Do you have old cameras that didn't get repaired?

I have a Mamiya RB67 original model. I guess I got it cheap, I got 2yrs out of it before the holes developed in the bellows and gotten larger, before that I also got some seawater into the focus screen so while it is workable it's not in the best condition.

 

So I looked at getting it repaired, $80US for bellow replacements and then possibly $40US to have this installed for me? There is a older guy who has been doing this for some decades. It just doesn't really make sense when you can pick up the latest much newer RB67 Pro SD model with the focus screen in very much excellent condition for maybe $180US ......

 

 

Cheers.

 

Edit. I have debated with myself that at least I have a working camera but for $40US more I could have a much newer body and the focus screen isn't affected with salt water and it does not have those rust spots on the metal body. Plus the original model does not have as much interlocks, forget to remove the dark slide - BAM! forget to crank the film mag - BAM! Even if I just buy another Pro SD body and have it sit on my shelf, it will just cost $40US more than having the old one repaired.

I would get it fixed, the cost seems reasonable and you are fortunate to know someone who can still do it.

Pitch it and get the newer RB. Old beaters often aren't worth the bother when newer models in better shape are available at reasonable prices.

If I can't repair it myself I generally sell it.

I have a Petri FT 35mm with a 55mm 1.4 lens that is in great shape but the cocking lever is stuck. I bought it at a pawn shop on Okinawa in 1969 when I was in the Marines. I haven't found any place that could fix it so I just keep it as a reminder of the past. I would use the lens if I could find an adaptor for my current Nikon digital camera. I don't know what the lens experts say but I thought the lens was really good.

When I was 15 back in 1970, I bought a Nikomat FTn with a 55mm f/1.2 lens with odd job money that I had earned along the way. The fellow that I did some of the work for picked the camera up for me on one of his trips to Japan, so it was a very good price for the time. The light meter has long since stopped working and although I still occasionally use the camera, I never bothered to have it fixed - I suspect I could probably buy another FTn for less than it would cost to repair, but the sentimental value to me is priceless.

When I was 15 back in 1970, I bought a Nikomat FTn with a 55mm f/1.2 lens with odd job money that I had earned along the way. The fellow that I did some of the work for picked the camera up for me on one of his trips to Japan, so it was a very good price for the time. The light meter has long since stopped working and although I still occasionally use the camera, I never bothered to have it fixed - I suspect I could probably buy another FTn for less than it would cost to repair, but the sentimental value to me is priceless.

If I have the Nikkormat FTn I wouldn't use the meter even if it's still working because it takes mercury battery and I wouldn't buy the expensive mercury battery substitute for it.

It pays to learn to do the basic stuff yourself. If I couldn't fix things, nothing would work because I'm too poor/cheap to have somebody else do it.

It pays to learn to do the basic stuff yourself. If I couldn't fix things, nothing would work because I'm too poor/cheap to have somebody else do it.

I probably wouldn't fix my Petri even if I could. I have a Pentax 67 that I shoot film with and would have a hard time shooting 35mm again.

There's a couple of unfixed cameras in shoe boxes hiding under a cabinet somewhere in the house.

Not many votes for getting it fixed then. The problem is people who can professionally repair old cameras are getting thinner on the ground by the minute.

Bebu, one of the little zinc-air hearing aid batteries can't be shimmed to fit? They are quite cheap although they don't last as long.

I usually try a 1.5V PX625 in cameras designed for Mercury batteries. It's surprising how often the exposure readings are OK, or easily compensated by changing the ISO.

The only camera I have with a lot of sentimental value is my father's 8mm movie camera. The others I will divest myself of if I can't fix them or will no longer use them, - unless I decide to keep one for parts.

 

The most expensive camera I have is worth maybe $400. The next most expensive is worth less than $200. If it's beyond my ability to fix, then it would probably cost more than I'm willing to spend to have somebody else fix it. At that point I'd sell it for parts if I thought it was worth anything at all.

Probably 3-4 non operating cameras in my possession. It's cheaper to find a new one than repair the old.

"Do you have old cameras that didn't get repaired?"

I guess you assume "old cameras" are broken and needed to be repaired. I really don't think so. Most of my cameras were purchased used and now they are very old. Yes, many old cameras are broken, but I rarely bought those broken ones. Some "old" cameras that I bought were good when I bought and after a while (really not long) became bad or dead (I threw these away or sold them really cheap). The remained, I do have a lot of very "old cameras" that have never been repaired, and they work as well as new (maybe except the metering system because of batteries and I'm rarely bothered much about it)

Are there any trade schools that are looking for donations of old non working cameras to teach camera repair?

"Do you have old cameras that didn't get repaired?"

