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Posted on December 11, 2022May 8, 2023 by Mel — 2 Comments

What is Lens Fungus: – The Reason Why

What is Lens Fungus: – 2,400 Million years ago fungus developed. Long before most life on the planet and it’s been going ever since. These days if you’re an avid photographer with a penchant for classic lenses you’re most likely to discover it in a lens and will want to remove lens fungus quickly.

So, what is it? How does it get there? And, most importantly of all how do you remove lens fungus? It’s one of the questions that most often comes up on photography forums and message boards so to save me having to type this out repeatedly here’s an article that answers everything you ever wanted to know about fungus and how to get rid of it.

What is it? …Fungus is one of the earliest known life forms on the planet. Its spread by microscopic spores carried in the air. Right now you are surrounded by these spores, they are on your clothes, in your food and in the air you are breathing and both fungal spores and us get along pretty well. Many types of fungi are positively beneficial (penicillin for one, yeast for another). Many fungal types assist the breakdown of other organic matter but you didn’t come here for a biology lesson.

How does it get in your lens? …Well fungal spores are quite literally everywhere. When you focus a lens you are basically pulling in air, lenses are seldom sealed airtight and even if they were, on a vintage lens the spores would have been present in the factory, on the people assembling the lens and on the actual material in the lens. People more used to the modern world of microchips think in terms of clean rooms, sterile, devoid of any small motes. That’s not how classic lenses were assembled. The environment would have been more akin to a factory or, in some cases, a shed. So, the spores get in your lens. What happens next?

The spores are basically inert until they get good growing conditions. What fungi likes is dark and damp. And that’s why many vintage lenses survive ok. Guess what? They were being exposed to light and generally dry conditions. Anywhere with high humidity like tropical countries create more perfect conditions for the fungi to grow. Of course a lot of lenses were kept in sub optimal conditions – left in storage for many years in people lofts and garages. Some of these locations provide heat, humidity and of course darkness. Conditions essential for the fungal spores to turn into something nasty like glass eating fungus.

To make matters worse for you but nicer for the fungus is the fact that many older lenses used organic elements in their lubrication. Basically dead dinosaur guts. These organic based lubricants have a tendency to vaporise over time and create the classic lens haze. Lens haze is cleanable in most cases but the organic elements in the oil provide food stuffs for the fungal spores. It’s not a given that a hazed lens will also have fungus by any means but hazy lenses are often hiding fungus in them.

Lens and camera cases - the very worst for fungus — Lens and camera cases – the very worst culprits for fungus.

One of the worst things to store lenses in is leather and canvas bags and lens pouches and of course many lenses were supplied with leather pouches or placed in close proximity to leather like camera bags. Leather and fabric create a great starting point for fungus – its organic for a start and quite often soaks up moisture. People will often wrongly assume one lens has caused contamination of other lenses when all of the gear is kept in the same bag. The truth is much more likely to be one lens has shown signs earlier than the others but the storage is the basic problem. Avoid damp, humid conditions. Get the lenses out in air and periodically expose them to sunlight it’s the dry air and light which keeps fungus at bay.

Given time and a dark and humid environment the microscopic spores grow into various types of fungus and most of these can eat lens coatings and even the glass itself if left unattended.

How to spot it? …Fungus can be very severe and easy observable in lens or it can hidden. The best way to check a lens is a simple torch test. Hold a torch at an angle to the lens and look through the other side. Fungus will show itself as either strands or blooms. Strands look like strands of cotton, blooms look like misty patches in the lens. Even apparently mild fungus can start eating into things so its needs to be get gone pronto. It won’t get better with time. Heres some pictures of what it can look like and a prognosis for the lens.

Mild bloom type fungus in a Minolta MD lens. It’s on the inner face of the rear element group. Cleanable.

Strand fungus getting a start in a Tamron zoom. It’s in between a cemented doublet. Game over.

Bloom AND strand fungus in a Minolta MD. It’s between elements. Coatings will fail and haze with chemicals. Game over.

Fatal strand fungus in a Minolta MD. Fungus is between sealed front elements. Game over.

Minolta 50mm f1.4 - fungus between front elements. — Minolta 50mm f1.4 – fungus between front elements. It’s a sealed unit. Game over.

Minolta MCX 50mm - probably haze rather than fungus — Minolta MCX 50mm – probably haze rather than fungus.
Cleanable but risky due to fragile coatings.

