Please note that all physical purchases on the site are restricted to UK delivery only. This does not apply to digital downloads like manuals which are available globally. Dismiss
Why buy from us: – Almost all of our cameras are fully serviced. We don’t just give the camera a wipe, and fit new light seals and call it serviced. Each of our premium cameras is completely stripped to remove old foam, any signs of corrosion and replace any worn parts with fresh factory spares. Quite frequently we will replace old leather with factory spares stocks to give the camera a ‘new’ feel.
The cameras are then tested on our professional grade testing gear and retuned to the original factory specification to guarantee a long life and precise performance.
Shutter speeds assessed and tuned using our professional grade ZTS V shutter tester.
Camera and lens checked for film plane accuracy and lens infinity focus on our professional collimator.
Almost all film cameras from the golden age are now around 50 years old and while the manufacturers did an a amazing job, the fact is, many of these cameras have large amounts of internal foam which is decaying. Plus their lubricants are almost always dried out giving poor performance. In addition, no matter how carefully stored, they can suffer corrosion from either the breakdown of the interior seals or age related corrosion. Lenses, likewise can suffer dried out lubrication making their focus stiff or sloppy. We almost always rebuild lenses to use modern lubricants which will reduce the risk of oil vapour and give the lens a long running life.
No matter how shiny on the outside old cameras are usually full of decaying foam.
Our premium cameras are always fully serviced – which means full disassembly to remove old foam and corrosion.
We always clean and re-lubricate the shutter mechanism to ensure accuracy and reliability.
We strip and rebuild lenses to ensure glass surfaces are clean and the focus helicoils are lubricated to give precise and smooth focus.
We take pains to make sure our cameras will operate perfectly and will most likely last another 50 years though we recommend periodic servicing to maintain the cameras accuracy.
The pictures above show some of our work and below we show a walk through of an average service to show you how much work we put into our cameras to make sure you get the very best.
We want people to enjoy classic film cameras and to have a real pride and joy of ownership with a trouble free camera. Our average is most peoples excellent because we love what we do, maybe that’s why you should buy from us.
Have a look through the servicing we do so you can be sure you really are buying the very best there is – you can’t buy a new film camera today but you can be assured that one of ours is the closest you can come to a new film camera experience.
A TYPICAL SERVICE ROUTINE…
Camera gets it top cover removed for initial checks
Camera gets an initial test to assess its shutter.
Start of a strip down of the camera.
Camera stripped to it major components.
Old internal seals are failing throughout.
Old seals cleaned out and replaced with fresh seals.
This one had a very dirty mirror – the mirror will come out for cleaning.
After cleaning the mirror is now perfect.
Shutter rollers are cleaned and re-lubricated.
Shutter charging gear is cleaned and lubricated.
Slow speed escapement cleaned and refitted.
Camera mount ring assembly removed for cleaning.
Focus screen assembly removed for cleaning.
Base of camera cleaned out and charge gear lubricated.
Camera roughly re-assembled for testing.
Camera shutter is tuned to manufacturer specifications.
Camera meter is tuned using a calibrated light source.
The supplied lens is stripped , cleaned and rebuilt.
Lens cleaned, checked ,infinity collimated and ready for camera.
Checking for accurate frame spacing and advance feel.
Viewfinder optical block cleaned and checked.
External hardware cleaned and re-assembled.
Leatherwork deep cleaned or replaced.
Why Buy From Us – Final test and camera is ready for sale.
SERVICING REALLY DOES PAY OFF…
The service pictures are only a very brief overview of what goes on. A typical service for one of our cameras takes around 8-12 hours and we wont ever sell a camera we dont have complete confidence in. If you want to see a complete service from start to finish then we have service guide tutorials available for sale which walk through each step of the servicing.
Here are some before and after pictures – the before pictures were typical of cameras purchased from both eBay and some dealers stated as working. You can see that although these may ‘work’ in the sense that they wind on and go click, the overall experience will be very sub-optimal. What we can’t show in the pictures is the poor overall feel of an unserviced camera…
BEFORE – Crumbly mirror bumper and internal seals around focus screen.
AFTER – Internal seals replaced and a fresh mirror bumper plus mirror and prism screen cleaning.
BEFORE – Focus screen filthy, fragments of old foam, filthy mirror, viewfinder optic, prism and focus screen.
AFTER – Full servicing and cleaning of all optical parts.
BEFORE – 1000th is verging on the slow end of 500th, curtains show a 7% deviation against a maximum allowable of 5% – The camera will return poor results with an average stop error of 1.5 stops and is inconsistent.
AFTER – After proper lubrication and adjustment the camera now shoots at exactly 1000th as per the manufacturer specification and is consistent. Curtain deviation is at 2% is well inside the 5% allowable.
WE DONT JUST SELL CAMERAS…
We don’t just sell film cameras, we use them too and many of our stock cameras are used by us – that’s how much confidence we have in them! We are happy to use them as our own cameras. That’s why you will see some cameras as film tested – we have actually shot live film in them for our own photography.
