Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/01/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]As a side issue, which models (regardless of >brand) tend to be easiest to disassemble/assemble for repair (maybe done >by the owner rater than the repair shop)? Let me first diverge a bit from the subject... My professional experience is not in still photography, but broadcast video. In THAT business, I did not care at all for hefty machinery! Plastics were good, and quick-change rechargeable battery packs were essential. Know why pro gear gets bashed around so much? It's because everyone's fatigued and tends to slam the heavy bags into doorways or railings, and is none too careful when loading the gear up at the end of the day! Actually dropping expensive gear is very rare, because when it happens, the person responsible starts getting nervous about their job. I do camera repairs as an occasional hobby, and over the past couple of years, have come by a Leica R4s w/winder, Nikon F2AS w/MD3 and Olympus OM-1, among others. The Nikon appears to have been designed for the roughest service, and the internals of the motor drive are stout. But it's also an OLD pro camera (figure that I was seeing battered F3 outfits being rotated out of service years ago), and so it maybe should come as no great surprise that parts, such as MD3 pinion gears, are not available from Nikon anymore. The OM-1 internals are very elegant. Some parts are almost astonishingly simple, yet they work, and very well at that: Take a look through the service literature, to the shutter curtain brake, mirror damper and meter movement, and you'll see what I mean. In contrast, the R appeared to have considerable complexity, particularly in regards to the lens coupling system and, in the case of the R4, the viewfinder displays. The lens coupling pins did not seem to be made of any particularly hard metal. The winder was neatly made by Eumig, with heavily gold-plated contacts. It appeared to be designed for careful, light useage, as suggested by the fragile, exposed winder-to-camera contact fingers and the fussy battery clip. I found this particular R to be a nice, but unremarkable camera, and not especially rugged. Really stylish though! These days, the most durable camera in the world is probably not some titanium marvel, but rather, some lightweight, plastic affair with few, if any, fine adjustments. Maybe not in terms of how many cycles it'll last, but in terms of how bad a fall it can take before it breaks. I would not be surprised if some of the older, non-SLR Nikonos cameras were exceptionally tough in both respects. Most users can probably perform a fair number of service-related tasks on a 4x5 camera, and maybe some minor Hasselblad work (replacing light seals, etc). But even so, a steady hand is called for. Camera repair is not a pasttime for folks who tend to slip when they use a screwdriver, or who wind up with "spare" parts! - --------------------------------------------------- Specializing in interesting, quality junk. Sherline items sought - ---------------------------------------------------