Episode 19: Fixing Cameras with Jess Ibarra

This week on Episode 19 of the Camerosity Podcast where we welcome from Sydney, Australia, camera technician, photographer, artist, and owner of Viva la Film, Jess Ibarra. Jess is self taught and has a background in electrical engineering and is here to answer any of your camera repair or any other film photography questions.

Jess is joined by your regular hosts, Anthony, Theo, Paul, and I, along with returning callers Mario Piper, Howard Sandler, Vladislav Kern, Mark Faulkner, and first time callers Adam Paul, and Jon Gilchrist. As always, we don’t always stay on topic, so while Jess spends a lot of time sharing her knowledge, throughout the show we find ourselves in the weeds talking about Soviet/German Cameras, Japanese Hit Cameras, APS film, and many other things.

Every week, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are decided entirely upon you, so if you’d like to join us, be sure to look out for our next show announcement for Episode 20, which we will record at our normal time of 7pm CST (UTC -6), 8pm EST (UTC -5) on Monday, February 21st.

This Week’s Episode

Jess’s Introduction / Young People Like Point and Shoots
How Much Harder is it to Repair an Electronic Shutter SLR vs a Mechanical SLR? / The FM3A is the Pinnacle of 35mm SLRs
Plastics Become Frail, Solder Develops Whiskers, and Teeth Fall Off
3D Printing and CNC Machines May Come to the Rescue / Jess Wants to Build Her Own Camera From Scratch
The Canon AE-1 Has a Lot of Problems / Many Plastics Have Reached Their End of Life
Look for Film Chips In Cameras Before Shooting Them
How Do You Know Where to Start When Opening a Camera?
Where Do You Source Replacement Parts? / What Do You Charge to Diagnose a Camera?
The Canon FTb and Nikkormats Are Great
Vlad Kern’s House is Sinking / Why Jess Doesn’t Fix Soviet Cameras / The Zorki 4 is Great
Leaf Shutter SLRs / Drops of Lighter Fluid are Sometimes OK, but WD40 is the Devil!
Telescope Helicoid Grease is Great for Lubricating Cameras
The Kowa Komaflex-S is Very Fragile But Worth It
Everyone’s Favorite Lenses, Biotars, Makro-Kilars, Helios, Takumars, Topcor REs, and Vivtars?!
Mike Loves Soviet Triplets / Smenas and Voskhods / Flipping Helios Front Elements
Adam’s Frankencamera, Kodak 122 Folder with 90mm Wide Angle Lens for 5.5″ Panoramic Images
Expired Films From Gevaert and AGFA / How Do You Know the Timings for Developing Old Films? / Cold Stand Developing
Making 17.5mm Film for Japanese Hit Type Cameras / 120 Film and Backing Paper Are Different Sizes
Inspiring Jess’s GAS / Camerosity GAS Made Mark Buy a Canon Pellix / Developing Found Film
Everyone’s New Stuff – Debrie Sept French Camera, Gelto III, TSVVS Prototypes, Topcon RE Super, Ricoh 500, AGFA Ambi Silette, Univex AF, Theo’s Valentine’s Day Camera, Braun Paxette IIM
The Differences Between Nikkormats, FTN, FT2, FT3, and EL / Silver Oxide Batteries
Mike Goes Down the APS Rabbit Hole and Blames Jon
You Can Use the Remnant Strip From Cutting 120 down to 127, in a Hit Camera

Show Notes

If you would like to offer feedback or contact me with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group or Instagram page, or email us at [email protected].

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Jess Ibarra – Viva La Film – https://www.vivalafilm.com/

Mark Faulkner – https://thegashaus.com/

Jon Gilchrist – Packard-Ideal Shutter Company – https://packardshutter.com/

Vladislav Kern – https://www.instagram.com/ussrphoto/

Mario Piper – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gen-x-photography/id1494585131

Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris

Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/

Camerosity can also be heard on the following services:

Google – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2NhbWVyb3NpdHkvZmVlZC54bWw