Some samples of our photography using cameras we have serviced are below…
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our XG-Ms (now sold) shooting a 50mm and expired Fuji 400 converted to black and white.
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our X-300s (Now Sold) shooting Expired Fuji 400 converted to black and white with a 28mm lens.
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our X-700s (now sold) shooting Fuji 400 with a 35mm lens.
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our SRT-101s (now sold) shooting FP4 with a 35mm lens and yellow filter.
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our XD7s (now sold) shooting a 50mm and Ilford HP5 with a red filter.
SAMPLE SHOT – One of our MXs (now sold) shooting a 50mm and Ilford XP2.
Mel is one of the driving forces behind High 5 Cameras and writes all our articles.
Starting serious photography back in 1972. Over the years she got to shoot film with most of the major brands in 35mm and large format as both a studio photographer and content provider for websites in the early life of the web. These days she is rediscovering photography and has become the GOTO person for knowledge on camera repair advice.
If you have read the previous articles about buying cameras on eBay then this quick film camera buyers guide will give you the essentials for the most common cameras for sale.
This film camera buyers guide is not fully comprehensive, doesn’t cover every 35mm SLR ever made but is based on hard-won experience of cameras we have collected and curated.
Before you make any decisions on which camera its a good idea to check out what the accessories will cost and what the downsides may be. if you want to do fast action work it’s obviously best to make sure that your chosen camera can accept a film winder and what the costs may look like plus reliability. Pentax winders for the MX series are notorious for breakdowns. Generally motor drives are not a great idea on an old film camera. They place a strain on the mechanics of the camera and these are now old you are running a risk each time you press the button. It’s rather like running a vintage car flat out – expect trouble.
You may also want to consider lenses. These can vary widely and exotic lenses are ALWAYS expensive no matter the make but its best to check this out before making a decision. Canon and Nikon lenses are often very pricey where Pentax and Minolta are relatively inexpensive. Of course there are third party lenses which wont break the bank so you always have alternatives but it’s a good idea to check out the costs before you commit to the camera.
Minolta – Film Camera Buyers Guide
Minolta SRT Series
Original SRT 101, and the Penultimate SRT 303 – Solid, reliable and with excellent lenses available.
One of the last bargains on the shelf. SRTS are readily available at low prices. Built like a tank and generally reliable, plus almost any professional tech can fix them. However, you should be aware of potential issues: –
Meter failure – is very common in SRTs. This may be a simple fix but it very often indicates one or both of the meter cells are dead. There’s no easy fix as spares are no longer available, so you will need a donor camera. Of course, you can just use an external light meter.
Shutter issues – of the dozen or more SRTs bought from eBay, none have had an accurate shutter without needing some tuning. You may be ok here as black and white film has a latitude of around 2 stops. If your shutter is a bit adrift it may make no difference to your output but more serious problems like shutter capping and jams caused by dried-out lubrication are also common and may ruin your pictures.
Aperture read-out – the mirror can fall off and be lost on any Minolta SRT equipped with the aperture read-out feature. This only affects Minolta SRTs with the aperture read-out feature of course
Minolta XG-M and XG-x Series
Minolta XG-M flagship of the XG series and a restored XG-1 – Inexpensive and when paired with Minolta lenses capable of great pictures.
Much undervalued electronic-based Minoltas. Generally very reliable but the XG series can suffer prism de-silvering thanks to foam Minolta installed and unlike the Olympus OM-1 or Canon FTb, getting to the foam is a big job and beyond the amateur. A clear viewfinder is a must. Reject any with apparent prism de-lamination which usually shows itself as a bar or dark band around the lower edge of the view through the viewfinder. A common issue with the XG series is the film speed and aperture tracks getting clogged and causing erratic metering, this is a relatively straightforward job.
The aperture read-out mirror can fall off and be lost on any Minolta X series equipped with the aperture read-out feature.
Ludicrously inexpensive and undervalued series from Minolta. Early XG models had tantalum capacitors, later ones substituted cheaper electrolytic types and these can fail. It’s a simple job if you are handy with electronics.
The XG-M was the flagship of the XG series but can suffer shutter derails and un-serviced units can have slow shutters plus it can be prone to capacitor failure and with 4 capacitors to replace including two which are tough to get at it can be a bit of a headache. Maybe the last bargains left on the shelf for those on a budget though.
Minolta X-300, X-500 and X-700
Minolta X-700 and X-300 – X-700 is fully loaded, X-300 is more basic but still capable of excellent work.
Minolta X-500 – Preferred by some for it’s more manual approach. There were a lot fewer made so harder to find.
Generally reliable but if buying the flagship of the series the X-700 go for a serial number lower than 2000000. Later ones substituted solid and reliable tantalum capacitors for cheaper electrolytic types. The cheaper capacitors can fail and jam the camera up. Symptoms usually show up with no shutter firing and a locked-up winder. It may free itself after a power down and power up. but it will be signalling a replacement is needed soon.
Disregard people who say it’s easy to replace these unless you have soldering skills and gear to do the work. Even then you can be caught out as the X700 can suffer other issues which look like capacitor failure but are a good deal more complicated to fix.
