[ some discussion from the forum from 1997]
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!
------------------
From:Tom Trottier, ACT Productions Inc.
__o tom@xxxxxx http://www.act.ca
_ \< +1 613 594-4829 fax +1 613 594-8944
(*)/'(*) 199 Holmwood Ave, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1S 2P3
"Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler" - Einstein
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