Vintage Camera Repairs - Some Tools for Fixing Old Cameras

[@JamesNickersonThePhotoShopGuru]

... you certainly deserve an award for creativity ... I am inspired to try manufacturing some of my own tools now ... thank you for this video of inspiration 👍👍

[@GrumpyTim]

Excellent James, you can see from some of my creations that they don't need to be pretty, just as long as they do the job. I think I'm going to need to make a few more tools - I'm working on some Tamron Adaptall lenses and they are the most frustrating things to take apart - thought I'd do them all in one day, but I haven't even got the first one apart yet. Going to have to fabricate some wrenches and gripping tools, and even then, I'm not sure how I'll get one bit apart. Every thread seems to be coated with some sort of threadlock that neither IPA or Acetone will soften, and I can't throw loads of heat at them for fear of damaging optical parts and paint.

[@noawe_]

I love your custom tools! They’re so simple yet effective. I really admire your patience too. In a sea of content created to keep people consuming, it’s nice to see people just doing what they love and documenting it along the way instead of fighting for attention for money. I wish you all the best and am looking forward to watching your other videos. 📸🧑‍🔧👍👀

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Noah, the lure of the bright lights is always present, and I'm not immune to the draw, but making a usable tool from a bit of old scrap that's sitting around and bringing a battered old piece of equipment back to life will always appeal to me. So even if I do stumble into some sort of sponsorship one day, I'll hopefully resist the temptation of using unrealistic clickbait thumbnails and creating endless videos showing how good the latest bit of free gadgetry I've been given is..........

[@tomroberts7221]

Brilliant!!

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Tom

[@madmechanic7641]

Very good.. Lots of useful tips Tim.. I also do a bit with lenses and find the Wera straight drivers good value and quality toughened tips with every size imaginable.. If you haven't got dedicated rubber nameplate removal tools try a rubber / nitrile glove over a suitably sized bottle top /cab etc.. And I absolutely love the laser shutter timer.. Glad to see you're still keeping busy.. Keep up the good work.. : )

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Mad Mechanic, I've got some of the Wera stuff in the bigger sizes, it's very good quality, I guess I hadn't stumbled across their smaller stuff yet. Rubber glove and bottle top, that's a good idea too, I'll store that one in my head for when I need it. Cheers for watching.

[@alanesq1]

Thanks for this - very useful BTW - I find a "pill organiser" very handy for storing small components as you can then work backwards through the compartments when trying to fit them back together

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Alan, that's a really good good idea, I'll add it to my shopping list, or even better, see if I can get one free from somewhere.

[@zjohn6879]

Enjoyable and informative. I use one of those silicon soldering mats to prevent screws from bouncing into another dimension if they drop. It's made taking apart cameras much more enjoyable and less time spent hunting in the carpet for screws. That shutter tester is a nice rig! What drives it behind the scenes? I've seen some with a light and sensor that generates an "audio" signal to measure the exposure, but a built-in display seems less fiddly

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Z John, those tiny parts that fly are so annoying, and I don't know about you, but the area where I work isn't exactly tidy, so whatever part that flies will invariably end up somewhere that's really difficult to get to, involving much moving of piles of stuff and general cursing!!! Silicone soldering mat is a good idea - I keep meaning to get one anyway..... I completely forgot to mention what's under the clothing of the shutter timer - there's an Arduino Nano lurking inside the black box - that bit was all my brother's work. One advantage of the laser is that I can position it anywhere within the film plane, that way I can take multiple readings to see if a shutter is dragging - a 3 laser system would do this in a single pass but it's not that much trouble to take multiple readings.

[@BensWorkshop]

Good tips on methods and tools. I will not be trying it any time soon though.

[@GrumpyTim]

I think you've got plenty of tasks already Ben without starting to work on cameras as well!!! Cheers for watching.