Even if it’s a capacitor failing a dying capacitor can discharge toxic, acidic stuff onto the circuitry and destroy it in the process. DON’T assume every X700 with issues is a simple capacitor issue. Bear in mind the X-700 is an XG-M with program mode and Minolta shoehorned extra features in making it a complicated beast if the electronics are faulty. It’s become somewhat hyped like the Canon AE-1 but bargains are still out there.
X-500s are considered better by some, easier to fix a failing capacitor in them and some prefer its more manual approach. The X-300 was the budget one of the family but is still a pleasant camera to work with if a bit basic. Like all the X series the 300 can suffer capacitor issues but it’s relatively simple to fix if you are deft with soldering.
The aperture read-out mirror can fall off and be lost on any Minolta X-x00 series equipped with the aperture read-out feature.
For a full break down on the Minolta ‘X’ Series check out our in depth review HERE.
Minolta XD5 & XD7
Minolta XD7 – Perhaps the finest manual focus camera from Minolta. A delight when working but a horror when things go wrong.
The high point of manual focus from Minolta and maybe the best manual focus camera ever built by any of the major manufacturers.
This is one where a wind and firing of the camera may tell you nothing. The camera can be suffering a condition called ‘overspeed’ in this mode the camera will shoot everything at 1500th of a second. If this is happening it’s end of watch. Reject any XD which has odd shutter behaviour – chances are it will be impossible or expensive to repair.
Another problem often seen on the XD series is the air piston which acts to slow the mirror down can be clogged resulting in a very slow shutter action. It’s fixable but not easy. The XD5 and XD7 are very complex beasts it simply HAS to work so don’t con yourself a slightly substandard one will be an easy fix – they almost certainly won’t be and relatively few techs will work on them and when they do expect a fairly hefty repair bill.
Like the XG series the XDs are prone to film speed and aperture tracks getting clogged and causing erratic metering. Unlike the XG this is not a simple job for most (just getting the top off and back on again will test the average person’s patience to the limit). A full CLA (clean, lubricate and adjust) will be in the region of £175 to fix them to good operating condition. They are lovely when working but a major headache when anything goes wrong.
Like other Minoltas the aperture read-out mirror can fall off and be lost on any Minolta XD series equipped with the aperture read-out feature. This is about the ONLY simple fix with an XD.
Expect to pay a premium for a full runner. Anything else is a crapshoot.
Pentax – Film Camera Buyers Guide
Pentax ME Super
Fully manual Pentax MX and all electronic ME Super – Compact and capable small cameras.
Lovely small camera with an electronically managed shutter. Cheap as chips in un-serviced condition but serviced ones fetch a lot more. Its weak link is a group of small rubber washers inside its guts which all go to make it work. As these are relatively soft rubber they decay like light seals and once gone the problems start. The mirror sticking up is the first issue. Followed by double winding where you can wind on without firing the shutter. It’s an expensive job and professional techs usually ask about £95 to sort this out as it requires a large amount of disassembly of the camera.
Electronic failure – the ME is heavily electronic and a blowout on its main circuit board normally signals the end of life. Thankfully a complete electronics failure is relatively rare with them.
Pentax MX
Seldom seen in great condition for no easily understandable reason but there are plenty of bangers. It’s a charming fully mechanical (apart from its light meter) camera but like the ME you need to be 100% certain it’s a runner. They are nasty to work on which may well translate to mean it’s going to be hard to find a technician to work on one for you. Generally reliable but one to be wary of. Spectacle wearers may end up hating it as you need to screw your eyeball into its viewfinder to get a good view thanks to its ultra wide field of view, so if you wear glasses best to try one before you buy.
Pentax K1000
Chinese K100 – Workable, available but short on quality.
K1000 Made in Japan – Solid but basic and over priced.
Overpriced little horror. If you’re buying, DON’T get the Chinese-made version which is very heavy on plastic and known to suffer a variety of ills. Japanese versions are generally reliable and all mechanical apart from their meter. Like the Minolta SRT, the meter cell can fail and like the SRT there are no spares. Apart from the meter an easy camera to repair for almost any professional tech. Like the Canon AE-1, it’s absurdly overvalued, especially for a ‘Made in Japan’ model for what was a student camera in its day. The cheapest of the Pentax ‘K’ series back then which is what made it sell well. Today it’s not such great value and you can get the top line Pentax KX for a lot less.
Pentax KX
Premium Pentax – Flagship of the K series, an embarrassment of riches.
Seldom seen and usually priced lower when used than the beginner level K1000. The K1000 has its fans who used it as college students but it is very overpriced due to so many wanting to relive their first camera. The KX was the K series flagship, it’s built better and has a better, more accurate/reliable light meter. Like the K1000, it’s all mechanical and almost any professional tech can fix them. Unlike the K100 it has a more reliable light meter, match needle metering, speed and aperture readout in the viewfinder, depth of field preview, mirror lockup and self-timer. The best bang for the buck on the Pentax line.