It takes a little experience to know when a lens is cleanable and when it’s not as there are so many different lenses out there with their own issues. It also should be noted that almost any classic lens will have small dust particles in the lens when subjected to a lens test. This is perfectly normal and these lenses would have looked no different back when they were made. It also takes some experience to recognise other lens conditions such as haze and sometimes the anti-reflection coatings in the lens can look like mild haze under a torch test. Haze itself can often be hiding bloom type fungus.

Cleaning fungus from a lens is almost always a risk. There’s simply no way of telling at the outset how well the lens will respond to cleaning and no reputable technician will ever give a guarantee. There are quite a few factors that can affect the outcome.

How much damage has the fungus done? You can’t be sure until you attempt to clean it. It may simply clean away or it may leave behind damage to the coatings or the glass. Can the lens coatings take the cleaning needed? Some lenses have relatively soft internal coatings and these can fail with a simple wipe if the fungus has weakened them. Some coatings cannot cope with the chemicals needed to kill the fungus. These are all part of the game of Russian Roulette with lens cleaning and trying to remove remove lens fungus.

So the bottom line is fungal cleaning is ALWAYS a risk. There just isn’t anyway of knowing in advance without experience.

Cleanable or not lenses — Nikon Ai mostly cleanable, Minolta MC cleanable but risky, Minolta MD – forget it!

To add to the other headaches not all lenses are cleanable. Many lenses have sealed element groups. This is common in lenses from the mid 1970s where manufacturers trying to gain a price advantage over their competitors cut down on components and assembly time by simply building using a plastic encapsulation for the lens groups.

A Minolta MC prime lens usually has separate elements bound together into groups using spacers and threaded rings. Later Minolta prime MDs use only two groups of elements which are each encapsulated in a plastic mounting.
There’s no getting between the elements on some of these lenses so if the fungus is between the elements in a group theres not much that can be done. This type of manufacturing was employed by almost all of the big makers like Nikon, Olympus, Canon, Pentax etc.

Encapsulated elements and individual element construction — Minolta MD on left uses encapsulated element groups – fungus between the elements in a group usually signals end of the line for the lens. Minolta MCX on the right was the last of the high quality construction lenses with individual parts BUT its coatings can be very fragile.

Remove Lens Fungus - Fujinon 50mm f1.8 cleaning — Fujinon 50mm f1.8 using classic construction. All elements are removable and cleanable

Remove Lens Fungus - Late model Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8 cleaning — Late model Olympus 50mm f1.8. All of the front elements are bonded into a carrier. Theres no way to disassemble or clean.

Even early lenses where it’s possible to remove individual elements can have booby traps in them. Soft coatings, specific orientation of the elements to one another within the group and even cemented doublets where fungus can grow between the cemented lenses. Plus if you take lens groups apart down to individual elements you will find it very hard to eliminate any dust without a fairly clean environment and a lot of patience.

It’s often stated on forums that UV light will kill fungus. It won’t. While UV may reduce any further damage, it relies on direct exposure to the fungus. Normal glass tends to block UV light so in order for UV to work the lens face has to be directly exposed. I routinely subject any lens that’s been cleaned to a powerful UV light source with the right wavelength to cause the most harm to fungal spores but that’s done while the lens is in pieces. A UV light box also creates ozone which is harmful to fungi so that’s a bonus.

So how do you remove lens fungus?

There’s no single answer to this. It will depend on a range of factors. Can you get to the fungus? If the lens uses encapsulated elements and the fungus is between elements in an encapsulated group there’s no way to get access so it’s a non-starter.

Without some experience of how some glass will react to cleaning its best to be careful. Be mindful of a medical rule which is ‘first do no harm’ and also do as little as possible.

I have seen people advised to take a lens completely to pieces so you can douse everything in Peroxide because spores will be in the lens. This is simply pointless. You will more than likely do more damage in a vain pursuit of inert fungal spores which, if the lens is well kept, will most likely never become a problem.

NEVER remove lens elements from their groups unless you have no choice. Minimise the amount of disassembly within a group to as little as possible and make sure you mark the lens orientation. Some lenses would have had a specific orientation when assembled and once this is lost it’s not possible without very specialised gear to get the lens right again. A second hazard is trying to get lens elements back into their groups without getting more dust in there than there was at the start. Finally, and it cant be overstated, some lens coatings within a group are very fragile and can react very badly to chemicals and improper handling.

Remove Lens Fungus - Nikon AiS with fungus — It’s possible – this is a Nikon AiS. The fungal blooms are hiding in amongst the general haze and drek inside the lens….

