Camera Restoration
I had the opportunity in high school to do some shooting
with a 4x5 camera (a Pacemaker
Speed Graphic ) that had been donated. Eager to play with larger negatives,
shifts, swings, and tilts, I gave it a go, only to find that in addition to
all of the grime, that there were some pinhole leaks in the bellows, and that
the plane of focus at the ground glass didn't match that of the film when a
holder was placed into the camera. Sadly, I didn't take any shots of the work
in progress, and ended up having to return the camera to the school at the end
of the term. I was able to take perhaps one usable image with it before having
to hand it back, something I still regret. The things I learned in the process
did end up coming in rather handy a decade later, as I spotted another nearly
identical well-worn camera at a local shop for $100. The store had evidently
received it as trade-in, and had not yet decided whether to put the time in
that it would take to check the camera out, tune it up, etc. I was back to a
point where I had some time and some money, but not enough to invest in a used
monorail. For $100 it seemed I could pick up a serviceable camera, lens, and
shutter. I walked out of the store happy with my newfound toy, and the repair
tech was, I suspect, rather glad to not end up stuck with the job of removing
50 years of grime.