Am I the only one who gets a customer who brings in a camera they 'fixed' with a kitchen knife?

Last week a guy walked into my shop in Portland with a Nikon F3 he tried to pry open with a butter knife, and now the film advance is locked up tighter than a drum, so what's the most creative 'home repair' disaster you've had to undo?

3 comments

3 Comments

bethpalmer2mo ago

Got a Pentax K1000 last month where someone used super glue to reattach the leatherette. They glued the film rewind knob shut in the process. Had to soak the whole top plate in acetone, which then ate the original finish. The real fix was a full parts swap. Sometimes the "repair" does more damage than the original problem.

smith.matthew1mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. Acetone is brutal stuff, it'll eat almost any plastic or coating. For future reference, a heat gun or even a hair dryer on the leatherette near the knob usually loosens super glue enough to wiggle it free. Poor K1000, @bethpalmer. It's a real shame when a simple fix turns into a salvage job.

leoward2mo ago

My buddy had a client who tried to fix a lens zoom creep with a rubber band and some duct tape. Like @bethpalmer said, the fix wrecked it worse, it jammed the whole focus ring.