How To Learn Antique Camera Repair

Olympus OM-2n Camera with top and bottom plates removed

If you want to have up film photography right now, you'll almost certainly have to purchase a 2nd-hand (or third-hand) camera, or put a hurting on your bank accounts. New film cameras are either junk, or they cost thousands of dollars, and even used (newer) moving picture photographic camera prices are creeping upward. It's far less easy than yous'd think to get an esoteric camera.

Popular models like the Nikon FE2 are now at around $200-300 for a good example, and the cult Contax T2—a 35mm meaty rangefinder—is getting close to $2K. The good news is that this is by and large driven by fashion and looks. If you pick a less trendy model, it will exist much more affordable. Older cameras are also mostly mechanical, and so if you lot pick the right one, y'all tin repair it yourself. Information technology'southward the best way into a fascinating hobby.

That's full general advice yous can get anywhere, though. In this post, and at least a couple more to come up, I'm going to find, buy, and fix upwards a 35mm SLR camera, showing you how I did it along the style, step by pace.

What we're ownership: 35mm SLR

For this project, we're going to notice a 35mm SLR from the 1970s or 1980s. Automatic, compact 35mm indicate-and-shoots might be more bonny when it comes to ease of use, only based on my reading, they tend to be harder to repair and easier to break. Some compacts, like the Olympus Trip 35, sold so many units that information technology's still practical (and affordable) to buy two and turn them into one working camera. With 10 meg units sold over 17 years, there are a lot of spares still locked upwards in attics and garages.

The very best choice, for repairs and parts, seems to be a professional-form 35mm SLR. These were congenital to be repaired, and for some, you can notwithstanding observe NOS (new old stock) parts on eBay. These photographer-minded models were more often than not congenital to a higher standard, and so less likely to fail in the first identify. They were also designed with repair in mind, and you tin can ofttimes observe detailed schematics and repair manuals scanned on the net. Here's a gear up for Olympus cameras, for example.

The downside of pro-level cameras is that, while some of the parts may be cheap, even non-functioning camera bodies tin exist expensive. Check earlier you invest, as some camera bodies can still fetch a few hundred dollars. On the bright side, information technology validates the enthusiasm in these models, but it tin can be tiresome if you're not a collector.

We're also limiting our pool to 1970s and 1980s cameras. Look for stuff earlier this, and the materials and moving parts get also sometime and esoteric. Look later on this, and there are too many electronics to worry about, at to the lowest degree for a supposedly fun side project. The late 70s to early on 80s is the sweet spot for well-congenital mechanical cameras, with elementary plenty electronics for at-domicile repairs. Only actually, we want to avoid electronic problems wherever possible, as nosotros'll run across afterward.

Choosing a camera

Maybe you lot have a camera model in mind already, a camera you've coveted since you were immature. Now you tin afford it! Or perhaps you want the same model y'all used years ago. If you own a Nikon DSLR, then you lot should pick a Nikon pic SLR because the lenses will be compatible to some extent. It's why I besides recommend buying a 10-twelvemonth-old DSLR.

Otherwise, stick to popular brands. While the variety of picture show camera companies is worth celebrating, mainstream cameras were more numerous, their lines and models a bit more consequent, and so y'all're more likely to find help and documentation on the spider web. iFixit'southward list of camera repair guides includes Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, and Canon, for starters. Do some research, and ready alerts on your favorite local classified advertising sites. I prefer classified ads to Ebay, and if possible I like to be able to check the camera before buying. But in this case, as long equally you can go a expert description of the model and known faults, you're good.

Olympus OM-2n, disassembled and parts in a red bucket.

Don't be turned off by listings that openly describe a photographic camera equally "Broken" or fifty-fifty "Parts only." I've found that sellers tend to exist a lot more open up near the faults of broken cameras then cranium-divers who sell a photographic camera as-is without much testing or knowledge. Also, you lot may observe cameras from the 1970s that are cosmetically mint, but don't work. If the price is right, these may be worth a punt. And if you lot go some feel fixing up old cameras, these tin can be repaired and sold on at a skillful turn a profit.

Once you've narrowed your selection, do a bit of enquiry on the models. I found a sweet-looking Minolta X-700, but information technology had a mutual fault that tin can simply be repaired past replacing a capacitor. For you, that might exist the perfect repair, simply I prefer mechanical work to soldering on a board. Attempt to option something you'll enjoy working on.

And try to avoid all but the most basic electronic work. Many cameras from this era had analog circuits, some were digital.All of them are a hurting to repair, or even to diagnose, in my opinion. At all-time, you may exist able to bandy in a circuit board from a second donor body, or switch in some smaller components (similar resistors and capacitors). Generally, though, you can't know if an electrical consequence is one thing, or many things, until you get it open.

Which brings us to another tip. Sometimes broken cameras are sold off in lots. You might go a couple of identical bodies — perfect for cannibalization — and ofttimes there will be lenses and other accessories thrown in. These tin be a great bet, and sometimes the cameras will actually work perfectly. On the other hand, the seller likely won't know what'south wrong with the cameras, if anything.

Olympus OM-2n camera top and bottom plates

Tools

Most of the tools you already accept are good for photographic camera repair, but you'll need at to the lowest degree 2 specialist tools. Ane is a prepare of small JIS, or Japanese Industrial Standard screwdrivers. These are cross-head screwdrivers, but the tips have a unlike contour to Phillips screwdrivers. If you lot use a Phillips screwdriver with a JIS screw, you risk dissentious the screw and stripping the cantankerous. JIS screwdrivers can safely be used with Phillips screws, all the same. Y'all can selection upwardly a ready of JIS Drivers ready of JIS drivers at the iFixit store. Or y'all can find JIS sizes 000, 00, 0, and one inside the Mako, Manta, and Pro Tech Toolkits.

You volition too need some kind of pin wrench, to open rings and disks, and tweezers of various kinds to maneuver tiny screws and other components (nosotros sell a few of those, likewise). For an excellent, in-depth look at the tools needed for camera repair, cheque out this article past Richard Haw.

My Olympus OM-2n

I already take a both digital and film Nikon bodies, and a few old lenses, then the sensible route would exist to buy Nikon once more for lens compatibility. Just for this article I picked up an Olympus OM-2n, manufactured from 1979 to 1984. The OM-2n is a very compact (even for today) body, with some automations and excellent, easy-to-use controls. I've always liked Olympus cameras, and luckily, I found a near-mint example for just €35, or around $38. The seller said that the light meter and other electronics worked fine. The trouble was the film winder and/or shutter release, both of which are stuck.

Device Folio

Olympus Camera

Repair guides and back up for Olympus digital cameras.

View Device

I Googled the model and the trouble, and saw several immediate solutions. One was a mis-aligned leap inside. The other was just failing to press a "reset" button after inserting new batteries. We'll get to the diagnosis in the next installment, but for now, here are a few shots of the OM-2n with its elevation and lesser plates removed, so you can see the kind of thing you lot're getting yourself into.

At this phase, I have no thought if this repair is fifty-fifty possible, but it's already a fun, relatively affordable investigative project—with the bonus that I take an excuse to buy new tools. Next post, nosotros'll open upward the camera and see what kind of task we've got alee of united states of america.