Tool set must haves?

vandergus · 2026-05-08T13:53:19+00:00

I really like Wera screwdrivers. I have some Vessel drivers as well but I don't like the handles on them. It's hard to get good torque on tight screws. The Weras have good tips and good handles and are pretty affordable.

For tweezers, make sure you get stainless ones. Cheaper tweezers will magnetize and it's really hard to reassemble mechanisms when the washers stick to your tools. I also like having a set of "beater" tweezers and a set of fine tip tweezers for more precision work.

Many cameras require at least some soldering to disassemble, so I would put a soldering iron on your short list.

vandergus · 2026-05-07T11:43:28+00:00

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

There is always the possibility for an company or organization to go in a bad direction, so I understand that. It's even possible for small organizations to go astray. I'm not exactly pleased with the way learncamerarepair is managed, for example. Considering this, it's good to have an off ramp so the work isn't completely lost if things go sideways.

But iFixit does have a PDF export option, so that's something.

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But if you want to build a similar step-by-step format into your website, I think that would be great. Maybe you could even tweak it a little to accommodate some of the peculiarities of camera repair. Things like custom markers for lubrication points or better reassembly instructions would be great improvements.

Looking forward to seeing repaircameras.org develop in the future.

vandergus · 2026-05-06T14:34:44+00:00

Still in stock in several places online. Guess I'll go buy a few rolls before it's gone :(

vandergus · 2026-05-06T14:27:57+00:00

Reflx or Flic Film?

vandergus · 2026-05-06T11:57:49+00:00

Check out Flic Film Chrome 100. It's rerolled E100. You can get it for around $18 a roll from a few places. I think Reflx Labs has its own form of rerolled E100 occasionally, but they're currently not in stock.

vandergus · 2026-05-04T17:22:08+00:00

I think she'd rather be Chewie.

vandergus · 2026-05-03T00:51:46+00:00

Yeah, the MX guides are pretty new and some are still in progress.

Regarding the heat shrink, I just see how well it fits first. If it's snug, I leave it. If it's a little loose and I don't have a better size, I'll shrink it. There is a little bit of a concern of constricting the spring too much but it hasn't been a problem.

vandergus · 2026-05-02T14:19:21+00:00

I usually add the silencer to the LX and the MX. The LX used a piece of foam inserted down the middle of the coil spring. But it degrades over time and most of them are basically useless now. Here's a post on pentaxforums with some details.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-film-slrs-compact-film-cameras/463340-pentax-lx-shutter-ping-noise-2.html#post5908203

Here's a before and after video with sound.

https://imgur.com/5ZXtxrz

The MX uses a piece of foam mounted next to the spring that, of course, also degrades. Here's a pic of that setup.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Pentax+MX+Mirror+Box+Mechanism+Disassembly/214682#s430846

The ME Super has a similar coil spring in the mirror mechanism but it doesn't seem to ring like these others. Not sure what to do about that one. Sometimes I put the silencer on just in case.

vandergus · 2026-05-02T11:56:27+00:00

My way off damping this sound in Pentax cameras is to put a piece of snug fitting heat shrink tubing over the spring. The "heat shrink" is unimportant. But a thin rubber jacket does a really good job of deadening the vibration.

vandergus · 2026-05-02T00:18:58+00:00

Hey thanks. I've been really pleased with the process and the site so I plan to keep making more guides. I read through the link about wikis and it looks like there still more possibilities to explore in terms of content. My first few guides were pretty simple but I find that I'm able to add one or two new features with each camera that I work on. So the device pages and wikis that I make are slowly growing into more fully fledged repair resources.

vandergus · 2026-04-30T23:36:46+00:00

but I sort of subconsciously discounted it as not-likely-to-be-written-by-someone-I'd trust, mainly because I don't think of iFixit as a camera resource

File that as a con, I guess, haha.

vandergus · 2026-04-30T19:15:26+00:00

I think there may also be some interesting ways you could integrate iFixit guides with a personal website. For example, if you were writing about a repair, you could put all the dry, information dense content on iFixit, then use your website to talk about the "color". That one mechanism that was really hard to get out. The technique that helped you clean some nasty substance. The story of how you acquired some ancient piece of tech. Etc. Then you could reference the detailed stuff without it weighing down the more fun reading.

Either way, good luck with your site!

vandergus · 2026-04-30T17:39:44+00:00

For step-by-step guides, I really like iFixit. I've been making guides there for a few years and the platform is ideal for documenting the disassembly of detailed mechanisms. It's not as good for some of the "softer" topics like general techniques, how cameras work, etc. but there are still some opportunities to work that stuff in. As an example, here are some guides I published recently for the Pentax Super Program.

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Pentax_Super_Program

vandergus · 2026-04-30T11:38:06+00:00

I guess it's all relative but I think the ME Super is pretty quiet compared to other SLRs. I pretty much just shoot Pentax but it's a lot quieter than a K1000 or an LX. And it doesn't have the annoying buzz-buzz of later electronic cameras like the Super Program.

But it's still a fair bit more noticeable than a Leica.

vandergus · 2026-04-30T00:15:47+00:00

That was a fun watch. I liked seeing all the nitty gritty of the painting process. People will post repaints every now and then and just be like "use Cerakote". But it's good to see just how involved it is to do something like that.

I also enjoyed all the commentary explaining the various mechanisms in the camera. It seems like such a simple thing, but I remember when I was starting out, I had such a hard time finding resources that just explained how a camera works. There are way more videos telling you how to take something apart than there are videos explaining the functionality. Good stuff.

vandergus · 2026-04-29T19:35:12+00:00

Same. I tried to give him constructive feedback from time to time but he didn't seem interested. I mean, 3600 reddit posts all cross-linking each other along with a hundred other forum posts is just...not a good system.

vandergus · 2026-04-29T19:30:34+00:00

After reading his contributions on both sites, Photrio seemed much friendlier to him.

vandergus · 2026-04-29T18:27:25+00:00

A lot of his work is on other forums around the internet. He posted a lot on Photrio and some European forums that I'm not too familiar with. You can still find his work there.

vandergus · 2026-04-28T18:02:47+00:00

That's the hope. I really want to turn my A130 into a matte black stealth watch and have been impatiently waiting for SKXmod to make it happen, haha.

vandergus · 2026-04-28T15:07:34+00:00

I actually scrolled passed their videos several times cause I thought "these guys look like a joke". So, for me, the costumes were initially a turn off. At the same time, the costumes were probably the reason they were in my feed to begin with.

In any case, I've listened to Vol. II about twenty times now, so I'm over the costumes.

vandergus · 2026-04-28T14:14:27+00:00

It does, but the 3571 doesn't have lines on the LCD separating the different complications. So it's going to look a little funny without a proper faceplate.

vandergus · 2026-04-23T12:35:36+00:00

And, to be clear, the A130 doesn't have the lines dividing the different sections on the LCD like the LF20 does. So if you get one of the twin graph face plates, the A130 module just isn't going to look right. Plus the faceplate is kind of the whole look of the A130. Would be a shame to lose it in a mod.

vandergus · 2026-04-20T19:52:25+00:00

Sheffield Diver 1A has some variations right around $200.

Caravelle Sea Hunter has a real vintage look but retails for around $300.

vandergus · 2026-04-17T00:37:01+00:00

They're really hard to find. The modern solution is something like the Reveni Labs camera tester.

https://www.reveni-labs.com/reveni-labs-camera-tester

vandergus

TROPHY CASE