I finally fixed a shutter that 3 other shops refused to touch

Last month a guy walks into my shop with a 1968 Pentax Spotmatic that had a shutter stuck at 1/1000. Two shops in Portland said it needed a new curtain assembly, which is basically impossible to find. I spent 3 nights just watching the timing with a jeweler's loupe and realized the problem was a bent pivot pin, not the curtain. Cost me $4 in parts from a donor body I found on Craigslist and about 6 hours of careful filing. Now I'm wondering how many cameras get junked because nobody bothers to look past the obvious part. Has anyone else saved a body with a tiny mechanical fix like that?

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mila_perry137d ago

...and that's exactly why I keep a box of junk cameras labeled "probably broken beyond repair" that I'm never actually going to throw away. Every time I hear someone say a part doesn't exist, I start wondering if it's really the part that's missing or just the patience to look at it sideways for three nights. Bent pivot pin, huh? That's the kind of thing that makes me want to apologize to every camera I've ever given up on, but then I remember they probably deserved it anyway. 6 hours of filing for a $4 part is either dedication or a really cheap hobby, and I respect both equally.