Showerthought: The shift from film to digital changed how we handle shutter repairs

Ten years ago, half my bench time was spent on mechanical shutter timing and curtain tension on SLRs. Now, it's mostly electronic board swaps and sensor cleaning on mirrorless bodies. The tools changed too, I bought my first hot air rework station in 2018 for $300. Some guys say the old mechanical work was a purer form of the trade, others think the new tech keeps the job relevant. For those who worked through the transition, which type of repair do you find more satisfying to complete?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarahpatel2mo ago

Purer form of the trade" is right, nothing beats fixing a mechanical shutter.

nina1472mo ago

Agree with the feeling, but @sarahpatel, I find fixing a mechanical rangefinder is even more pure. It's all about aligning tiny mirrors and prisms by hand, no electronics at all. That feeling when the patch snaps into focus is unmatched in my experience.

laura_lee2mo ago

Ever feel like the old skills are just disappearing? I get what @nina147 means about that pure hands-on work, it must be so rewarding to fix something with just your tools and feel. Makes me worry that kind of knowledge won't get passed down much longer.