I guess you assume "old cameras" are broken and needed to be repaired. I really don't think so. Most of my cameras were purchased used and now they are very old. Yes, many old cameras are broken, but I rarely bought those broken ones. Some "old" cameras that I bought were good when I bought and after a while (really not long) became bad or dead (I threw these away or sold them really cheap). The remained, I do have a lot of very "old cameras" that have never been repaired, and they work as well as new (maybe except the metering system because of batteries and I'm rarely bothered much about it)

 

If the meter doesn't work, but the rest works, is it broken?

 

If the shutter speeds are off, but close enough, is it broken?

 

Except for some rare cameras, in many cases it is better to find another one than to

fix the one you have.

If the meter doesn't work, but the rest works, is it broken?

You can say I am strange but I consider ALL meters in cameras including brand new top cameras are "wrong", not really usable which are equivalent to "broken". Also for shutter speeds and apertures, I consider "correct" means "close enough". But I believe the cameras that I really want to keep have "working" meter because when the meter is really bad or dead, the other parts are also not in very good condition. And No, I don't send any old cameras to repair shop.

Meters are much more "mortal" than the gears and other mechanical impedimenta of old film cameras.

 

Since film photography today depends to such a high degree on B&W negative and Color Negative media, good old Sunny-16 (LINK) will almost always produce a decent, balanced negative for printing or digitalization.

 

As a result, I no longer worry about built-in meter function when acquiring my old "preciouses"

I would get it fixed, the cost seems reasonable and you are fortunate to know someone who can still do it.

 

I'll second this. Throw the guy some work, what the heck. As John says, you're lucky he's even there at all; without people bringing him work, he might just not be when you really need him.

 

 

EDIT: a quick look on eb@y for Mamiya RB67 Pro SD reveals cameras in varying condition, some with multiple lenses, some "body only", going for an asking price of roughly a low of 200 up to a high of 1200 USD. If you can buy one for 180.00 USD you better leap on it- but check its condition before handing off any money!

Edited December 18, 2019 by Ricochetrider

Are there any trade schools that are looking for donations of old non working cameras to teach camera repair?

 

Unlikely. I think if someone were interested in camera repair as a vocation and wanted to take classes, their best bet would be to get some background in electronics. That is a common element in modern cameras.

 

It would be almost impossible to set up a meaningful and consistent series of classes on repairing classic cameras unless you stuck to a relatively small number of cameras where replacement parts are readily available. And even if you could manage that, finding enough students to make it worthwhile would be even harder. How many people can realistically earn a living repairing classic cameras?

 

There's probably more than enough broken and unwanted Canon AE-1s that if you collected them for a few years, you could teach a bunch people how to repair them. But how many of those students could turn around and charge more than $150 to repair an AE-1 when there are all kinds of working bodies out there that can be purchased for that?

 

About 20 cameras have gone through my hands in the last couple of years. I look for ones with minor issues. I fix them up and keep them if I really like them or turn around and sell them for a little profit. I make about enough to fund my film hobby, but that's about it.

Edited December 18, 2019 by tomspielman

One of my favorite old cameras is the Canon VI, which has an optional

(half) coupled meter. The meter couples to the shutter speed knob, you only

have to get the aperture setting from the meter to the lens.

 

But it is removable, or replaceable, though they tend not to age well.

(They are selenium cell based.)

 

The one that went with the camera I have died long ago. I now have another

one that works about half the time, with light taps on the side reminding

it to work.

My very first SLR - a Russian Zenit E - bought back in the early 70s, died a death some years ago (shutter problem). I just didn't have the heart to throw it out. It has been (a small) part of my life for the last 50 years. So, crippled but loved, it's still there.

I'll second this. Throw the guy some work, what the heck. As John says, you're lucky he's even there at all; without people bringing him work, he might just not be when you really need him.

 

 

EDIT: a quick look on eb@y for Mamiya RB67 Pro SD reveals cameras in varying condition, some with multiple lenses, some "body only", going for an asking price of roughly a low of 200 up to a high of 1200 USD. If you can buy one for 180.00 USD you better leap on it- but check its condition before handing off any money!

 

May this year 2019 I spent $230US + $65US abouts for delivery. Pro SD body with a WLF and a film back. Really good condition including the bellows. I see that things have gotten more $$ now. Seems to be around $380US now with delivery.

 

I just thought a otherwise working original version RB67 is a waste just sitting there or thrown away or sold for parts. I got some bellows and I will ask the repair person to install them ... I might ask him to check both bodies to fine tune the focus also. Sadly it's not a local guy, it's a 50min flight away.

 

Edit - I find the cheaper ones actually need bellow replacements eventually but I find to get one that does not need it the Pro SD generally have less wear and tear. Some of the cheaper Pro SD models have more wear and tear so they stand very little difference to the Pro S model but the Pro SD is still a newer one.

Edited December 25, 2019 by RaymondC