Film Fridays: Requiem for all my broken 35mm cameras

Film camera prices are so low that a collector can buy a Nikon F4, a professional model with interchangeable prisms and autofocus for less than a couple of Benjamin Franklins. When new, the Olympus OM-1 cost more than that and in 1980s dollars. I haven't shot film for a decade and a half but I keep a few film camera bodies around for nostalgia. I have no intention of putting a roll of film in them again. Too much hassle getting them developed.

amazingly that these tiny points-and-shoots are "full frame"

Your olympus xa might be locked up because shutter failed to fire when you last cocked it? Maybe because of battery or dirty contacts.

If you take case off you can see if its cocked and then trigger it. The shutter is cocked with magnets that you can trip with a screwdriver from memory. That could release the winding mechanism.

If it wound on and then gears crunched you should be able to refit them too.

I wouldnt be writing it off. Im hopeless but i managed some basic DIY on mine.

Digital cams have a reputation for limited lifetimes, primarily because they become obsolete before actual failure. I suspect that most are replaced while still functioning. I have a box of old digitals that work but are so technically inferior to the newer cams that they are basically useless.

As demonstrated here, film cams also have limited lifetimes. I have another box of film cams that do not work.

I don't know why I haven't discarded both boxes...

I keep telling people we need new film cameras to be manufactured but people keep saying there are millions of them out there. But, have you seen the prices some of these get these days? Time for someone to step up and start making new compact film cameras.

If I were you, I would have the CL fixed especially if its light meter is still functional. The repair might cost you about $150-200 but if you still get a decent life to shoot out of it, it will pay off. Used Leica CL cameras with working light meter go for a high price these days without lens.

My Rollei 35s and se still going strong. Just need to run the slow speeds every half year or so.take batteries out if not in use. But these are built very well and totally mechanical except for a light meter. The same for my Mamiya C330 and two lenses with shutters built in.

I have a weird 80’s looking Agfa Compact. It’s notorious for being unreliable, but I have luck with mine. Just got my first roll back and it’s lens is very sharp corner to corner. It’s safari green, it has a cover that slides in front of the viewfinder. If you push it down, the viewfinder is exposed and the lens pops out behind another cover. All electronically. It’s got automatic winding, but no autofocus. You can zone focus or guess the distance. It’s a cool weird little thing.

My Spotmatic F has ceased to work. Like all Pentax shutters of that age it needed regular use and hasn't. I don't need or want it. Film is for me over and done with. It has been since I finally found a small digital camera to replace my GR1

Cameras whose ergonomics mimic wet bars of soap are prone to dropping and skew any assessment of predictable longevity from build quality. I have grieved my own.

If you want a reliable 35mm camera that will be working long after the youngest photographer of today lives to enjoy a ripe-old age, pick up a better made mechanical camera, even those with a built-in light meter. Most from the 1950s and 1960s are easy to work on, have online tutorials. Nikon, Canon, Contax and Leica have specialist to repair them. Kodak Retina cameras have online tutorials, and a specialist in New Zealand that rebuilds them. Parts are still available.

If the author needs some suggestions for a good film camera to buy- just ask. I've had people send me boxes of inoperative cameras -mostly fixed-lens RF cameras- in payment for doing some lens repair. Half of them just needed the shutters flood cleaned, top popped and finder cleaned, and new seals. No parts required. I gave many of them away to younger photographers wanting to shoot film.

My Fujica GS645 is since long dead. It was my absolute favorite B&W camera. I had it with me everywhere. But the shutter is stuck.

https://cameraderie.org/threads/minolta-himatic-9-flood-cleaning-shutter-and-cleaning-viewfinder-also-applies-to-the-7-7s-and-11.50150/

https://cameraderie.org/threads/minolta-al-e-removing-top-cover-to-clean-the-viewfinder.50172/

https://cameraderie.org/threads/unjamming-a-nikon-f2-a-likely-place-to-look.47979/

Forget the little posh platic junk from the 80s and 90s. Get something that was made to last. I've had my Minolta HiMatic 9 sice 1969. Easy to work on, easy to repair.

Skip the junk.

Good reading - thanks! Second part of this article, should be about where to try to get these fixed, the costs involved, or where and how to recycle these cameras for parts. Unfortunately, ever-rising USPS costs would prevent me from sending most cameras to Finland.

For years I kept hoping that Olympus would develop an XA-D, a digital camera with the form factor of an XA, with a m4/3 or one-inch sensor and a fixed, 35mm equivalent f2.8 lens. It would have been a beauty, but at this point it may be a long time, if ever, before we see another new Olympus product.

Still have a working R1, but Ricohs seemed to have the least long-term reliability of 35mm film point-and-shoots. LCD screens fade and die. Meanwhile, my Olympus Stylus Epics and Olympus Infinity Jr. seem to keep on going. Maybe the lesson is: fewer electronics required.

