Len Repair Service in the US - Recommendations?

justtorchit · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 269 Location: St. Louis, MO

I have a Vivitar Series 1 24-48mm f/3.8 I picked up on a certain auction site with a reputation...Despite being listed as in "great condition", it arrived with an oily aperture and an inability to focus to infinity. After discussing this with the seller, I wanted to hang onto the lens because it was sold with the original box etc. He offered a partial refund and I came out spending peanuts on the lens (appropriately though, given that it's non-functional...).

I was able to access the aperture fairly easily and did my first aperture dis-assembly and cleaning (using isopropyl alcohol). Got everything back together and hoped maybe, magically, I somehow might have also bumped something back into place to also have fixed the focusing issue. Ha! It was a nice thought, but still a no-go.

I could get one of these lenses in excellent condition, right at this moment, for about $120 via KEH. KEH also offers repairs. However, their flat pricing shows, for 35mm zoom lenses, a rate of $195. So, that all being said, does anyone have any recommendations on where I might be able to have my lens serviced here in the US? Is it unlikely that the total cost of having the lens serviced will come in below $100, after shipping it somewhere (probably between $10-15 USD). Because, if not, I would probably be better off purchasing the copy from KEH and selling this one for parts...

Thoughts?

Gardener · Joined: 22 Sep 2013 Posts: 950 Location: USA

Are you certain that it is the lens and not the adapter? Wrong flange distance can have a rather pronounced effect on zoom's ability to focus to infinity.

justtorchit · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 269 Location: St. Louis, MO

I'm fairly certain it has nothing to do with the flange distance since the lens is in N/AI mount and I am using it on a Nikon D750. So there are no adapters involved and the lens is correctly mounted to it's native system.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9109 Location: Houston, Texas

David, before thinking about sending your lens out, if I were in your shoes, I'd ask around locally. St. Louis has bound to have some camera clubs -- perhaps even some for old farts who still use manual focus gear. Anyway, I'd ask around and, after locating a promising club, ask those folks -- especially the grizzled old timers -- where a good local camera repair guy can be found.

Failing that, I can highly recommend a local repair shop here in Houston. Professional Camera Repair. They do it all and they've been around here for a long time:

http://www.professionalcamerarepair.com/

If you call them, perhaps they will give you a quote so you can decide whether to mail it to them.

justtorchit · Joined: 12 Oct 2009 Posts: 269 Location: St. Louis, MO

Thanks Michael. I will look into it. There used to be two camera repair shops here in St. Louis, however, both of them were run by those grizzled old timers you speak of. When they passed away, no one was left holding the torch and the shops closed down. I asked a couple of my camera store friends, who deal in new and used camera gear and are asked about repairs frequently, if there were any local services left. They confirmed that indeed everything has pretty much closed to their knowledge. Sad. It makes me wish I had tried getting in to work at one of those shops earlier, as I would love to be able to do this kind of work, I just simply don't know how.

I will definitely give the shop there in Houston a call though. I appreciate the recommendation!

davidblue1984 · Joined: 29 Dec 2013 Posts: 68

After an online search for reputable repair guys for cameras and some lenses, i found Clarence Gass of 'Gass Camera Repair'

I am highly recommending his service. Clarence has great communication, is thorough, and professional in his repairs. He explained his technique and was able to look at the lens (a canon FD lens) repair it, and do so at a competitive price and with quick turn around.

Clarence is very experienced and lives in Kansas. I took a chance mailing my lens to him, but he mailed it back after repairing it and even included a bonus front and rear cap.

His website http://gasscamerarepair.com/
His telephone number : 913-432 6057

I don't work for Clarence nor have any reason to promote his business other than the fact that as someone who loves old lenses and cameras, it surely is becoming harder and harder to find people who have both the experience and knowledge to do repairs the right way. Too many repair shops (especially around LA) charge an arm and a leg, and many do not even know if they can fix it.

Clarence was thorough and has a good working knowledge of different company's products from the 35mm era and possibly before.

David
www.davidmarkmanphotography.com