Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-11-27)

28 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

CAMERA REPAIR

consuming (and very

expensive!) but both parties

were happy in the end.’ Tang

believes that almost anything can be

repaired, but not everything is worth

the time and money it takes. Like

Tang, Steve Smart from Camserve

Ltd loves to work on well-designed

and manufactured models. ‘All

manufacturers tend to make the odd

“lemon” from time to time, but in

general Canon, Hasselblad, Leica,

Nikon and Rollei all make items that

are serviceable for years,’ he suggests.

Smart is often told about cameras

that have come to a sticky end. ‘One

guy left his Canon EOS 5D Mark III

and zoom lens on the roof of his car

and didn’t realise until he’d finished

his journey,’ he remembers. ‘When

he retraced his steps, he found what

was left of it – it had been run over

several times. Another chap suffered

a heavy nosebleed at the precise

moment he was cleaning his sensor,

so it ended up covered in blood.’

Finally, I made contact with

neuropsychologist (and former

photojournalist) Dr David Lewis-

Hodgson who told me about his

beloved Nikon F. ‘This camera

“served” with me throughout the

conflict in Belfast (1969-75). It has

been attached to the tailplane of a

Tiger Moth, smashed (but repaired)

by a Lightning fighter making an

emergency landing in a gravel pit

arrester and drowned in 40ft of sea

water when the underwater casing

flooded. Despite being half-a-century

old, it still works fine!’ Going back to

McCullin, I can see why his particular

Nikon F attracts so much attention.

This camera has been a witness to

atrocities that, thankfully, few of us

have had to endure. It has served as

both a physical and mental buffer for

the photographer over the years. The

scars it bears can be interpreted as his

own: every scratch, dent and graze

tells its own story. Just like McCullin,

this camera has a personal biography

and its past, present and future have

been shaped by war. The objects we

share our lives with – from teddy

bears to watches and cameras – might

not have a voice, but for those who

know the source of their scars

they do speak.

Above: A Leica

M6 with its covers

removed for

adjustment and

cleaning at

Camserve Ltd

Left: A Nikkor
18-70mm
f/3.5-4.5 ED DX
lens awaits
some TLC at
BOT Camserve Ltd

H^ P
ICS
©

CAM

SER

VE
LTD