a possible long-term solution, even if it's tricky and a lot of work.
If the shortest exposure time no longer works, you can switch to less sensitive film. Or simply overexpose negative film by one or two stops. This is not ideal, but it can be managed.
A damaged but still readable LCD in a DP-20 viewfinder for the Nikon F4.
An LCD with black spots may no longer show all the values, but the camera still works.
If a motor drive stops working, you can cock the shutter by hand until the motor starts working again, etc.
The mirror magnet of a Canon T90 can be removed and cleaned if necessary. Then the shutter works again.
In this way, you go from being a user to being an admirer of older technology and an enthusiast
Technology, that still works despite all its problems and limitations.
Maybe you'll become active yourself and start to focus on DIY repairs.
So a carefully maintained camera with problems becomes a long-term project, like driving vintage cars that always have to go to the garage for repairs.
A new approach to using photo tools that was previously strictly application-oriented can open up.
And that is a value in itself.
Some people may remember their younger years when these devices were new in the windows of photo shops and repairs were no problem. Send the faulty camera or electronic flash to the manufacturer with a description of the problem and after a few weeks the device was returned repaired. Or the photo shop took care of it.
Today, several decades later
some of these manufacturers no longer exist, or manufacturers no longer service their older photo equipment.
If you are lucky and have the budget, you can find repair shops that can still fix some issues.
With many photo devices, however, you are left alone with this.
I think you should adjust your expectations accordingly
if you still want to work with such photo equipment.
Not everything has to work perfectly, the main thing is that the image taken is usable.
Image editing on the computer helps, for example, to compensate for errors in exposure.
The shutter curtains of a Minolta 9000 can be temporarily freed from sticky residue. If you're lucky, this fix will last for a long time and only the shortest shutter speed will be affected.
But removing and cleaning the shutter is also a possible long-term solution, even if it's tricky and a lot of work.
If the shortest exposure time no longer works, you can switch to less sensitive film. Or simply overexpose negative film by one or two stops. This is not ideal, but it can be managed.
A damaged but still readable LCD in a DP-20 viewfinder for the Nikon F4.
An LCD with black spots may no longer show all the values, but the camera still works.
If a motor drive stops working, you can cock the shutter by hand until the motor starts working again, etc.
The mirror magnet of a Canon T90 can be removed and cleaned if necessary. Then the shutter works again.
In this way, you go from being a user to being an admirer of older technology and an enthusiast
Technology, that still works despite all its problems and limitations.
Maybe you'll become active yourself and start to focus on DIY repairs.
So a carefully maintained camera with problems becomes a long-term project, like driving vintage cars that always have to go to the garage for repairs.
A new approach to using photo tools that was previously strictly application-oriented can open up.
And that is a value in itself.
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