Nikon lens after fungal cleaning — …and this is the lens after VERY careful cleaning. Beautiful and fungus free.

Cleaning processes

Here I will relate my own approach which is basically to gradually step up the cleaning process in stages and see how the lens copes. Don’t rush in with strong chemicals. There is much bad advice on how to remove lens fungus online from people who don’t really understand the nature of fungus. I have used these methods successfully on very many lenses and they do work. Generally failures are the result of chemicals damaging the coatings OR fungus eating the actual coating or the glass itself.

Cleaning fungus — Minolta MC 58mm f1.4 – A complete strip down of a lens to ensure fungal kill does not include taking lens groups to pieces!

STEP 1 – Nose Grease. Simple and often surprisingly effective...

What! hang on, what’s nose grease and how the heck does it remove lens fungus? Nose grease is grease from the side of your nose in the creases of the outside of your nose. You can harvest it simply by rubbing your finger along the creases. It was traditionally used by watchmakers of fine mechanical pieces as nose grease has some amazing lubricating properties. It’s just slippy enough, doesn’t dry out and doesn’t migrate easily. It’s also mildly antiseptic.

So, you rub your finger against your nose to harvest a little and VERY gently wipe it on to the fungal area of your glass. Leave it for 15 minutes or so and then gently clean with a small amount of diluted Isopropyl Alcohol (50/50 with water) and the use some breath and lint free cloth to very gently buff the lens. CAUTION some lens coatings have very poor abrasion resistance – even a mild rub with a lint free cloth can take the coatings off. Notable lenses for this include the Minolta MCX series 50mm f1.7 where the front elements inner face can fail spectacularly with very little effort on your part.

Some people report good results using a mild hand cream. Most hand creams use a mild antiseptic which of course kills fungus. I have tried this but it failed to clean the fungus but to be fair on that lens the fungus was quite advanced.

Using nose grease…….I have had a Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 which had fungal strands on its inner faces. This was fortunate as its far more common between the sealed groups. Mindful of how fragile the inner faces on some Minolta lenses can be I used the nose grease method and it worked a treat.

STEP 2 – Isoprop. Yes it CAN work...
Apply some pure Isopropyl Alcohol to the affected area and then blow it with cold air from a rocket blower. See how the lens copes. If it’s cleaned it off then stop. Some strand like fungus will clean off without much effort and very weak chemicals. The name of the game is to try the mildest chemicals first. If the fungus is not well established it may simply wipe off. You wont have gotten the spores so thats why I strip down to clean the lens metal work out and give everything a hit of a UV lamp will help make sure the remaining spores are stunted.
This generally works on very mild bloom or strand type fungus. Isoprop wont kill the spores and its not lethal to fungus but it’s better to go easy rather than risk the lens with strong chemicals if at all possible.

STEP 3 – Peroxide. Lethal to organic life...
Time to get tough. Some fungus simply cant be killed or removed with nose grease or Isoprop. Dilute Peroxide is the start point. Peroxide is lethal to organic things like fungus. Normally I start at about a 50/50 mix with water. NEVER mix Isopropyl Alcohol with Peroxide it creates an acidic mix which can be VERY destructive. Apply the dilute Peroxide with a cotton bud sparingly to the affected area. Clean it off straight away with fresh water as Peroxide is quite a powerful chemical even at low concentrations and you don’t want the Peroxide doing more damage than the fungus. This will normally kill any fungus / remove lens fungus but some lens coatings will fail even with a dilute peroxide.

STEP 4 – Peroxide/Ammonia Mix. Carpet bombing has its risks…
Either apply a higher concentration of Peroxide OR use a mix of 50/50 Peroxide and Ammonia. This is a preferred method of many lens technicians but I am a dissenter on this. My reasons are these; Fungal spores are EVERYWHERE and to guarantee killing all spores you would need to use something like a surgical Autoclave or medical grade UV system ON EVERY SINGLE PART of the lens. Let’s assume you did just that and amazingly the lens could hold up under that sort of treatment – so what? The spores are in everything and the lens could easily be reinfected. Long term fungal protection is in the storage of the lens NOT in chemicals you apply during a strip down. I seldom use a powerful chemical mix such as Peroxide/Ammonia but it does have its uses for very stubborn fungus types.

For Peroxide/Ammonia treatment start with a very dilute mix (diluted with water) and increase strength but be aware once you start using powerful chemicals in strong mixes you can expect to see stuff like coating failure. This will often become apparent when you try to clean the lens afterwards. I have seen spectacular coating failures due to chemicals on the inner faces within element groups of Minolta MC series lenses and have been told by a reliable source that some Olympus lenses will fail in a similar fashion.