Canon – Film Camera Buyers Guide
Canon AE-1
Canon AE-1 and FTb – Plastic fantastic versus old-school solid quality.
Plastic fantastic from Canon and very expensive in used condition for what was a budget camera in its day – it was the marketing budget that made it successful not its technical excellence. Generally reliable if a little clunky to use but its big weak spot is its electronics and the famous Canon cough.
The ‘cough’ will cause the mirror to return slowly after a shot. Instant experts on internet forums usually suggest squirting oil in to sort this out. DON’T, you will risk a very large repair bill – it needs a strip and clean to resolve the ‘cough’. Expect to pay around £95 for a repair job to this or more like £200 if you have been rash enough to put oil in there. Like any electronic camera from the 1970s, its electronics should be deemed suspect until proven otherwise. Like the Pentax K1000 this has suffered price inflation due to the hype.
Canon FTb
About the same as the Minolta SRT, relatively inexpensive for a huge chunk of camera. Very underrated but built like a tank and weighs almost as much as a fully loaded Nikon F. Meters can fail like the SRT and the K1000 but the biggest hazard is the prism foam. Decaying foam on the prism will cause it to de-silver. This will usually show up as two vertical lines in the viewfinder. Reject any FTb showing this. For a more comprehensive guide on this see herewhere we cover prism foam removal and replacing the prism. The early model is the best, later ones started using plastic parts and these, when handled by idiots, can show some issues like stripped gears. We reviewed this more fully in our FTb review. Like any fully mechanical camera easily repairable by almost any professional tech apart from the meter due to the lack of spare parts.
Olympus – Film Camera Buyers Guide
Olympus OM-1 & OM-2
Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 – Compact, capable and often pricey for a runner.
Like most of its peers, its meter can be a problem but generally, they run very well. Complete jams to its winder usually signal a weakened spring in its mechanics. Easily fixable by almost any professional. Expect to pay £50-£100 for this work if it needs doing.
Prism foam needs clearing off on any OM-1 & OM-2 as this will eat the prism. Reject any camera where the prism shows blotches or blurs as this may well indicate the prism has already begun de-silvering. It generally shows up as hazy black areas in the view through the viewfinder. We have a guide here to remove prism foam on these.
Good ones fetch a premium, un-serviced dross goes cheap but expect trouble.
The OM2 is basically an OM-1 with aperture priority auto mode. Unlike many of its peers, its electronics are generally reliable BUT like the OM-1 it can suffer meter failure which will stop the auto-mode from working. Both models tend to suffer from slow top speeds and adjustment is awkward – expect to pay around £100 to have one professionally calibrated.
Nikon
Nikon F Photomic – Heavy metal excellence at a price.
Nope – we ain’t covering Nikon. Why? Because any Nikon is going to be pricey unless you are down with the bottom end. Most of the bottom-end of Nikon cameras have known issues. The EM and FG are reputed to be horrors and are best avoided. I can hear the screams of Nikonistas who happen to have a good one but the reason Nikon killed off the lower end was the customer services headaches caused by unreliability.
The top-end Nikon F and F2 are a tank of a camera but you will pay a premium for a good one and a bad one will cost you twice what a good one will cost in repairs and spares. For Nikon we would suggest never buy from anyone except a specialist who knows what they are about unless you are happy to pay for servicing work afterwards which can get very expensive.
The lower-cost Nikons like the EM, FG and the F-301 unless 100% working will likely be uneconomic to repair and quite likely impossible to repair due to their construction. A good running F-301 is a delight but we had to buy four lemons to get a cherry.
Point and Shoots – Film Camera Buyers Guide
Yashica Electro 35 and Olympus mju – 2 cult point and shoot cameras. Great results but prone to terminal problems.
If 35mm SLR is not your bag and you’re seeking a point and shoot camera you REALLY need to do research.
The camera industry produced far more point-and-shoot style cameras than any other type in a dazzling variety of types, models and features.
Many, if not all, of these were produced down to a budget and were mostly bought by mums and dads for holiday snaps. They were not built with durability in mind and after 40-50 years many of these will be suffering all kinds of problems and many of these are simply unrepairable if things go wrong. So, if you have a hankering to be Peter Parker and shoot with a Yashica Electro 35 you need to do some serious reading to make sure you understand what the issues could be.
Many of these types of cameras can suffer terminal faults due to their inexpensive construction so be aware and don’t pay more than you can afford to lose.
Film Camera Buyers Guide – General for all cameras
Don’t overpay for ‘Brand New In Box’ (BNIB) unless you are a collector. BNIB cameras can and do have as many problems as any other camera. No matter how carefully stored the lubricants will break down and light seals will perish. We have bought a few BNIB cameras and they almost always needed significant work to get them shooting again and in one case the camera’s lubricants had leaked putting the camera beyond economic repair.
‘Bargain’ BNIB Minolta SR7 – Sadly the leather case had dried out, shutter was stuck and the lens needed a complete rebuild.
