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Photographic Equipment Repairs


Our workshop can handle most repairs onsite.  When you bring or send in your equipment for repair, please give us as much information about the fault as possible.  Don’t be afraid to tell us if it has been dropped - even a small drop or knock can cause big problems, especially with heavy or electronic equipment.  Supply us with negatives and prints if they show the fault.  Sand and water can also cause equipment failure, please tell us if you think it has been in either.



Repair Specials...

Weston meters - IV, V, Euro master etc: - It is quite common for the selenium cell to become inefficient giving a low output, hence a low reading.  We have new cells to rectify this problem.  We can also replace the glass over the scale if you require.

Olympus OM1 / OM2 - These cameras are two of our favourites.  They do however have one or two problems.  1) Low meter readings - This is usually caused by corrosion or a bad earth in the meter circuit.  2) Wind mechanism feels lumpy or needs two strokes to wind the film on; the wind pawl mechanism needs servicing.

Olympus OM1 / 1n - The OM1 and OM1n meter circuit was designed for use with mercury batteries.  These batteries are no longer available for sale.  (Don’t despair!)  We can convert the circuitry to take a modern available battery and calibrate the readings.

Pentax ME / ME Super - Intermittent under or over exposures: - This is quite common.  The camera requires a service and adjustments.

Canon T90 - Shutter not firing: - Quite common, the release mechanism requires repair and adjustments.

Canon EOS 5 / 100 - The mode dial becomes loose or ineffective: - Requires a modified mode dial to be fitted.

Minolta X300 / X700 - Shutter release problems: - This is also common.  The camera has corrosion or leaking capacitors.  We can usually clean the affected parts and replace any faulty capacitors.

Digital SLR’s - Fuji S2 Pro, Nikon D1 / D200, Canon 400D etc: - Spots on the pictures usually means the CCD requires cleaning.  We can clean the CCD if this is the cause of the fault.  Don’t try cleaning it yourself unless you know exactly what you are doing as you could scratch the low pass filter.  Express service available, please ask.

Digital cameras using Compact Flash cards - Canon 350D, Nikon D40, Nikon 5700 plus many others - Watch out for bent pins in the camera or hard to insert cards.  We get a lot of them in with bent or snapped off pins, this can cause other problems.  We can normally sort this out for you.

Kodak Carousel projectors - Slide magazine not moving on or slides shoot up into the air – Service and adjustments are required.

Compur shutter cameras - Rolleiflex, Hasselblad, Retina, Super Ikonta etc: - Shutter speeds or delayed action sticks (quite common), requires service and adjustments, sometimes a new main spring is needed.

Prontor shutter cameras - Agfa, Ilford, Voigtlander etc: - Shutter speeds or delayed action sticks (quite common), requires service and adjustments, sometimes a new main spring is needed.

Binoculars and Telescopes - We are getting increasingly more enquiries regarding fungus and alignment problems with optical devices.  Our workshop can successfully remove fungus in most cases and set up alignment.

We also repair flash units EG: - Bowen’s, Courtenay, Elinchrom, Prolinca and Metz etc.

Eumig P8 - (standard 8 projector) rubber drive belts, usually in stock.  Please ask.

Sankyo Dualux - (dual 8 projector) rubber drive belts, usually in stock.  Please ask.


Over the past few years we are seeing increasing numbers of lenses with fungal growths.  It is easy to check for: - open up the aperture and hold the lens to a bright light.  If you see any dark patches which may look like cobwebs then the lens needs to be looked at.  If you catch it in the early stages we can clean the affected elements.

Most cameras from the late 1960’s on, quite often need the light seal foam on the back door or mirror area replacing.  We have various thickness of light seal foam to accommodate most cameras and can replace this for you if required.  You can check the seals yourself by touch; if they feel sticky they need replacing.




Leica model 1 after restoration

This Leica 1 was totally striped and rebuilt by us.  The external metalwork was gold plated and the body was covered in snakeskin.  We were happy with the end result and so was the customer.





Leica M6 ready for repairs

Cameras like the Leica M6 above use rangefinder optics to set the focus, which they also used back in the 1930’s.  The system has stood the test of time.  Modern cameras use electronics in the metering as in this M6.  The camera pictured here required the viewfinder lens frame to be repaired.  It has various bright line frames, which set to the focal length of the lens fitted, EG. A 50mm lens has a wider bright line frame than a 135mm.

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