If I am using powerful chemicals like Peroxide I prefer to flush the lens with distilled water. It means the lens can be cold air blown dry and pure lab grade distilled water leaves no streaks which reduces any risk of polishing with a lint free cloth in case coatings have been weakened as some coatings have poor abrasion resistance.

A note of caution on ‘polishing. You need to be very gentle. Lenses are figured to wavelengths of light. Excessive or too harsh polishing can cause a lens to lose some of its figuring. You may not believe it but lenses are easily damaged by too frequent cleaning. Remember, you only want to remove lens fungus.

Once the fungus is gone from the glass the spores may still remain…
It’s impossible to get everything dead and as stated in this article even if you could the lens will be ‘breathing’ spores in each time it’s used. Normally though I will run all of the metalwork through a mild detergent or bleach and expose every affected element and all of the lens metalwork to an anti-bacterial UV lamp. A 20-minute exposure will be enough to seriously stunt any remaining spores. I NEVER disassemble groups unless there is no choice. Removing a lens group is easy and it’s possible to then clean all the metalwork involved in the helicoids and barrels. Taking lens groups themselves to pieces is sheer folly unless the fungus is between a group and you have no alternative.
Whenever a lens presents with fungus I will always strip all the metal work and clean it and replace the old lubricants with modern synthetic lubricants which tend not to haze and modern synthetic lubricants deprive the fungal spores with their foodstuffs.

Nikon Ai - unsuccessful fungal cleaning — A Nikon Ai. Despite best efforts the fungus had damaged the coatings on the inner rear element. The fungus is dead but despite the damage the lens still performs very creditably.

Finally… its best not to become overzealous or obsessed. Fungus needs removing as it will only get worse with time. If you run into a lens where after cleaning the fungus has done some permanent damage it’s not the end of the world. The Nikon AI in the picture above is one of my most used lenses. It has slight fungal damage which cleaning could not correct at the edge of its rear element. You would be hard put to spot any difference between it and a mint example in the photographic output.

A general rule of thumb to remove lens fungus… unless you want to learn lens repair it’s best to avoid lenses with fungus for sale. It’s generally not worth the risk unless you are tooled up and happy to gamble. As this article has pointed out cleaning is fraught with risk BUT if that gorgeous Nikon AIS f1.2 or Minolta MC 35mm f1.8 comes into view and its cheap enough it’s maybe worth the chance. Even if you cant fix it a pro might be able to.

Just bear in mind you really do need to read up and practice lens disassembly if you want to try cleaning yourself. You also need a good range of tools. The guides on the site covering some models of lens strip down will, I hope, help you in your journey.

Toy Story – Konica Pop Review

Konica Pop Review: Dating from 1982 the Konica Pop is a classic budget point and shoot. This one comes from 1985 or later as its shows the ‘Hexanon’ lens marking. The lens is stated as being a 36mm f4 and is of course fix focused.

The specification for the shutter was 125^th but I timed this one at 90^th of a second based on the results of my ZTS shutter tester. Most SLRs will have a deviance of about 20% but the Konica Pop would show a 28% deviance – possibly acceptable and of course there’s no way of knowing how age may have affected it. The lens on this one was minty fresh and showed no issues though.
The lens on these was a fixed aperture with a maximum aperture of f4 – I would guess its minimum at around f8 based on its film stops.

The only way to adjust aperture is by changing the film speed ISO/ASA setting which is limited to 100, 200 or 400 ASA. Each step in the ASA setting basically opens/closes the lens aperture by 1 stop.

The Konica Pop sold around 1.5 million units in a range of colours including pink, yellow, blue, white, green, red and of course black and while it was undoubtedly popular in its day its frankly a bit of a horror. Don’t be fooled by that Hexanon script on the lens we are talking toy camera territory here!

Pop Up Flash — Konica Pop – the Pop-Up Flash. It’s not automatic you have to press the button! What did you expect on a camera this cheap?

I found this one in a charity shop and typically someone had left its two AA batteries inside to melt down. Fixing it was a complete nightmare as the original owner or someone else had managed to bust the battery cover, probably while trying to get the batteries out. Repairing this was an exercise in drilling out some tiny holes to fit plastic lugs to hold the whole thing together and fixing this probably took longer than rebuilding a 35mm SLR.

