Learn Camera Repair: Resources

Tools, Parts, Supplies

Micro Tools

Micro Tools sells a large selection of specialized camera repair tools, cleaning supplies, lubricants, and some camera parts.

Replacement Bellows by Sandeha Lynch

Custom-made replacement bellows for folding cameras and large format cameras.

An extremely useful device, this will magnetize any steel tools, such as screwdrivers, so that you won't lose tiny screws when removing or replacing them while servicing a camera. It can also demagnetize the tool! This one is electric-powered, and works much better than the non-powered ones sold in hardware stores.

DAG Camera Parts

Famed Leica repairman Don Goldberg sells parts for many classic cameras, not just Leicas.

Gres Camera Repair Tools

High quality, reasonably priced toolsfor the camera technician. Includes hard to find Japanese Cross Head screwdrivers, needed for servicing most Japanese cameras (Though Phillips screwdrivers look similar, they will damage Japanese Cross Headscrews used on cameras!).

Kodak Parts

Replacement parts and repair information for Kodak slide projectors and movie projectors.

Camera Covers and Replacement Leather

Hugo Studio

American supplier of replacement leather in many colors for a huge variety of classic cameras from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Aki Asahi

Japanese supplier of replacement leather for both classic cameras and modern digital cameras. Well known for his high-quality Leica coverings. Ships worldwide.

Tutorials, Repair Manuals, and other Information

Society of Photo-Technologists

SPT is an organization for camera repair technicians. Membership includes access to an extensive library of technical information.

How To Test Lenses (PDF)

An article from the old Modern Photography magazine showing how to test your lenses for resolution.

Lens Mount Register Distances List (PDF)

This is a list of mount register distances for most lens mounts that you will encounter. The register distance is the distance between the lens mount and the film plane in a camera. It is important to know the correct register distance for a camera because it is adjustable to correct for focusing accuracy problems.

Cosina Camera List

Cosina is a Japanese OEM manufacturer of mostly entry-level 35mm SLR cameras for many other companies, including major manufacturers like Canon, Olympus, and Nikon. This is a list of all the cameras made by Cosina, which is useful to the repair technician because most of them were built from the same basic design and share many of their internal parts.

Richard Haw's Classic Nikon Maintenance Site

Excellent tutorials on repairing Nikon film cameras. Also includes several "Camera Repair Fundamentals" tutorials that apply to any type of equipment.

The Olympus Hardware Resource Page

A huge archive of Olympus service manuals, exploded parts diagrams, and repair articles. Includes several good OM-System repair tutorials.

Arctic Wolf's Nikon Resources

A treasure trove of service manuals, brochures, and historical information on Nikon equipment from classic film cameras to digital.

Graflex.org

Information on Graflex cameras, film holders, flashes, rangefinders, and lenses. The Technical Information page has some service manuals.

The Rokkor Files

A huge archive of information on Minolta equipment, especially manual focus gear.

What Was Up With Minolta And Capacitors?

An explanation of why so many manual focus Minolta cameras die because of failing electronic capacitors.

Orphan Cameras

Mike Butkus's site offering hundreds of free downloads of camera and other photo equipment manuals. Mostly users manuals; but he has some repair manuals, too.

Nikon Camera Repair Site

Tutorials for repairing Nikon cameras. Has info on classic rangefinder Nikons and both film and digital SLRs.

Contax 139 Resource

Information on the Contax 139. Includes service manuals, instruction books, brochures, and repair tutorials.

Yashica Guy

Tutorials for repairing Yashica rangefinder cameras. Also sells adapters to allow use of modern batteries in cameras designed to use mercury batteries.

Pentax Auto 110

An extensive library of information on the Pentax Auto 110 system. Includes service manuals, repair tutorials, users manuals, brochures, and more.

Max Vettore's Bronica Technical Resources

Bronica repair tutorials and technical information.

How the Leica IIIc was made

At the end of World War II, British Intelligence did a study of the Leitz factory in Wetzlar, Germany to see how the Leica IIIc 35mm rangefinder camera was made. Their report and the technical drawings taken from Leitz were used to make the Reid III, a British-made Leica copy. The report makes fascinating reading for anyone curious about how these cameras were made and how they work.

Sam's Strobe Repair FAQ

Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Electronic Flash Units and Strobe Lights.

Lens Collimation Without A Collimator

A tutorial by Mike Elek showing how to collimate (calibrate focus accuracy) a lens using a 35mm SLR with a telephoto lens.

Fix Film Cameras

Camera repair articles and tutorials by Mark Overton. Also has instructions for building your own auto collimator for lens calibration!

Large Format Leaf Shutter Information

Technical information on leaf shutters used in large format lenses. Includes Compur, Copal, Prontor, Ilex, and Wollensak.

Retina Rescue

Chris Sherlock is a camera repairman in New Zealand who specializes in the repair and restoration of Kodak Retina cameras. His site has a number of repair tutorials that Mr. Sherlock has made for those wishing to repair their own classic Kodak cameras.

Other Photography-Related Sites

Chris Crawford's Photography Tutorials

Tutorials on photography techniques, exposure metering, film processing, scanning, digital printing, and editing in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Resources For Camera Repair

Tools, Parts, Supplies

Camera Covers and Replacement Leather

Tutorials, Repair Manuals, and other Information

Other Photography-Related Sites