[@fricki1997]

About the things that are too small for the straight lens spanner: There also are lens spanners with angled tips (I only have one of these and found that it's all I needed so far). Maybe having one of each would be good if you're doing a lot of repairs. And to anyone looking to buy a lens spanner: Do not get the single-bar one, get the two-rod version instead, it's much more stable. I made the mistake of buying a single-bar one and never use it since it's too wobbly. And when you get them, use a wrench to tighten the thumb screws on one of the prongs that extra bit, since they tend to become loose suddenly if they're just hand tight. Position it at about 1/3 of the way down the rod. You'll still easily be able to reposition the second prong for 99% of all uses, and only having one prong that can become loose saves you a lot of headache :) One last thing I'd like to add to the list of tools: A hammer. Yes, really! Something small with a 50g or 100g head. This and a good flathead screwdriver can be vital when you have a piece or screw that just won't budge from normal force or a bit of oil/solvent alone. People meme on percussive maintenance, but it's great for getting things unstuck as long as you're careful. Lastly, if you want a very cheap and easy way of doing (single-point) shutter tests, there's the PhotoPlug which plugs into a smartphone. You can also use their free app without it, but then it works purely on sound and it's not trivial to differentiate the actual shutter curtain slap from the other mechanical noises. If you wanna get really involved, Reveni Labs recently announced/released their own shutter tester with three point measurement, efficiency curves and all the bells and whistles but it's something like 500€.

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Leon, I keep meaning to get one of the lens spanners with the angled legs, but I only think about it when I need it right now, then I come up with another way round and quickly forget about it again!!! I've never used the percussion method on something as small as a camera (I often use it on old engines and the like) but you're right, it could be quite effective if used correctly - I can see some people not quite interpreting the amount of force required and ending up with "oops I squished my camera". I do like the control I get with the modified screwdriver system, there's no whip in it and I find it better for feeling what's going on - like the annoying times when I don't yet know if it's a right hand or left hand thread, I just like the feedback I get from it compared to the lens spanner.

[@Stephen.C.]

A great informative and enjoyable video. Thanks for the tips.

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Stephen.C, glad you enjoyed it.

[@ohjajohh]

You have a great set of tools (and skills) I also need to invest in some tools as I recently ruined a Pancolar lens that I can't fix

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers ohjajohh, hope you can get your Pancolar fixed sometime - I often find if I'm stuck with something, I'll walk away for a day/week/month, and after that time I have an idea or some new knowledge to get it sorted.

[@ohjajohh]

@@GrumpyTim Cheers, I still have all the parts, so maybe one day I can fix it, because it is a great lens. The focus ring was very stiff, so I tried to fix it, but I made things worse instead of better because now it doesn't focus at all...

[@GrumpyTim]

Hopefully that doesn't sound too terrible ohjajohh, I'm sure you'll sort it out one day.

[@paulalanputnam4592]

Love it. Superb video, thanks.

[@GrumpyTim]

Cheers Paul, and thanks for watching.

[@EPeltzer]

Would love to see more details or plans for the laser shutter timer. Very cool.

[@GrumpyTim]

Hi Eric, I'd have to persuade my brother (who did most of the technical stuff) to collaborate in that video, but maybe it'll happen one day. The actual physical stand and so on is a piece of cake, I just used whatever materials I had to hand and knocked something up in the shed!!!

[@sokratespetalidis]

Great video! i Useful tips and information. Thank you for the tips. I liked the information about the liquids, sterilized water and oiling. I am interesting to find information specific for the chemical liquids for repairing old cameras Ex: the best liquid oil for remove rust from metal, the best glue that would bond with leather and metal etc. Do you know if there is some specific video for that? I would greatly appreciate it if you have some tip.

[@GrumpyTim]

Hi SokratesP, I haven't seen any videos that delve into what specific chemicals etc are best for repairing old cameras - I wouldn't be surprised if there's something in the general camera servicing guides at Learn Camera Repair dot com, but I haven't looked for them. I think some of the products will vary form one location to another - many people recommend a glue called Pilobond for gluing shutter curtains to the drums on the camera or for re attaching the leatherette after servicing a camera, but I've never come across that glue in the UK - I did see some online for sale at a stupid price, which I didn't buy!!! If you do find a list of recommended products, you may need to track down alternatives that are available in your location.

[@sokratespetalidis]

@@GrumpyTim Thank you very much for the answer. I have to search forward and make a list off products that other people use, as you sugest. Keep up the good work!🙏👍

[@sclogse1]

I wonder if you've ever faced the Kiev 4 shutter..

[@GrumpyTim]

Hi sclogse1, I had to do some remedial work to get the Kiev working, the shutter has a bit of drag on one of the curtains but I figured I'd see how bad it looked on the actual photos before I decide whether I need to do a complete strip down or not. Much as I love the look of the Kiev, I didn't exactly fall in love with the shutter mechanism on first glance - maybe if I have to do an entire strip down I'll appreciate it more, but my initial impression was something along the lines of "what a load of rubbish"!!!

[@pauljasonflood5501]

If I send a pic