On top of battery chamber woes the finish on these cant take Isoprop Alcohol. It bleaches the colour out of the plastic! This made getting the light seals out a complete perisher of a job. As if it couldn’t be made tougher Konica glued the light seals in with something akin to a contact or epoxy glue! This made removing them a horror job. Needless to say the seals in this one were shot to pieces.

The body slot seals were awkward but the biggest challenge was the door seals. The door has seals running all the way round it and I swear it used more light seal foam than any other camera I have fixed. Doubtless the huge quantities of foam were a fix to the overall shoddy construction of the camera. Overall assembly is best described as cheap and nasty.

Film Chamber — The awkward seals that wrap around almost the entire perimeter of the body AND the door!

The camera features a pop up flash (hence the ‘Pop’ name) and a press in switch to manage flash reduction if you are close to the subject. The viewfinder is like something from a Christmas cracker with a kind of faux ‘brightline’ frame to correct for any parallax errors but you do get a red warning light if the light levels are too low and of course a flash ready neon indicator. The low light LED is driven by a CdS cell on the front of the camera. The camera is wholly mechanical of course, the batteries are only there to drive the flash and activate the low low-light warning. So if you bagged one with a wrecked battery chamber you could still shoot with it in daylight conditions.

Konica Pop Up Flash — Konica Pop – the Pop-Up Flash. It’s not automatic you have to press the button! What did you expect on a camera this cheap?

Konica Pop Viewfinder — The viewfinder showing the red low-light warning LED, flash ready indicator and faux leather – like putting lipstick on a pig!

It’s as simple as camera as possible with almost no user input at all – just wind on and fire in most situations. What enterprising manufacturers before the age of auto-focus used to call focus free. Rewinding is accomplished by a fold out metal crank handle on the base of the camera. It also quixotically has a tripod mount which seems a bit superfluous with a fixed shutter speed and no self timer but the Konica boys probably thought they may as well do it just in case they got a bad review – frankly from this sample I cant see how they would ever have gotten a good one!

Konica Pop Base — The bizarre rewinder and pointless tripod mount. Hard to believe it was ever used by anyone.

Thanks to a bit of an accident with the first roll of film (alright I opened the film door without rewinding for the first time ever in about 10,000 rolls of film and 50 years of photography), I had to rush back to the charity shop I was repairing this for and beg to borrow it again so I could quickly bash through a roll of FP4.

With some experience of the camera you could, with some practice shots control aperture through the ASA rating. Black and white film is tolerant of two stops so you could probably use the ASA to manage as a rough and ready aperture control. For the film I shot I had to work blind to any issues having no experience with the camera so shot everything at ASA 100 and told the lab to work to that film speed.

As a result the camera would have been operating at its widest aperture so it could perhaps be improved with faster film and the resulting smaller aperture. Anyway, here’s some pics shot with it. Sunlight was bright around midday and I had to work fast in a town centre to get a roll of 36 shot.

Sample 1 — Busker – Shot from shadow into light. Notice how mid distance is focused but far distance is soft due to the relatively fast f4 aperture.

Sample 2 — Market stall owner -Sweet spot in focus but notice how its soft again in the distance – possibly setting the ASA to 400 may have helped.

Sample 3 — Just Waiting – Note upper left as the lens goes super soft at its edges. Typical for a very cheap wide angle style.

So there you go. You may conclude from my relentless banging on about it that it’s simply terrible and from a repair perspective it was. Even a simple job like the light seals took a serious chunk of time even for a wizened old pro like me. The output was pretty dreadful, worse than the Instamatic 33 I had as a pre-teen BUT on the whole its a fun ‘toy camera’ to shoot with and I have to say despite its cheapness and overall rather poor quality it had a kind of charm to work with. You have to remember these were sold to mums and dads to get family pictures at the beach so its focus range was probably optimised for aunts, uncles and little Timmy at quite close quarters.

The restore work for this was done for a local charity shop as these cameras seem popular with hipsters and I offered to get the camera fully running so they could perhaps make some money rather than it being sold as junk.

Oddly enough on my return to the shop to hand the camera back after the roll of FP4 I got chatting with a student of film and they decided to buy the Konica Pop from the shop despite me pointing out a nice Miranda I tested and did some restore work on to help the shop out. The student was kind of wedded to the hipster vibe and I think they may have called it right. As a simple, uncomplicated intro to film it may well work well for them. Certainly with a bit of experience the Konica Pop may well turn out some interesting shots. It has an immediacy to it that more sophisticated cameras can never really achieve.

