I thought my vintage camera collection was complete until I tried to fix a shutter

I found a nice old Kodak Retina at a flea market in Portland last month. The body looked fine, so I thought I'd just clean it up and add it to the shelf. The shutter was stuck, and I figured it would be a quick fix. I watched a few videos and got my tiny screwdrivers out. What I thought would take an afternoon turned into a two-week project of taking it apart, finding a tiny broken spring, waiting for a replacement part to ship, and putting it all back together without losing the screws. I had pieces laid out on a towel on my kitchen table for days. It made me see my whole collection differently, not just as things to look at, but as little puzzles that need solving. Has anyone else had a simple repair turn into a major project that changed how you collect?

3 comments

3 Comments

harpery474d ago

My Polaroid SX-70 took three months.

eva_thompson4d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, the real cost is the film. You wait three months, then each shot is like two bucks before you even know if it's any good. Makes you really, really picky about what you point it at.

ray1364d ago

My old Nikon FE taught me the opposite. I burned through cheap film just to learn the camera, and my best shots were happy accidents. The cost forces you to shoot more, not less, because you stop overthinking every frame.