The single biggest issue most old cameras have is bad battery connections from oxidisation and/or corrosion. This is an easy fix for anyone requiring only the battery cap and its contact to be cleaned. The next most often raised issue is decaying light seals causing light leaks.
These two issues form the most asked-about issue by beginners on forums and both are relatively easy fixes. Beyond this you need to either invest in learning repairs and buying tools or accept you will have to pay for a pro to work on it. Generally to CLA a camera expect to pay around £75 – £150. Repair bills if stuff is busted can run quite high due to the scarcity of spares which usually means acquiring a donor camera. Even non-runners for some marques will fetch over £100 so a simple spare costing a few cents back in the ‘used to be’ may well end up costing several large these days.
Finally…
Don’t despair – there are good film cameras out there from people who know what they are selling but, like us, they generally want a much higher price for the work involved in bringing them to perfect pitch. We always shutter test and film test every camera before we sell it but few dealers bother.
Many sellers, and that includes dealers, lack the expertise or the equipment to properly assess a film camera. So, bear that in mind when buying and assume, unless the camera has been serviced, that you may have to pay for a service. Generally, a CLA (Clean, Lubricate and Adjust) will cost anywhere between £75 and £150 and you need to factor this into your buying decisions.
Remember these cameras were designed with a service every 5 years in mind – few of them will ever have received this and as a consequence, they will often run out of their original specification resulting in wasted film and frustration for the user.
The name of the game is to get pictures, enjoy (maybe even fall in love) with film, not spend your time chewing the carpet in frustration, sending stuff back down at the post office or waiting on repairs. If you really want to shoot film then don’t expect to spend less than the cheapest digital on the market because you will most likely be disappointed.
There is the occasional bargain out there (that’s why we created this film cameras buyers guide to help you) if you are patient, have done your research and are lucky – of course, we hope that you will be but if you aren’t check out our shop for a range of fully tested gear.
Mel is one of the driving forces behind High 5 Cameras and writes all our articles.
Starting serious photography back in 1972. Over the years she got to shoot film with most of the major brands in 35mm and large format as both a studio photographer and content provider for websites in the early life of the web. These days she is rediscovering photography and has become the GOTO person for knowledge on camera repair advice.
If you don’t want to be on the receiving end of a camera that looks like the one above then read on and learn how to buy a camera on eBay.
A quick look on google will find you hundreds of similar articles. However, on close review, they all describe how to best shop on eBay NOT what to look for in buying a film camera specifically. We explore those aspects of a camera that will enable you to better judge the camera on offer as well as the seller. If you read the article on how eBay ate my camera you may well be interested in this follow-up on how to spot the duds in a few easy lessons including: –
How to research your choice of camera
How to access the quality of cameras on offer
How to test a camera once it arrives
Do Your Research
Before you seek to buy a camera on eBay you need to know what you’re looking for. So, do your research. Once you have settled on a particular camera then read up on it. Download the manual for it and read it from cover to cover.
Why bother? Well, how will you know if it checks out if you don’t know how it’s supposed to work? It’s like buying a car without knowing what features it comes with.
Next, study pictures of the model of camera camera online from Google images, this will allow you to spot the more obvious flaws. Missing trim items, damage which is not obvious on first glance etc. Before you commit to buy a camera on eBay and spend your money, you need to be smart on what to look for. Know your subject.
Research also on possible issues. Some cameras have known faults that can rear up. So do some looking. It’s also worth researching the particular model. The world of film cameras is prone to sudden price swings based on modern hype. After Spiderman came out the price of Yashica Electro 35s (Peters Parkers camera in the film) skyrocketed. Some of these are a bad buy, the Electro 35 can suffer problems in a big way and its often expensive to repair. Same with cameras like the K1000 and the Canon AE-1 – these have modern internet hype pushing the price but they really aren’t the best of cameras in many respects. The K1000 was popular because it was cheap, the AE-1 because Canon spent millions on its marketing. Back in the balmy days of the 1970s and early 80s prices were different – back then the K1000 was a budget camera. Today with Internet gurus pushing it the price is above that of a Pentax KX which was the flagship camera of the K series! Go figure – but these are the reasons you should research to get the best deal.
We’ll be covering some popular cameras in part 3 of this article to help you get started.
7 Minolta SRTs from eBay, all stated as working. Only one of them actually did, and only just!
Ask the right questions before you buy a camera on eBay
Do all of the functions work?
Be inclined to doubt anyone who says they “don’t have batteries to test”. Batteries for most classic film cameras are dirt cheap, so if the seller is serious (their camera selling history will tell you if they are) they should have tested the camera out. Sadly ‘I don’t have any batteries’ is usually shorthand for “it doesn’t work at all but I want you to buy it and want to absolve myself of any guilt when it turns out not to work”.
A lot of sellers know you want to Buy a Camera on eBay and work on the theory that it’s easier to refund all or a partial refund rather than testing or more likely knowing how to test a camera. They are essentially playing a numbers game. It is inexcusable for an eBay seller who concentrates on old film cameras to say “It looks ok and winds on”.