So…Summing up the Konica Pop – Its cheap, its nasty but its carefree and kind of fun. If it gets someone inducted into the magic of film it’s serving a worthy purpose and of course it was £35 in the till for the Princess Alice Charity so it’s all good.

The Revenant – Minolta XG-1 Restoration

The Minolta XG-1 was the second in the XG series launched in 1977 as a budget camera to complement the top of the line XD series. Unlike its predecessor the SRT series, the XG series was all electronic. By the time the XG series came to market the SRT series was looking tired but would soldier on until 1981. The XG series would continue to use the outdated CdS metering cells (unlike the XD which was using the latest silicon cells) but it had an all electronic shutter.
In the aperture-priority automatic mode, the electronically governed shutter provides stepless speeds from 1s to 1/1000s.

The XG-1, like others in the XG series was geared for those on a budget or the beginner and was designed to operate mostly in aperture priority auto mode. The XG series also introduced a touch sensitive shutter release which would be carried over onto the X-x00 range. With the camera turned on the lightest touch of the shutter button would activate its electronics which would turn off again after 15 seconds of no activity. All XG bodies featured an ±2 EV exposure compensation dual.

One of the oddities of the XG series was the fact that the meter was inactive in manual mode and only comes alive in Auto Mode. The flagship camera of the XG series would be the XG-M which allowed metering in all modes and was launched in 1981 to fully replace the SRT series. The XG-M would lead on to the biggest selling Minolta of all time, the X-700 which is basically a turbo charged XG-M.

With the rise of a new generation of film users the humble XG-1 has been largely forgotten in the scramble for more prestigious cameras like its running mates like the SRT101, the X-700 and the glorious XD series BUT despite its humble origins the XG is still a very potent tool. This is the story of one rescued from near certain death which is why I think of this one as ‘The Revenant’.

Some time back I acquired a Minolta XG-1 from a charity shop, though its pretty typical of stuff sold on eBay by sellers who claim they found it in an attic or else it was dear old dads. The camera was low enough priced that I considered it worth it just for the lens so, ignoring the inner voice that said ‘it’s going to be a horror’ I parted with a few shekels and took it home.

While the XG-1 is not highly rated I thought it would be worth my time to bring this one up to par, plus it would provide valuable learning lessons.

A cursory examination at the shop had shown it to be in quite bad shape but once I got it on the bench it turned out to be far worse than I had imagined from a glancing examination. A picture tells a thousand words so here’s some pictures of it original state.

As you can see from the main picture at the start of the article a quick look seems to suggest its ok but a closer look reveals some real horrors. These included a jammed shutter speed lock button and what looked like 40 years worth of crud inside everything.

So in short the cosmetics were a mess, in the flesh it looked ten times worse than the pictures. More worrying was the badly gummed up shutter speed dial and the jammed shutter speed lock. The XG-1 has a small silver button to lock the camera in Aperture Priority mode and this was stuck fast. The mode selector dial was also not right – there were no detents on the dial. It should have clicked into each position but instead it just twirled round.

On top of the dreadful overall appearance the camera was completely filthy, it completely reeked of tobacco smoke, old farts and cat piss. This one was going to take some time but I do love old cameras and nothing gladdens my heart so much as getting them running again.

Surprisingly, when I got the shutter speed dial lock unglued and replaced the broken shutter speed dial, the shutter speeds were bang on to factory specification, so at least I wasn’t facing a complete rebuild.

Rotting light seals, the mirror bumper being in the same shape caused bigger issues.

Viewfinder — The viewfinder – most of this is rotting mirror bumper foam.

So this one sat on the bench for some time while I hunted for a suitable donor camera. Sure enough an XG-1 with completely blown electronics and a de-silvered prism turned up and so work could commence. One of the biggest horrors with the XG series is a delaminating prism caused by rotting foam. The first task was to get the lid off and take a look inside to find out why the shutter speed dial was jammed and its AP mode lock was stuck. This would also show why the mode selector switch detent was not working and may reveal other issues lurking under the surface.

