[aslyfox]

self repair

" you're a better man than I am "

[ Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling | Poetry Foundation ]

be sure to check this thread out, not sure if it would apply or not but better safe than sorry

Cross-head screws - a caution:

Those screws that look like Phillips 00 and 000 in Japanese cameras and lenses? They aren't. They're JIS cross-heads and life's a lot simpler using JIS screw driver bits on 'em.

Whether you do this only once and run into trouble, or intend to do it often, it's worth your sanity to do it with the correct JIS tools so you don't risk stripping a screw head. T-shirts should be available for those that have been there, done that!

Sooner or later, you'll be sorry if you don't use the JIS bits since the Phillips bits make great roto-rooters in JIS screw heads because they don't fit all the way into the cross slots as you can see here . . .

Read more at: Cross-head screws - a caution: - Page 2 - PentaxForums.com

[Owltown]

Well for us film fans its a way of life. There are no authorised repair facilities as such.

I just got fed up with trudging to the post offive to return yet another junky camera and couldnt afford to keep sending every issue to a tech so it was a case of having to get stuck in myself.

There are several skilled repair people available in the US, and several more overseas. For our brand, there's Eric Hendrickson at Pentax Repair in Knoxville, TN. For other brands as well as Asahi products, there's Mechanical Camera Repair in NYC ... Youxin Ye in Worcester, MA ... Royal Camera Repairs in Hanover Park, IL. If you want to pay export shipping for a topnotch job, there's Chris Sherlock's Retina Rescue in New Zealand. Chris will tackle most any leaf shutter camera ever made, if you ask him nicely. For older German and eastern Euro cameras, contact Dr. Gejza Dunay (cupog) via his eBay store.

[automorphism]

Obviously a huge repair detailed on this forum is the aperture block failure. I think I remember reading somewhere that someone sent their camera to be repaired only to have the same faulty solenoid put it. So in that case it might be better to self-repair, if you are brave enough to take it apart.

[DWS1]

I've always felt if I had the proper knowledge and tools I could repair anything, if it's repairable.

[DeadJohn]

My DIY repairs usually happen when something isn't worth paying to repair. For example, I had a Canon point and shoot with a retractable lens that jammed, causing an error message that prevented it from properly turning on. Paying for service would have cost $200, yet I could buy a used working copy for $100. I had nothing to lose via DIY repair and it worked out well.


I've fortunately never needed to perform my own nor pay for Pentax service. My DSLRs have never broken, and 2 Pentax lenses that needed repair were still under warranty.

[Gorgarath]

I had tossed around the idea of converting a Pentax DSLR to full spectrum. Until I saw someone that converted theirs to IR and what all was involved. I'll be sending mine off to someone to do if I ever do it.

[aslyfox]

There are several skilled repair people available in the US, and several more overseas. . . .

Pentax Repair Facilities (Wordwide listing)
This is a growing list of Pentax repair/service providers. Feel free to post any additions!

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/189-repairs-warranty-service/316284-pent...ml#post3566309

[Not a Number]

Other than reseating a slipped spring, cog lever, loose retaining ring, exterior damage or cleaning a switch or most repairs are outside my abilities and skills.

[edom31]

I did the aperture block on my K-50 3 years ago (I filed them, not replaced it) and it still going strong (I think the everyday use keeps it lubricated and running well).

I do clean old manual primes. I tried cleaning a manual zoom lens once - it is now a heavy paperweight.

I've tried fixing oily aperture blades, not so comfortable doing it anymore...

I have a sticky aperture on my K 50/4 Macro and a K 135/2.5 that over focuses and seems "funny" = these two I am not touching, sending them to Hendrickson for CLA soon.

[Photos-by-Chas]

I'll leave any repairs necessary for my cameras to the professionals. Those of you that want to try it for yourselves, good luck.

[Angelic Layer]

I think I can repair a Kiev shutter ribbon as I see the process isn't complicated.
But I do not have much tools to do things like shutter speed calibration etc.

[Thagomizer]

Several years ago, when I was shooting Canon, I got a hold of a 17-85 lens with a jammed zoom. Turns out this was a relatively common problem caused by a loose screw. I found an online guide posted by someone else who'd done the repair, so I gave it a shot. I disassembled carefully, taping the screws down on the printed pages from the online guide corresponding to the stage of dismantling at which they were removed. The problem was as advertised. I replaced the loose screw that was the culprit and got everything back together again. I put on the camera turned it on, and by golly it worked! So I ended up with a $500-$600 lens for free. I got a bit of use out of it on my 20D before it fell victim to a second common malady to which this lens was prone: failure of the ribbon cable controling the aperture mechanism. There were tutorials and guides for this fix too, but it would require a higher degree of disassembly and the purchase of a replacement part. I thought about doing it myself, but decided not to. The second failure for this lens, combined with the loss of AF on the Canon 18-55 kit lens (also ribbon cable fatigue failure) left me essentially camera-less and in the market for a replacement. I tried out a 70D, and it was good, but beyond my budget at the time. It was while I was in this state of affairs that I was able to borrow a Pentax K-S2. I even already had an A 50mm f1.7 that I hadn't used much on my Canon (I had adapters for K-EOS and M-42 to EOS). It was an out of focus self-portrait with this lens on the K-S2 that sold me on Pentax. I jumped ship and dumped Canon.

Can't say I would try this on something that wasn't a) free and b) already dead, though while I was still shooting Canon, I did remove the minolta mount on my Tokina 500mm f8 mirror to M42. Dead simple. No aperture linkage. It worked too.

Camera though? Nope.

[Liney]

I must admit I hate throwing things away unless I know for sure that they are completely unusable. Taking that philosophy in hand, I have tried repairs on a number of things over the years with a pretty decent success rate. Would I try repairing my camera? Well if the alternative was throwing it in the bin then yes I would give it a try,

Ebay (and other internet websites) are useful for finding the proper tools and the spare parts, I now own a watch repair kit and a set of screwdrivers that cover every possible combination of head shape which have come in useful on laptops and things.

Back in the 80's when I first started to drive, every young man had at least one old battered second hand car (cheap to buy and insure!) and I tried quite a few self repair tasks. At that time every second hand car seemed to come with a battered Haynes manual (THE handbook for car repair, it described how to do practically everything with a guide to how proficient you needed to be before you started the job...) and the first thing you would do when checking over a new car would be to thumb through the manual looking for the dirty pages (dirty pages indicated that job had been carried out on the car!).

You tube is handy for people showing you how to do things, but I fear there aren't that many Pentax user videos yet. Ricoh/Pentax aren't going to publish the equivalent Haynes manual either, they don't want their users doing it themselves....

So I'll go back to my first statement, if I am just going to throw it away I'll try to fix it. I mean I already have lots of spare bits and pieces that get left over when I repair other things...

[ZombieArmy]

The problem with repairing a DSLR isn't the technical skill required, but the lack of parts and documentation. Long gone are the days of repairs being expected.

[edom31]

Long gone are the days of repairs being expected.

Also, things nowadays are produced with an expiration date in mind... Cameras, cars, electronics... you name it, it is meant to breakdown short-lived.