my camera broke, so I fixed it
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I had a bit of a scare, today.
I've decided to check into a quick side-trip to Inuvik, in the North-West Territories, and I wanted to go out and check into travel guide books, tickets prices, and maybe a map or two. I dropped off the film from the camping trip, and decided to walk to a book shop for a guide book. When I found a book shop, it didn't have any Yukon/NWT guide books, but the owner could recommend a shop that did.
That shop turned out to be way down town, but it's a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to walk it (the transit union is on strike in Vancouver at the moment). I hadn't gone far when I came across an urban scene I wanted to photograph. I pulled out my camera. And discovered that the trigger mechanism and exposure-setting dial had popped off. They had finally come loose when I'd drawn out the camera, and now they were sitting in the palm of my hand.
Discouraged, I debated about what to do, and decided to first check out the book store. I was on my way already, and who knew where I'd find a camera store - it might take the rest of the day. So I found the store, and bought the best of a poor selection of guide books to the region. Then I back-tracked to the camera store I'd checked out on my first day in town.
The camera shop couldn't fix my camera, but they knew someone who could. So I had them fish out a business card for that outfit, and I was off. Crossing the Burrard St. bridge, I headed into the south side of the city. I found the small shop, and headed in, to find a crowded public waiting area tucked into the space around the door. Behind the counter was a large work area where a couple of technicians were fixing cameras. I was pleased - it was exactly what I'd need.
The helpful, good-natured fellow at the front desk took my camera to the technicians, and told me they'd have a look and would I please sit. I sat, and was prepared to wait. In the mean time, a couple of Indian fellows were discussing the case of their camera with the staff, and it sounded bad. The lens had mold in it, and the camera body needed a number of items repaired, ranging from the foam on the mirror to some corrosion in the battery area. I was working up a good panic, knowing that the camera isn't easy to find any more, and that repairs could possibly out-cost the camera itself (this happened with my old SLT-101, but that was a 25-year-old camera!).
But the technician returned my camera in only about two minutes, and it was already fixed! Here I'd been worrying about having my camera in the shop for a week. The fellow behind the desk told me that the mechanism that held the two components down had not been lost or broken - as I'd feared - but had merely come loose. The techie had tightened the c-clamp in question, and replaced the two pieces that had popped off. After my exclamations of joy had subsided, he told me the cost: he recommended I leave a tip, and said 'you can get us, some other time,'.
I left a $4 tip, threw some thank-yous over my shoulder, and headed back out into the world, quite pleased.
The camera repair shop is:
Camtex
#201 - 1855 Burrard St.
Vancouver, BC
V6J3G9
Needless to say, I highly recommend them.