Gearing up for the future

[Ian Rance]

I only really seriously got into photography around 4 years ago, and in that time have learnt so much and enjoyed

my hobby - it is the best I have ever had.

 

Now, I am a (fairly young) Nikon user and use several of their SLR's (I have F100, F80, F3, FE, FM3a and F6). Most

have been picked up second-hand at a fair price and I look after tham very well. Now, I do many of my own camera

repairs and order parts as needed, but what is worrying me is that more and more parts are no longer available. Even

accessories like the AR-9 shutter button extender are not available from Nikon and some F3 parts are no longer

stocked. I am hoping (fate willing) that my hobby will last me many years, but even with the most careful touch,

cameras will need work sooner or later. What about 10 years from now? How about 40? I cannot imagine ANY parts

will be available then for my cameras.

 

So, what I am concidering is to buy up as many wearing parts as I can - shutters, winding gear, body parts etc. and

keep them safe ready for the day they may be needed. I could also buy some cheap broken cameras to keep for

parts. This will be fairly expensive to do (500 plus pounds) and I don't have money to waste, but I am worried about

the future of my hobby.

 

What do you think? Just carry on and hope for the best (some 'F's' are still going strong nearly 50 years on) or get a

stockpile sorted of wearing parts?

 

I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

Ian, UK

[colda]

Hmmm, seeing as you are pretty handy with repairs would it not be worth restoring/repairing cameras as a bit of a sideline? this way your stockpile of parts will be at least self-funding and almost certainly profitable. No need to put yourself at risk with other people's gear in the early days - just buy tired or faulty stuff on ebay, fix them up and sell them on.

[charles_stobbs3]

Unfortunately the same part that may be broken on your camera will often be broken on most other cameras of the same model, especially if the cause was faulty design in the first place. There are lots of parts and tools listed on EBay under camera parts and repair.

[david_manning1]

Ian,

 

The F6 may outlast ALL of us! Cheers.

 

David.

[Ian Rance]

I am a dab hand with manual cameras, but new ones, well, the bag filled with dismantled camera parts is testement to the limits of my ability ;-)

 

Trouble is, after I heve restored them, I want to keep them! I do them to carefully I think.

 

David, yes - I think you are right there. The F6 exudes quality.

 

Ian

[matthew_newton]

I am with Darren on this one. I have done that a bit. I look for really low ball offers on gear local to me through Craigslist or other advertisements. I'll then buy it if it appears to be in acceptable enough condition, clean it up, fix anything that is wrong that is within my abilities and then resell it. That has gotten me a couple of lenses in there.

 

I have a single spare repair body for my Olympus OM-1s. I am hoping that in the next few years I can get another 2-3 spare bodies for parts and maybe an extra body or two in great condition as backups to my OM-1 and OM-1n. I also plan on continuing my hobby for a long, long time and I don't want to be in a situation where I am SOL because something broke and it cannot be fixed or replaced. Sadly money is also tight right now, but as soon as it isn't I plan on starting to stock up. Well that and continue to acquire the lenses I really want (zuiko 50/1.2, 85/2, 300/4.5, 24/2, 21/2, Tamron 80-200/2.8, 180/2.5, 135/2.5, etc)

[john_h.1]

"what is worrying me is that more and more parts are no longer available... ...I am hoping (fate willing) that my hobby will last me many years, but even with the most careful touch, cameras will need work sooner or later. What about 10 years from now? How about 40? I cannot imagine ANY parts will be available then for my cameras."

 

If your hobby is photography then you can be confident that you can enjoy it ten or even forty years from now. If your hobby is repairing film cameras, well, you might need a new hobby.

[nolan_ross]

It seems you have a great hobby. Tinkering with camera's is pretty cool actually and I am sure that the world needs

someone young to pick up on repairing camera's....I no nothing of the hobby or profession but I figure you just get to

it. Decide which models you want to concentrate on and keep learning. It is probably kind of endless and all hobbies

are kind of expensive. Maybe you could advertise for free broken camera's..I know Ken Rockwell gets a lot of

camera gear for free because his websight asks for the stuff.. Here is a websight that sells camera repair tools. You

probably know this place already but just in case you do not take a look.

 

http://www.micro-tools.com/4.html

[Ian Rance]

Thank you for the replies.

 

Well my hobby is photography and cameras - but the deletion of spare parts from the inventory worries me.

 

In 1983 I took up photography after being given a 110 Kodak. I took so many rolls that is was unreal - holidays, landscape, candids and family. I had great fun with that camera. One day in 1990 it broke - the shutter jammed. I contacted Kodak concerning a repair, but was told no parts available. That news brought my photography to a halt for over 10 years - I was very dissapointed. I don't want to be in the same boat again with lack of spares.

 

Ian

[john_h.1]

You were a a serious enthusist of photography whose camera broke and the result was disappointment and a ten

year hiatus from photograghy because there were no parts available from the manufacturer in order to make repairs.

Hmm. I'm wondering why it took an entire decade to get another camera and resolve this grave disappointment.

Living on a deserted island would be an answer except that there was apparently an ability to obtain film and have it

processed so that doesn't make sense.

 

Now, some eighteen years later, there is worry that you will, once again, not be able to enjoy photography again due

to potential camera malfunction. Also arising again is this great mystery as to why you wouldn't just get another

camera when there will be no shortage of them to buy for an entire lifetime. One could even stock up on these same

camera models you own right now while most of them can be purchased used at bargain basement prices (and full of

spare parts as well) because of the rise of digital cameras.

 

Sure, there may be a desire to use prefered cameras of yesteryear in the future but, a wholesale abandonment of the

of passion photography if the most prefered cameras wind up unavailable for use? That's not a spare parts issue,

that's psychology. Did users of 127 or 620 film cameras abandon photography when those parts weren't widely

available (if they ever were)?

 

Maybe I shouldn't bring up future film supply and processing availabilty.

[Ian Rance]

John,

 

Some interesting points. Yes, it may well be psychology - however this is what dictates all our actions in some form or other.

 

My 110 was my first camera, but I was young, and when it broke that was the end of it I thought. It was put in the bin and I put photography out of my mind. I tried my best - even going via a Kodak employee to see if he could sneak my camera in for repair. No luck. Thinking back, I missed many photos that I would like to have now - holidays, family and forgotten but happy moments.

 

I don't want to be in the same boat again, and that is the reason for my question.

 

Ian

[nolan_ross]

If you were willing to consider film camera's outside the Nikon line I would suggest the Leica rangefinder. One there is a need for high quality repair work on them. Over time you could become just that person. You need tools however such as shutter calibration tools and other tools that I do not really know about. The other is if you find a M3 in excellent condition it most likely will not break. Maybe every decade a cleaning would keep it running well. There is not that many models really and there is a lot of Leica's out there because they have such durability...Just a thought but the F3 is a workhorse also along with others.

[markci]

There are some excellent anti-anxiety medications on the market these days. That's probably all you really need.