Sure enough, and as I suspected, someone had been messing in here before. The shutter speed and ASA dial were damaged and someone had applied something that looked like Bostik glue to repair them which had leaked onto the AP mode lock button gubbins. It took a very patient hour or so to remove the glue residue and lightly lubricate the lock so that it worked perfectly. The mode selector was missing its small ball bearing. Thankfully the rewind spindle (a common fail on these when handled by the clueless) was intact. What happens is people pull too hard on the rewind spindle to release the door, usually because the seals have gone gummy and jammed the door shut. Relentless pulling on the rewind capstan spindle eventually cracks the spindles shaft. Without the shaft intact theres not much to hold the top cover down or the mode selector so the ball bearing is often lost. Thankfully the donor camera had a full set of usable parts to replace the broken and missing parts on the XG-1 under refurbishment. Sadly the donors cameras leatherwork was in as bad a state as the original camera. The XG-1 used the Minolta soft vinyl leatherette and unfortunately this shrink over time and it’s seldom in a good condition.

Camera Body Rust Spots — More trouble in store. Rusty door hinge needs replacing.

With the shutter speed and mode dial working the camera was set up for shutter testing and amazingly returned results well inside factory specification so at least it would not need a full strip down. Even with the shutter going well a lot of work was needed cleaning the top PCB and cleaning out the various resistor tracks which had gummed up. The winding gears, where required, were lightly oiled or greased appropriately and then the remaining light seals and mirror bumper were stripped out ready for replacement.
It was now time to do the deep cleaning work on the camera to get its optics sparkling and also clean up the aperture resistor as the camera could be a little skittish when shifting aperture.

Cleaning the aperture resistor strip is relatively straightforward using some contact cleaner or Isoprop but cleaning the follower ring brushes gives me the yips each and every time. I normally drop a bit of Isoprop or contact cleaner on with a Q-Tip and then VERY gently rub the brushes with a contact abrasive block. The brushes have to be supported during this by a small screwdriver to stop them from being bent. The brushes are incredibly fragile and breakage here is a disaster.

Now it was time to get to work on the optics…

The optical train needed a lot of care. With the top off the eyepiece assembly was carefully cleaned with distilled water and Isoprop and then softly buffed. The prism surfaces were given a clean. Normally I would only use distilled water but in this case decaying muck form the mirror bumper had gotten between the focus screen and the prism. So a mild and very careful clean with dilute Isoprop was used. Similarly the prism surface facing the eyepiece was contaminated with what I assume was old tobacco smoke and this also needed cleaning with Isoprop and distilled water.

The focus screen was totally filthy with gum from light seals and tobacco smoke. Normally I clean focus screens with my favourite method of immersion in water with a very mild detergent before being flushed in distilled water and cold air blown dry. This screen was so bad I had to resort to a technique I adapted from cleaning telescope mirrors.
I apply a blob of mild washing up liquid, this has to be bleach free and ideally pH neutral or close to it. Focus screens don’t like harsh chemicals as they can melt or be otherwise ruined. I Apply a blob of the washing up liquid onto the screen and gently agitate it with my finger which has been softened with soap beforehand. The object is not to rub my fingers on the screen which will damage it but to gently roll the blob of liquid around – the finger just rides on the blob of liquid. Once done it’s flushed off with clean water. I like to do a final rinse with distilled water and then cold air blow dry with a rocket blower. The distilled water never leaves any residue. Done carefully and well this usually returns excellent results.

The mirror was cleaned with breath and gentle application of a Q-Tip. It’s best on a mirror to avoid any chemicals. During this process the mirror box was cleaned out of stray particles using low tack tape to adhere to the surfaces and then being pulled away before being carefully cleaned with a moist cotton bud and then finally vacuumed and blown out. The final finish was very pleasing and the view through the viewfinder was immaculate.

A new mirror bumper was installed after cleaning the optics out and then the focus screen was replaced.

After a complete cleaning, some judicious lubrication and some slight tweaking the camera body came back onto form and handled like almost new. It was now time to get on with the lens and get some good quality light seals fitted. This camera provided a nice update to the light seals guide for any XG-1 owners who may need new seals.

The lens was in a state not too different from the camera with hazy elements, stiff focus and generally dirty both inside and out. Thankfully no oil was on its aperture and no fungus in its optics. This was an an early model MD 50mm f1.7 lens and was most likely the original lens with the camera. Wherever possible I try and keep all refurbishments accurate, using whatever lens would have been supplied with the camera. A great many XG-1s were supplied with the Rokkor 45mm f2 which, believe it or not, was a cheap lens back when the XG-1 was a budget camera for the aspiring photographer.

MD-Rokkor 50mm f1.7 — Lens completely stripped and cleaned ready for reassembly and fresh lubricants.

Surrey Sculpture Park — Test shot taken with the restored XG-1 – Seems to be working just fine.

