Decline of 35mm repairers.

[stvn66]

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Am I alone in thinking that purchasing a 35mm Leica nowadays is quite a gamble due to the decline of specialist repairers. Established shops are closing and skilled individuals are retiring but no one is replacing them😔

Here in the UK you can probably count on one hand how many are left.

It seems watchmakers are surviving but not so sure about camera repairers?

Has anyone a positive take on this situation?

[Pieter12]

That goes for just about any analog camera today. Leicas and Hasselblads are probably the most repairable, with parts and technicians still around although in rapidly dwindling numbers. Even the manufacturers (Leica, Hasselblad) won't repair older analog cameras of their own. And Rolleiflex is no more, on the cusp of no longer being repairable.

Depending on the age and manufacturer, many digital cameras cannot be repaired anymore either.

Beyond the factory, few if any are being trained to repair cameras in today's disposable times. The few camera technicians I deal with have enormous backlogs and seem to be on the verge of retiring, too.

Watches seem more collectable, could it be possible that collectors need them to be working in order to hold their value?

[bobtodrick]

We're a large photo retailer in Western Canada.  We deal with 1/2 dozen independent repair shops in Canada...everything from Leica screwmounts, 'Blad 500 CM's to Pentax K1000.

Turn around time usually 3-4 weeks.  I myself just this past summer had the shutter curtains in my Leica lllf replaced...about a month and $150.00 CDN.

So I guess you could say I have a positive take on the situation 🙂

[DigitalHeMan]

Whilst there are maybe less repairers, there are also less people requiring their services, so it balances out. There are still enough people around though to make it worth while to be a repairer, and make a good wage doing so, with enough customers to sustain their business models, and enough capacity at each repairer to get repairs completed within a satisfactory time period.

[DigitalHeMan]

8 hours ago, Pieter12 said:

Watches seem more collectable, could it be possible that collectors need them to be working in order to hold their value?

Expensive watches need regular servicing to keep them maintained. The difference with watches is that the high end of the market remained, and will remain, mechanical, and digital just went to satisfy the low to mid end market. Whereas with digital cameras, digital is an option at both the top and bottom ends of the market, pushing out the more widespread need for analogue cameras.

[stvn66]

1 hour ago, DigitalHeMan said:

There are still enough people around though to make it worth while to be a repairer, and make a good wage doing so.

It is a pity this does not translate into people taking up this trade. There are backlog waiting times now that are getting longer so surely this warrants this training?

[bobtodrick]

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2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Young people make money online with much less effrot, from crypto trading to influencing to IT work. Hardly any interest for the fine crafts.

Disagree entirely.  I have two sons in their early 20’s…and I know many of their friends.  My sons know and appreciate fine watches…they and some of their friends use film cameras (and referencing your post #4, we sell lots of film and it was just announced a couple weeks back that two more manufacturers are going to start making film), one of their friends is a fine woodworker and another is restoring a 1961 MGA.

Neither I, nor any of them know anyone trying to get rich on crypto or by being an influencer.  There have always been people looking for the get rich quick scheme.

Personally I’m tired of those who categorize all young as layabouts…get out and meet some of them, you might be surprised.

 

[bobtodrick]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

It is good regarding your two sons and their friends. But it is - sad to say - statistically irrelevant.

Traditional (or heritage) crafts and skills are defined as "practices which employ manual dexterity and skill and an understanding of traditional materials, design and techniques, and which have been practised for two or more successive generations". A number of sources and studies suggest that many of traditional skills are at risk of being lost or are being practiced much less. Some crafts in the hands of a dying generation are even at risk of being lost over the course of the next decade or so. There is even a list of endangered traditional crafts because in today’s fast-paced world of plenty, Gen Z (1997-2012) is widely recognized for having a strong desire to build up their wealth rapidly and main hook that drives Gen Z is the influence of social media platforms. These platforms showcase the luxurious lifestyles of influencers, traders and celebrities, creating the impression that rapid wealth accumulation is possible fast with little work.

The decline in traditional crafts is also strongly influenced by mass production that prioritizes efficiency and cost over the uniqueness of handcrafted items. Globalization has introduced cultural shifts and economic pressures, making it extremely difficult for artisans to compete with factory-made goods. Modern web use and overuse overshadows traditional crafts as forms of self-expression. Additionally, the transmission of knowledge is steadily declining, the generational chain of teaching traditional skills gets torn and societal shifts often make traditional crafts being perceived as outdated/irrelevant, further contributing to their decline.

So be very happy that your sons and their friends engage in all these things - global trends and forecasts are not positive at all.

 

My point, which you missed entirely is that the thinking that young people today are lazy slackers is false.

Yes, many of their traditional crafts have disappeared…because modern manufacturing has made them to expensive.  But that has been happening forever…pretty sure the buggy and stagecoach users in the 1890’s were bemoaning the fact that the youth were all enamoured by the new fangled motorcar.

My son is mentoring with a well known heart surgeon working on a computer program that will streamline heart surgery…like it or not that is where the world is.  He works as hard ir harder than someone did 50 years ago learning a traditional craft.

Again, most of todays youth are not lazy slackers spending all their time Crypto trading.  And its’s not ‘statistically irrelevant’…in my work I deal with government, health care, law enforcement and many others…many say that this whole ‘young people are all slackers’ is our oh so trustworthy media at work.

To reiterate…yes, things are changing, but blaming it on youth today is false.

Edited December 8, 2024 by bobtodrick

[bobtodrick]

Post #8.

Sorry if I misunderstood but to me it reads as though they take the easy way out…again, my apologies if that wasn’t your intent.

[sandro]

Perhaps we can look for a more positive development. I am a user of analog camera's, mostly Leica M. I am very happy there are still excellent repair people that I can personally bring my lenses and camera's to. On a global level the number of such individuals may be diminishing, but the interest in analog photography and its equipment is not at all in decline anymore.  On the contrary. More young people are discovering photography on film than some ten years ago. These people sooner or later need repair people for their equipment, so that demand may  also help individuals to train to understand this kind of equipment and make a living out of it again. I know of a gentleman in my country (Netherlands) who has two young people in training.

Lex

[105012]

22 hours ago, Al Brown said:

It is not a gamble at all. There will sooner be no more film available than repairers.

I suspect the investors behind this would have a different view:

https://www.harmantechnology.com/significant-ongoing-investment-in-the-future-of-photographic-film/

"...reaffirmed their commitment to the future of analogue photography with multi-million-pound investments..."