CAMERA REPAIRS
When you’ve invested heavily in lenses, and you’re comfortable with the handling and functionality of your camera, getting it repaired can be a better option than buying new,
There’s a picture in the book Things Come Apart 2.0 by Todd McLellan that I find fascinating. McLellan has a penchant for taking things apart: phones, typewriters, clocks; nothing is spared from this man’s screwdriver.
Once an object has been disassembled, he places the parts neatly and precisely on a plain background and photographs them from above. In the past, he has reduced a Pentax SLR to a selection of rings, screws and wires; prised apart a Polaroid camera to reveal its boxy innards and, in the picture I’m so taken by, he has perfectly arranged 580 parts of a Sony DSLR on the floor. This picture fascinates me for three reasons: one, it looks great; two, it makes me think about the precision engineering that goes into designing and building a DSLR; and three, it’s a powerful reminder that taking your camera apart is probably best left to the experts.
Dodgy DIY repairs
Steve Smart from Camserve has seen a lot of dodgy DIY ‘repairs’ over the years. ‘We often deal with cameras and lenses that have been dismantled and arrive in dozens of pieces because the customer can’t reassemble them again,’ he explains. Steve believes the rise in online ‘how-to’ videos is partly to blame. Watching a video describing how to make a flash diffuser out of a Pringles tube is one thing but attempting to open and mend an electronic device without the appropriate tools and knowledge is quite another. ‘Some advice online is just plain wrong!’ adds Steve. In fact, it’s important to remember that you run the risk of an electric shock if you don’t know what you’re doing (flash capacitors, for example, store quite a lot of electrical energy!).
Separate guarantee
Carrying out a DIY repair on your camera can also affect its warranty. Most manufacturers won’t cover repairs or maintenance carried out at home, but it’s worth noting that repairs carried out by a reputable repair service often come with a separate guarantee. ‘Camera repair can be expensive,’ says Adrian Tang from the Camera Museum, ‘so all our repairs come with a guarantee of six months.’ The fact is, almost all camera equipment can be repaired, but the cost of repairing goods sometimes outweighs its value. According to Steve, this has been made worse by the UK’s departure from the EU in 2020. ‘Brexit has made it mo