With the XG-1 and its lens fully refurbished it was time to get out and shoot with it to make sure that under real life conditions she would run reliably. I never sell a camera I wouldn’t be happy to shoot with myself and the XG-1 is no exception

The original poor quality leatherette was lightly glued into place and she was taken out for a run at the Surrey Sculpture park with some Ilford FP4.

I have to say for all the bad mouthing the XG-1 gets from camera snobs she shot wonderfully well and I found myself enjoying this most humble of Minoltas creations. For someone new to film this camera offers quite a bit. It has a very positive feel, a nice smooth film advance and a very smooth shutter pull off. It’s light and compact and its AP mode is spot on at getting a good exposure.

The lens returned some beautifully sharp images but I chose this one to illustrate the article as it kind of sums up how I felt at times getting this one going.

After film testing had produced some very satisfactory images the only challenge left was to get the leatherette sorted out. Normally I would stick with whatever the camera had originally but I felt after all the work that’s gone into this one she deserved a little something special so opted for a two-tone red leatherette from Hugo Studios. The original leatherette was removed and the camera surfaces cleaned of any residues with a mild Isoprop solution. Replacing leatherette has its risks. On many cameras it forms part of the light sealing. Under the back door of an XG there are numerous holes. I imagine these were originally for a film memo holder that was never fitted to the early XGs. To prevent any possible problems for a future owner I sealed these with some insulation tape under the leatherette and small patches of light flocking on the inner door beneath the film pressure plate.

With her new leatherette, new top plate and cleaned up body parts she really does look very beautiful.

So it’s journeys end. I think of this one as the revenant for good reason. She has literally come back from the dead! Few camera techs would consider an XG economic to repair and refurbish but on the journey through I learnt more about the XG series. I doubt I would do another one as it just isn’t economic to put this kind work and resources into a camera which I cant sell at a price that makes any sense but, for someone out there the revenant will be a beautiful camera to use and enjoy.
Whoever that person is I wish them happy shooting and may all of their pictures be as beautiful as the camera that took them.

My thanks to Eugene Pate of Learn camera Repair for his amazingly useful guide on the XG and to all of the folk on the Learn Camera Repair FB group for their help encouragement over the past few years which has helped give me the skills and confidence to tackle repairs to so many cameras.

Film Camera Buyers Guide

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

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-1 and XG-M — 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 1500^th 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

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

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

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

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 here where 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 - Film Camera Buyers Guide — 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

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.

Minolta SR7 - BNIB — ‘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.

So You Want to Buy a Camera on eBay?

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.

eBay Rogues Gallery - Buy a Camera on eBay — 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.

I see no fungus - Buy a Camera on eBay — 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.

Lens Torch Test — Torch Test: – This lens shows normal dust particles.

Lens fungus at its worst — Terminal fungus and with this lens impossible to repair/clean.

Torch Test for Fungus — 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.

Clean View Finder - Buy a Camera on eBay — A simple look through the viewfinder to see a clean example.

Filthy View Finder — 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’.

Light Meter Testing — Olympus OM2 from eBay – Light meter reacts but is inaccurate by 2 stops.

ZTS Light Meter Calibration — 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?
Has the camera recently had a service?
Does the self-timer work?
Does the frame counter advance when winding on?
Does the camera fire at all speeds?
Is the battery compartment free from corrosion?

Next up – common problems with some of the more common cameras and what to do….

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

Minolta – Film Camera Buyers Guide

Minolta SRT Series

Minolta XG-M and XG-x Series

Minolta X-300, X-500 and X-700

Minolta XD5 & XD7

Pentax – Film Camera Buyers Guide

Pentax ME Super

Pentax MX

Pentax K1000

Pentax KX

Canon – Film Camera Buyers Guide

Canon AE-1

Canon FTb

Olympus – Film Camera Buyers Guide

Olympus OM-1 & OM-2

Nikon

Point and Shoots – Film Camera Buyers Guide

Film Camera Buyers Guide – General for all cameras

Finally…

Further Reading

Do Your Research

Ask the right questions before you buy a camera on eBay

Do all of the functions work?

Decoding Seller Descriptions

Things To Ask a Seller

Does the lens have fungus?

Does the lens focus correctly?

Does the lens stop down correctly?

Does the viewfinder look clear?

Does it wind on and fire?

Does the light meter work?

Once you have gone ahead and bought a camera…

Getting the camera fixed up

Cut & Paste Questions to ask when you buy a camera on eBay

Further Reading