If you were buying ANY battery-operated device you’d rightfully be put off by a seller saying he won’t buy batteries to test – cameras are no different.
Never forget that the seller’s feedback is only half the story. You have to read between the lines. If a seller states a camera is untested or doesn’t have batteries etc, but their previous sales and current items for sale comprise mostly cameras then it should be ringing alarm bells.
Decoding Seller Descriptions
Fantasy
Reality
It was dads, grandads, great grandads…
It wasn’t there are no pity parties on eBay – classic cop out to absolve the seller from any responsibility when it doesn’t work.
Selling on behalf of a friend
As above but their family hates them.
It looks ok and winds on
It’s the same as saying my car looks ok and the light comes on when you open the door. Would you buy this car? OK and winds on is no guarantee of proper functioning and never constitutes a fully working camera ie shutter problems to name one.
Been carefully stored
Been in the loft for 30 years. Dried out and open to excellent fungal conditions. Lubricants dry out and internal seals perish even when carefully stored.
Probably a simple fix
Based on what? They are hoping you see this as a bargain. There are no few simple fixes that require no tools or expertise.
Shutter sounds ok
Camera sold by Clark Kent with hearing super powers able to differentiate between 1000th and 500th of a second.
Looks mint
Aww, look at the pretty camera, that will look lovely on my side board. Sadly good cosmetics will count for nothing when you take pictures.
Worked last time I used it
Last week? Last year? From when you snapped off a few shots at the Live Aid Concert? Cameras need regular use and servicing.
Don’t have batteries to test it
Can’t be bothered. Leaving it open means they can be shocked and surprised when you return it.
Untested
Really, really can’t be bothered. Leaving it open means they can be disappointed as well as shocked and surprised when you return it.
Don’t know anything about cameras
Really, really can’t be bothered but now they have an excuse.
BNIB
Original owner never touched it but all of the above apply.
Things To Ask a Seller
Does the lens have fungus?
Fungus is never good. It should be noted that not all lenses can be cleaned of fungus and cleaning always means risk. Bear in mind some lenses are simply not possible to clean.
Left can be cleaned – Center fragile lens coating makes cleaning risky – Right Sealed elements make cleaning impossible
We are in a world of sellers stating they aren’t “experts” but ANYONE (yes literally ANYONE) can see if there is fungus. Just shine a torch at an angle into the lens and look through the other side. Most fungus will show and look like (guess what?) fungus.
There are other aberrations and some forms of fungus can be deceiving but generally speaking it’s an easy spot. Reject any lens with fungus unless you are expert enough to disassemble and clean it. Even experts get caught out on this sometimes and your first exposure (pardon the pun) to film should not be having to clean a lens from interior fungus.
Torch Test: – This lens shows normal dust particles.
Terminal fungus and with this lens impossible to repair/clean.
This lens shows fungal growth in its centre.
Does the lens focus correctly?
It’s a simple test – look through the viewfinder and twist the focus.
Does the lens stop down correctly?
Ask the seller to set the lens to f16 wind on and fire while looking down the lens. They should see the diaphragm close and open instantly.
Does the viewfinder look clear?
No one needs to be an expert photographer to simply look into the viewfinder and state whether it’s clear. It’s a mistake to assume these are cleanable. Never use isopropyl alcohol on a focus screen as you will melt them.
A simple look through the viewfinder to see a clean example.
It does not take an expert to see how badly this viewfinder is dirty. Tools required: – One working eyeball!
Does it wind on and fire?
Now, this is no guarantee of the camera being viable. There are a range of issues that can be present, even in a camera which appears to work. There can be issues like shutter capping which will mean you get a dark line in your pictures and the shutter may no longer be accurate with its speeds. The only way to test for sure will be to either run some film through it or have the specialised test equipment to measure it.
Does the light meter work?
A classic issue here is sellers stating it does. What they really mean is the needle shifts about in response to changes in light. That’s a good sign but it does not infer accuracy. To know whether it’s accurate you need either a known good camera, a good eye for light values or a calibrated light source. A simple test is to set the film speed to 125, set the shutter speed to 125 and point the camera at a bright summer sky. The meter should centre when the aperture on the lens is set to f16. This is known as the ‘Sunny 16 Rule’.
Olympus OM2 from eBay – Light meter reacts but is inaccurate by 2 stops.
Easy when you have a calibrated light source life the ZTS
In order to know if the meter is working of course the seller must have batteries in it so anyone saying the meter runs but they haven’t got any batteries is obviously less than honest.
In truth a lot of sellers will state yes to all of the questions and assure you things are fine – they won’t be on arrival, so don’t be scared of raising a return request and get it moving back to them pronto. Unless you want to learn camera repair as opposed to taking pictures don’t get involved in repairs. Good sellers will of course always answer questions and will even help if you have problems after the purchase.
Once you have gone ahead and bought a camera…
Get some film put through it pronto. Don’t use lots of rolls, use just a single roll of the cheapest film you can find and make sure you get it shot and processed with enough time to get a refund in case the camera is not working.