My biggest mishap was slipping a mint condition Contax T from my lap onto the hardwood floor at home. It made a dent on top of the body but man, this thing is built like a tank. it is still functional today. Now I am itching to find another non-working one from eBay so that I can cannibalize it to replace the top shell.

My 2nd mishap was trying to dissemble a Nikon Coolpix A to clean its sensor buried deep in the body. I wound up snapping a flex cable of the LCD viewfinder when I put it back together .Fortunately, I was able to find a replacement one from China on eBay. It was a leap of faith for the purchase and I got the new LCD after a month of waiting for the shipment. The new LCD did work when I assembled it. However, I found another unrelated problem with the top dial misfunctioning. Till this day I still have no clue how to fix that.

I have never killed a camera with shocks, rain, beer or extreme use or misuse. But I must admit than I am not kind of serial shooter... ;-)
Those which died, were victims of a faulty organ... But most of the time, I was able to repair them. As a camera collector, I buy faulty cameras (film or digital), because they are very cheap and I like to repair them and thus learn how they work. I usually manage to make two working ones out of three faulty ones for less than the price of a working one. But before buying faulty cameras I talk with the seller to have as much informations about the fault as I can, so I can figure out if I have a good chance to repair it. I absolutely avoid cameras damaged by liquids or moisture...

My DSLR died of fright when Canon & Nikon finally entered the FF mirrorless world...
I won't say what brand it was, I owe it that much at least...

Based on your slip and fall track record, remind me not to loan you my camera.... LOL

You might be able to canabalize an xa2 or 3 to get thewind on working on the rangefinder xa...

I have fixed a camera with a failed screen. Usually when they fail, they become fully on! The battery quickly dies. It is opposite of what one would think. A quick dissembling and works. Usually this means cutting the wire to the display, but not always. A set of JIS screwdrivers is usually all the tools you need. As well as a very organized table top and paper to layout.

...and that is why I do not understand why those who are focused on the latest and greatest should have a understanding of the past. That those photographers came before use used what they had. They had to have skills just to create the image, along with their talents.
To be a photographer is not defined by equipment, but by skills and talent. All these old cameras are old friends, old tools.

I put 2 rolls of film through a Kiev4 before the shutter ribbons snapped. I replaced them, but then had no way to re-calibrate the shutter (speed), so... The Russian sonnar it came with took beautiful images. Too bad.

We're talking point and shoot camera here, for the most part. Also, most of these mentioned are fairly rare. If you've got a Nikon One-touch, Minolta Freedom 3, or a Canonet 28 or Sure Shot, there's a much better chance one can be found for parts or to replace for cheap.

For SLRs, however, some were always more reliable than others, and again you have models that sold well and fall into the above situation. There is simply more demand for SLRs because of what you can still do with them, especially if there are lens problems. Most of those broken point and shoots are in landfills.

What needs to be done to a camera to break it? I still have a few bodies that have seen hundreds rolls of film and still working just fine. One of those cams was manufactured before I was born, and that happened long time ago.

Really nice piece!
My R1 tested gravity from the top of the TV in my bedroom to the oak floor below, rather sad it was still working. Gravity that is, the R1, not so much. It got me into their digital cameras and there two I have two dead bodies after several years of wonderful use.

I've been very lucky with the rest of my "stuff" (knock on wood), other than my beloved Nikkormat FTn (my older son did something to the meter arm) all my stuff has stayed working with me.

I have a small collection of cameras. Some of them working, some not.
Very rare I put a film in one of them an shoot only to play with the camera.
My conclusion: a broken camera stay on the shelf exactly well like a new one.
I like looking on them.

You could send them to camerarescue.org
Or just do what I do and learn to fix the ones you love.
I have 3 XAs one is in perfect order and 2 for spare parts.
But it is much easier to shoot and repair earlier, non battery cameras like my Kodak Retina IIIc.
I wonder how many digital cameras will still work in 2070?

My Nikon F still works. Truly a beautiful and timeless classic. I sold my faithful OM-1n back when mercury batteries were banned, but a couple of years ago I found this gem in the local camera store; exactly like the Nikon F I shot in the early 1970's before the Olympus, except this one has a newer (multicoated) lens.

Maybe “try to not drop them” would be good advice.

Fun article, Dan. I have had a couple of those, and if there's one weakness to old point & shoots, it's just that they're not generally made to last.

The dead flash on the one Ricoh is probably just an old capacitor. Might be worth fixing. Soon as you fix that though, something else will go. I sold these new in the 90s and they're simply not durable cameras.

The Electro 35s are solid, but they ALL need a CLA by now. They're 60s cameras. Do a quick Google on 'yashica pad of death' and it's usually just a piece of foam that wore out, causing the whole camera to brick. (since it is only aperture priority or 1/30s un-metered manual)

µ-2s had the better lens and more features than the originals, but the ergonomics were designed for the pocket, not for the hands. (like the original) If you like a triplet lens, try an original some time. (before prices skyrocket) It also has the nice trivia benefit of being the last camera that the legendary Maitani worked on before retiring from Olympus.