Share your repair job

Being a bit of a tinkerer, I have on occasion repaired my own equipment. Also, I don't see the sense in getting consumer grade equipment serviced when it costs about the same as replacement to do so.

So far I have

• Fixed jammed AF/MF swith on 90-300mm USM
  
• Replaced motor on 75-300mm USM
  
• Cleaned focus screens
  
• Removed debris from internals of 50mm f/1.8

I have just changed the engine in my series 1 Land Rover if that qualifies. I don't think I could go any smaller with my limited skills and hands like shovels.

Well, I guess your land rover will get you to location lol

My Exposure Lock button on my 300D was stuck (which made it tough to chimp my shots because I couldn't zoom out easily) so I popped it out with a razor knife, smoothed it up a bit, added a drop of glue to the back and stuck it back in. Works like new!

Freff wrote in post #2248211
I have just changed the engine in my series 1 Land Rover if that qualifies. I don't think I could go any smaller with my limited skills and hands like shovels.

From memory you need a 1/2" spanner and a big hammer to do this...

kevin_c wrote in post #2248505
From memory you need a 1/2" spanner and a big hammer to do this...

You got it!!! I've got the new RR also, bet you can guess which one I'd sooner play in.

Completely off-topic here, but I had a 1959 series 2 LR a few years ago (well about 10 actually!) and I did all sorts of work on it and you really can do most things with a 1/2" spanner and a hammer

To the OP, I admire your courage and determination to 'do it yourself' on such small and potentially tricky items, I would probably have just thrown em' away!

kevin_c wrote in post #2248505
From memory you need a 1/2" spanner and a big hammer to do this...

Probably 13mm

Woo! LR fans here! I am *in love* with our '99 Disco II. Except somebody/something GASHED our roof in. So now we're considering selling it (since there's a bunch more stuff wrong with it).

After seeing her parked beside the LR3 (which is what we are thinking to replace her with) I really couldn't let her go! She's too beautiful! (and the LR3 is.... a toy)

you guys are awesome. All I got is...I put new batteries in my flash today...

Well, back to cameras -- I have taken apart older, shall I say - mechanical lenses, such as FD vintage. I have fixed sticky iris and junk between lens elements. I have also taken apart some camera bodies that needed attention inside, like resoldering small wires and the like. Not alwasys sucessful, but if it did not work anyway and I would not spend a lot on the fix, it is worth a try.

One word of caution is: do not apply too much force, if something does not budge, unless you are familiar with what lurks behind what you are forcing. Not that this has ever happened to me!

I once had a F-1 with its removable prism viewfinder stuck on tight. I actually used a little WD-40 which I applied with a toothpick, and then tapped the viewfinder gently with a small hammer, its head wrapped in a heavy cloth! It did the trick!

~Dom

i have a rebel xt and the button that control the i guess the 2 buttons on the right back with the plus and minus well them 2 buttons seem to have no spring in them so they dont work! any ideas?

See my post above... I used a cheapo razor knife to pop it out.... I think some sand or something must have gotten in there and wouldn't come out with the rocket blower or even canned air. I popped it out, and it was all scarred up, so I smoothed it off, and used a dot of glue to hold it back in place... Works beautifully since!

I repair a lot of my stuff. If I limit it to camera gear, I rebuilt a TOU/Five Star 75-200 FD macro. It had mold or fungus on the internal lenses. Took apart a Kodak P/S. It had a plastic chip inside which occasionally would get something stuck. Never did find where it came from. I think it might have been a nub left over from the case mold. There are a few others but nothing like those.