Also – read the camera’s user manual and check through each function stated (preferably before you buy a camera on eBay). This will teach you how to use it fully and give you a chance to check all functions are working as they should.
Not reading the manual is a cause for a lot of user frustration and panic.
Check the lens focus is smooth, it should feel fluid and should not grate or grind. Set the lens at f16 and watch the lens from the front as you test fire the camera. The aperture blades should react instantly and open again instantly. Oil on a diaphragm mechanism is no job for a beginner.
Check the meter is reactive using the Sunny 16 Rule above and don’t wait for Grandma’s Birthday or aim to get Time-Life picture of the year – just get the film shot. Shoot a range of subjects, close up, far away, a flower, the countryside, cars, old boots – just anything. You want to test that all is working it’s not about winning a photographic prize.
Getting the camera fixed up
The most common causes of problems with old cameras are their light seals. Almost all old cameras will require this as a minimum. This is a job you can do yourself and there is a light seal guide on this site.
There are online tutorials for more complex works but beginners are best advised to not get into taking things to bits. You are far more likely to do harm than fix anything and you will need specialised tools and experience. Be wary of quick fix You Tube tutorials – these are quite often a fast way to wreck stuff.
Most classic and old cameras require maintenance and if you love film you should be willing to spend on keeping it going. No one is making new film cameras anytime soon so it’s up to YOU if you want to keep on using film – if you do that means investing. Investing in learning, investing in buying film and crucially investing in maintaining your camera.
Cut & Paste Questions to ask when you buy a camera on eBay
Dear eBay Seller,
I’m interested in your camera/lens. I would appreciate answers to the following: –
Have you done a torch test on the lens?
Does the focus barrel move smoothly with no feeling of grittiness?
Does the lens stop down correctly and are the diaphragm blades free of oil?
Does the viewfinder look clear?
Does the camera wind on and fire?
As batteries cost less than a pound and are readily available, have you tested that the light meter works?
Mel is one of the driving forces behind High 5 Cameras and writes all our articles.
Starting serious photography back in 1972. Over the years she got to shoot film with most of the major brands in 35mm and large format as both a studio photographer and content provider for websites in the early life of the web. These days she is rediscovering photography and has become the GOTO person for knowledge on camera repair advice.
If you are reading this, it’s maybe because like me you started looking for good quality, fully working cameras and finally got tired of being part of the eBay lottery. In this article, I’ll relate personal eBay buying and selling experiences as well as purchasing from online dealers and hope that readers will get some benefit from my experiences. The next two articles will cover common faults and how t spot them as well as a guide on the more common 35mm SLR cameras around.
Returning to film I initially bought a camera from eBay. Of course in my naïveté, I imagined that sellers with a positive feedback buyer score in the thousands who seemed to know what they were talking about actually DID know what they were talking about! Mistake No.1. I was soon disabused of that idea after the first few cameras arrived. As they often are on eBay these were stated as fully working but were far from it!
The initial few had relatively minor issues; dirty focus screen, rough focus on lenses and rotten seals. I can only imagine the supposed satisfied buyers of these sellers were as clueless as the seller. And, sadly browsing forums, that often seems to be the case. Newbies appear on a regular basis with yet another tale of woe regarding their eBay camera and often showing astounding ignorance about film.
The eBay Experience
Classic eBay – looked good but meter faulty, shutter problems and a lens needing a complete rebuild.
Now, lest you think me a snob, it’s hardly the fault of someone under the age of 40 that they are clueless about film – after all anyone younger than that has probably never seen a film camera or used one. So, it’s hardly surprising they don’t know how to repair one or that eBay is so bad for cameras.
Being somewhat dab-handed and having owned many cameras over 50 years, most of the issues I got stuck with presented few problems. Some online research quickly solved most of the issues. Initially, I thought most people, like myself, would have the basic skills for running repairs. A quick look around forums proved otherwise with folk being advised to squirt WD40 into things (for those that don’t know you should NEVER use WD40 on a camera) plus endless tales of lost springs and bearings, pleas for missing parts and usually with little help to be found.
Camera repair is a skill!
For those not in the know, to fix most cameras you need a certain lightness of touch, tools, experience and technical savvy. Getting to grips with fixing even simple problems can often mean wrecking an entire camera for a novice. I found this out the hard way. In short, there are very few simple fixes to most classic cameras.
So after brooding about the poor state of the world in general and why eBay is so bad for cameras. I vented online quite a bit (including here) and decided to do something about it. So I started refurbishing cameras, testing them and offering them (I hoped) to a grateful world on eBay. What a nice thing for someone to actually sell a camera that actually did fully work, was clean, nice to use, didn’t smell of cat sick or old farts, looked minty and shot perfectly. Cameras you could have some faith in that could be relied on not to waste expensive film and your time.
eBay time waster – bought camera, never collected. Camera lost in eBay hub.
