That old repair bench at the camera show in Chicago changed my whole approach

Back in 2018 I was at the PHOTOPLUS show in NYC and watched this old guy fix a seized shutter on a beat up Kodak Retina without even taking the lens off. He just used a tiny drop of naphtha and worked it loose. Blew my mind because I always tear everything down to the last screw. After that I started trying the least invasive method first before going all in on a full disassembly. Has anyone else had a moment like that where you realized you were overcomplicating things?

3 comments

3 Comments

clairen8512d agoMost Upvoted

@uma_ellis that muscle memory thing is so true. I had this old Rolleicord that had a sticky slow speed mechanism, and instead of taking apart the whole shutter I just cycled the speeds over and over while watching TV one night. By the next morning it was working perfectly, no tools at all. Makes you wonder how many things we break by being too AGGRESSIVE with them.

nora_park6d ago

Respectfully disagree, feel like you gotta get in there to really learn what makes it tick.

uma_ellis12d ago

The bit about the naphtha is interesting, but what really stands out to me is how much that old guy probably knew just by having his hands on it. He could feel what was wrong with the shutter without even seeing the inside. That kind of muscle memory is something you can't get from a youtube tear down, takes years of just messing with junk.