Episode 34 of Camerosity Podcast centers on the future of camera repair, featuring two guests deeply embedded in the trade: returning guest Jess Ibarra of Viva La Film in New South Wales, Australia, who regularly handles CLAs and offers repair insights, and first-time guest Ryan Jones, owner of Pro Camera in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ryan worked as a repair technician at the shop for six years before taking over as owner, and he's developed an unconventional business model of accepting repair work in waves every six weeks rather than continuously, which he says helps manage customer expectations and prevents burnout.
The conversation digs into how both Jess and Ryan learned their craft, the techniques used by today's repair community, and the challenge of training a new generation of camera technicians, including how to find a mentor and the mindset needed ("you have to be more anal than your most anal client"). Practical repair topics covered include replacing Leica shutter curtains amid dwindling material supplies (with 3D printing and titanium curtains discussed as potential solutions), resilvering mirrors, the quirks of Canon Pellix pellicle mirrors, and the notorious unreliability of Petri's own shutters despite their well-regarded Color Corrected Super Green-O-Matic lenses. They also touch on the realities of repairing vintage gear—noting that a CLA'd 80-year-old camera is still an 80-year-old camera prone to new, previously unseen issues—and caution that percussive/shadetree "repairs" only offer temporary fixes. Recommended resources for aspiring repair hobbyists include Richard Haw's Nikon-focused site and Learn Camera Repair.
Rounding out the episode, returning caller Alex Dietrich and first-time caller Steve Rosenbach seek advice on self-repair and weigh in on a Nicca camera, while other segments cover gear talk (Soviet cameras like the Kiev 6C versus the less reliable Arsenal Salyut, Nikon rangefinder collecting versus shooting recommendations, and Ryan's own "Franken-Leica" built from mismatched M3/M5 parts) and listener contributions on potential donations, a Tamarkin Camera auction, and a listener's Rollei 35. Overall, the episode serves as a wide-ranging, hands-on discussion of the state and future of camera repair, blending technical detail with reflections on mentorship, sustainability of the trade, and the enduring quirks of aging mechanical cameras.
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We’re back! It’s been three weeks since our last episode, so that just gave us an extra week’s worth of time to think of questions to ask our two special guests! Returning is Jess Ibarra from Viva La Film in New South Wales, Australia who is Theo’s source for CLAs and always offers her insights into the general repair of cameras.
Joining Jess is Ryan Jones, owner of Pro Camera in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ryan was a repair technician at Pro Camera for six years before the opportunity to take over the shop was presented to him, which he accepted. As owner, Ryan has a unique way of accepting new work. Unlike other shops, he does not accept new work all the time, but rather does it in waves. This business model works extremely well for him in terms of managing expectations for his customers and also helping to prevent burn out from non stop work.
Although we have talked about camera repair on other episodes of the podcast, this one has heavy focus on the future. How did both Ryan and Jess learn how to repair cameras, what are the methods being used today by the current crop of repair people, and what is being done to attract new people to repairing cameras?
Joining them this week is returning guest Alex Dietrich and first time caller Steve Rosenbach who ask for tips on repairing their own cameras and what everyone’s thoughts are on a certain Nicca camera. Of course, there’s a lot of other random GAS and topics related to collecting, shooting, and shade tree percussive maintenance.
As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are decided by you. The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.
So stay tuned, and if you’d like to ask us a question or give us some topics to discuss, look for our show announcement for Episode 35, which we will record on Monday, October 24th!
This Week’s Episode
Introducing Ryan Jones and Pro Camera / Jess Repairs While Podcasting / Steve Buys a Minolta SR-1- Mike Wants to Fix His Arsenal Salyut Soviet SLR / Jess Has a Soviet Camera Mentor Named Alex
- If you Want to Shoot A Soviet 6×6, Get a Kiev 6C or 60 They’re More Reliable than the Salyut
- Paul Has a Broken Yashicaflex and Nikon S / Can you Fix Hazy Nikon Rangefinder Windows?
- If You Want to Collect Nikon Rangefinders, Get a Nikon SP, If You Want to Shoot Them, Get a Nikon S2
- Alex Sends his Black Leica and Olympus OM-1 to Ryan
- Replacing Leica Shutter Curtains / Finding Curtain Material is Getting Difficult / 3D Printing to the Rescue / Titanium Curtains
- Is Anthony’s Canon EF Worth Repairing? / Anthony’s Voigtländer Ultramatic CS Needs Help Too
- Resilvering Mirrors / Canon Pellix and Pellicle Mirrors
Petri Color Corrected Super Green-O-Matics are The Best Worst Camera / Petri’s Achilles Heel Was Their Own Shutters- Ryan Likes to Repair Similar Cameras in Batches Then Move On
- Training the Next Generation of Young People to Repair Cameras
- Learning from the Cranky Old Guys / How Do You Find a Mentor? / You Have to Be More Anal Than Your Most Anal Client
- As Cameras Age, New Problems Happen That Has Never Happened Before / A CLAd 80 Year Old Camera Is Still 80 Years Old
- Ryan Repairs Cameras in Waves Every 6 Weeks / Managing Expectations
- In Most SLRs the Shutter Release Doesn’t Fire the Shutter, It Releases the Mirror and the Mirror Fires the Shutter
Percussive Maintenance and Shadetree Repairs Will Only Work Temporarily- What Tools Should You Buy To Start Repairing Cameras / Richard Haw’s Website and Learn Camera Repair
- Yashica YF and Nicca III-L Cameras / How Repairable Are Certain Cameras?
- What is the Next Camera You Send for Repair / Canon IV Sb / Nikkor 105 f/2.5 / Voigtländer Superb and Vitessa / Leica M3 with Dual Range Summicron / Ihagee Exakta / Canon VT Deluxe / Minolta XE7 and XE5
- Ryan’s Franken-Leica – Leica M3 Chassis, M5 Back Door, Late M3 Top Plate, No Self Timer or Flash Sync
- Anthony Has Suggestions on Donations to the Show / Tamarkin Camera’s Auction / Rate My Rollei 35
Show Notes
If you would like to offer feedback or contact us 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/
Camerosity Twitter – https://twitter.com/CamerosityPod
Learn Camera Repair – https://learncamerarepair.com/
Richard Haw’s Nikon Repair Site – https://richardhaw.com/
Ryan Jones – https://www.procamera.us/ and https://www.rj-repairs.com/home
Jess Ibarra – https://www.vivalafilm.com/
Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/
Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris
Anthony Rue – https://www.instagram.com/kino_pravda/ and https://www.facebook.com/VoltaGNV/
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Thank you for introducing us to Ryan’s shop. I’ve got a couple to send him once he reopens his bench.
I am sure he will appreciate the work. Make sure to tell him you heard about him on the Camerosity Podcast! 🙂