Camera maintanence/repair

[Skippy]

Where can i find a place to service my camera? i wish to make sure it is in fully working order. I live in the UK and i am unsure as to where to look and of a place with a good reputation.

Tom

[Mike P]

What camera is it?

[Skippy]

Nizo pro and a Elmo 110

[Andersens Tears]

I can fully recommend GK Film. They are very experienced with repairs and servicing on all the top brand name Super 8 cameras. I had my Nizo 801 Macro serviced there and they did an excellent job – fully checked, adjusted, new lube – the works. It was all done through Frank Bruinsma at The Super8 Reversal lab in Holland. http://www.super8.nl – check out the ‘repair’ section on the website.

You can of course contact GK film direct but they aren’t that fluent in English – Frank will take care of all the correspondence!

Ask about your ELMO too.

Hope this helps!

[Blue Audio Visual]

What sort of money did they charge you Jamie?

Bart

[Andersens Tears]

What sort of money did they charge you Jamie?

Bart

Hi Bart, sure!

This is what I had done:

Fully checked over – all functions

Minor adjustments made – and calibration checked.

The light meter was modified to draw power from the main battery pack – so that I wouldn’t need to mess around with separate cells anymore.

New lube added to the drive mechanisms.

All this was £120 including return shipping by registered airmail.

This may sound a lot to some, but the Nizo was in PERFECT cosmetic condition and is now in PERFECT working condition. It’s like a new camera!

All work is guaranteed for 3 months.

[Andersens Tears]

Where can i find a place to service my camera? i wish to make sure it is in fully working order. I live in the UK and i am unsure as to where to look and of a place with a good reputation.

Tom

Tom – As you have a Nizo Pro – you won’t need to worry about the light meter mod – so a thorough check over with adjustments and calibration – important with the 25fps – so it would probably be cheaper. You can send in your camera for a quote and if you don’t like the price of the service you just pay a flat fee for the quote of £30 and your camera will be returned. If you go ahead with the service you won’t incur this quote fee.

I see that you are a student and probably don’t have the spare cash. Not so long ago I was in the same boat, but look at it as an investment in the working life and reliability of your camera!

[Blue Audio Visual]

All this was £120 including return shipping by registered airmail.

This may sound a lot to some, but the Nizo was in PERFECT cosmetic condition and is now in PERFECT working condition. It’s like a new camera!

It doesn't seem like too much to me. Skilled specialist repair people and technicians are generally undervalued by most people these days, who tend to forget that they too have to earn a living in order to be able to continue offering their services. Spares cannot be ordered and delivered the next day from the manufacturer/distributor, rather the repairer has to accumulate his own inventory, only a small proportion of which will ever yield any sort of financial return. To be a good repair technician you need more than a broad-based knowledge, you also have to be a good lateral thinker. There will always be situations that you have never encountered before.

Bart

[gianni1]

I've gotz me a few £10 Bolex 160 / 155 Super 8 cams. One has optics loose inside the view finder system. Bolex Switzerland quoted hundreds to fix it. AXCO in Hendon (London) said just to open it up would take several hours, translating to maybe £80 labour before parts. I too consider £175 - £200 the threshold for a serious camera repair. That is pushing the hobby into a serious hobby.

Gianni :?

"The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

[Blue Audio Visual]

"The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

I had to leave work early today because of a minor babysitting crisis, in the middle of a conversation with a customer of mine whom I get on with very well. He asked me whether raising children was as expensive as filmmaking as a hobby. I told him that the biggest mistake you could make was have children and get them into film! Double whammy financially.

Gianni, I've looked at your YouTube stuff. You are laying the foundations for financial disaster by encouraging your boys to use real film.

LOL

Bart

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Sometimes it's actually cheaper to buy a camera directly from a repair guy, rather than sending your own camera to the repair shop and pay for the camera-service and shipping both ways. Of course, not all repair people have a camera or two for sale, but it doesnn't hurt to ask.

[gianni1]

AXCO has got a lot, really lots of cameras, of all sorts in top shape, in the corridors, back of the camera repair shop. Think of those endless stacks piled on forever in the last scene of the film "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark". I got a personal tour once, and was shown some exotic treasure cams. In particular was a super clean Bolex 150 offered for sale instead of repairing mine.

Bart! ~ I ought to reply about film as expensive hobby in another thread! here goes anyway. I enjoy boot sales and any chance I can get at Dumpster Diving. Always on the lookout. Recently I've got five (400foot) rolls of 16mm 500T, and two of VNF for a few quid... Plan is to DIY process in Diafine. Now I've got to respool myself or reperf it at Mr. Nowill's, or find a cheap ancient 400' magazine Freezolini or Elmo camera on ebay... This has necessated another kitchen freezer, maybe on freecycle. It's not false economy, it's an obsession derived from being deprived of using my dad's cine cameras when i was a child!

Gianni 8)

[Blue Audio Visual]

AXCO will not be with us forever. Maurice (I forget his surname) has been threatening to retire for quite some time. Once he is gone the only major specialist Super 8 repairer left in the UK will be Sendean. There have been mixed reports as to the quality of their work, and I know that they are not up for working on later Super 8 cameras with sophisticated electronics, as they have phoned us up a few times recently to ask if we can help with Nizo 6080s etc.

If I were a UK end-user I would probably go straight to Germany, where there still seems to be a fair old smattering of genuinely expert repairers.

[Andersens Tears]

If I were a UK end-user I would probably go straight to Germany, where there still seems to be a fair old smattering of genuinely expert repairers.

I recommend going through Frank at the Super 8 Reversal Lab in Holland – He regularly deals with GK Film in Germany – He is over there regularly – he has an excellent relationship with them – has seen all the equipment they have for servicing cameras (you can see all these on Frank website – there are some good pictures) – he will know first off if it will be possible for your camera to be repaired and if it will be expensive. Especially if you do not speak German – Frank is your man!

[parallaxe]

Nizo pro and a Elmo 110

Somewhat closer but still on the continent

Mr van der Does http://www.desnek.nl , who is a specialist on cine equipment. Works on very Classic and classic. Diagnosis free of charge. Shipping in and out of course on your expense.

A Nizo pro should be no trouble. These Nizos hardly need maintenance because these were designed to work without lube and such. But maybe they are now somewhat older then the designers expected them to become.

Mr van der Does does his own email comms. In english.