I set about creating some stock and fed some cameras and lenses onto eBay. Sadly this turned out to be not such a great idea either (chalk up bad idea No.2). People sent them back broken or worse claimed refunds from eBay without ever returning the goods. Finally a beautiful Minolta X-500 that had been extensively restored and CLA’d was returned after 3 months by the buyer telling me ‘he didn’t realise film photography was so complicated’. Clearly buyer remorse but he stated goods not as described. Thanks to an eBay goof up the camera was never received back. I did get to keep the cash but only after spending weeks on the phone to eBay using up a lot of brain cancer minutes on my mobile, sending emails and using up my evenings in a never-ending round of filling out forms and going over the same issue (seemingly with every member of staff employed by eBay globally). Your mileage may vary, perhaps you are the sort of person so bereft of companionship that even speaking with an eBay customer services staffer is a comfort but that’s not me. I have plenty of things more interesting to do.
eBay really did eat my camera; the X-500 was the final straw in selling anything of any value on eBay. It came on the back of a lost Pentax K1000 caused by another eBay goof-up. I decided I had invested too much time in refurbishing classic cameras to risk that effort being wasted on feeding eBay more cameras for buyers with mental health issues.
The last straw. Beautiful Minolta X-500 lost by eBay after buyer remorse.
The “Expert” Dealer Experience
The whole eBay (or mugs market as I call it) lark was finally topped off by me deciding to treat myself to a camera I for once didn’t have to spend a weekend fixing and becoming more expert in repairs than I really wanted or needed to be.
I plumped for a nice Minolta XD7 from a dealer. This camera was stated as excellent, fully working and from a dealer with 10 zillion “years experience” of photographic goods. ‘What could go wrong?’ I thought. So parting with some hard-earned I waited expectantly for a nice relaxing day out with something that worked out the box.
What turned up was something very far from excellent with a busted frame counter, rotting seals showering everything with grot, a gummed-up mirror piston, film safe indicator broken, a missing aperture mirror readout and the camera absolutely filthy.
The only upside was the external cosmetics did in fact look mint under the dirt. It seemed obvious at this point that dealers seemed to know zip about film cameras. Now you might say ‘well Mel stop griping and send the bloody thing back from whence it came’. The problem is I know damn well the dealer would just palm it off on some unsuspecting punter later on. Now, I am not noble enough to worry about what happens between a dealer and other customers, but I have the skills so I ended up fixing the camera up. 8 hours later and a few quid poorer she returned to full operation after having to salvage parts from a junked camera.
Supposedly mint XD7s sold by dealers – Took 8 hours to make “Mint” a reality.
On other occasions, dealers have sent me lenses that were also stated as good but were full of fungus with jammed apertures or focus issues. When I took issue with this the response was “well they are old, they all have problems“. A quick read on forums shows this sort of thing is all too common in today’s film camera sales with even apparently ‘expert’ dealers palming off duds on the unwary.
To test this out I have called around various dealers who claim competence and it was rather worrying that they tended to say stuff like ‘it looks clear and clean’ or ‘it winds and fires so seems ok’. That’s like saying a car is fine because the engine starts. It doesn’t say the gearbox, brakes and steering is ok or that the wheels won’t fall off when you go round a corner.
The kind of issues I see from dealers with equipment would be obvious to anyone even vaguely familiar with film or cameras. It pretty much tells me (shouts in my ear with a million-watt amplifier in fact) that many sellers of film cameras are no more able to judge the quality than someone from a lost Amazonian tribe. For many, the response is ‘well just send it back for a refund’ and that kind of works but then where do you go? Do you just spend your days walking to and from the post office? I can’t speak for others but I would kind of like a camera to work, to take pictures with from the get-go – after all that’s the point isn’t it? For myself, I lack the time to stand in the post office playing ‘pass the parcel’ ad infinitum just hoping one day a decent one turns up. Neither can I waste film at £14 a roll in a camera that may turn out to be duff.
So here I am a seller who actually cares, where you can actually buy something that works just like it was designed to. A revolutionary idea (we’ll see if this turns out to be bad idea No.3) and a place where the cameras and lenses are clean, fungus free, checked, tested and ready to use.
I NEVER sell a single camera or lens that hasn’t been film tested. By that we mean I load a roll of real film, shoot it and then process it so I can be 100% certain the camera and/or lens is working exactly as specified. In short, if I sell it then I have used it and would be happy to use it again.
A Minolta SRT gets put through it’s paces with the ZTS shutter tester.
So that’s why I ended up with creating this site where I can sell good-quality cameras. As part of this, I have invested in test equipment and tools to professionally test cameras and lenses. I can’t sell as much as through eBay but that’s no big deal. I can only refurbish maybe 12 cameras a year at a pinch. Why bother? Why be noble? Well I happen to love film. I’d like to see it go on and I’d like to see people get a camera that they can love and treasure and help keep film alive.
Mel is one of the driving forces behind High 5 Cameras and writes all our articles.
Starting serious photography back in 1972. Over the years she got to shoot film with most of the major brands in 35mm and large format as both a studio photographer and content provider for websites in the early life of the web. These days she is rediscovering photography and has become the GOTO person for knowledge on camera repair advice.
