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FAQs

Hasselblad 45FA on camera work bench

Our Repair Process

In order to keep reasonable turnaround times, we take repairs by appointment only. Here’s our process:
  1. Fill out our waitlist form.
  2. Once we have room in our schedule, you’ll receive an email with a link to the evaluation form, which is a $50 fee. You can pay the fee with a credit card securely through PayPal, even without an account. This fee is deducted from the repair cost, if you decide to move forward.
  3. After you’ve paid the evaluation fee, package up your equipment and ship it to us.
  4. Once we’ve evaluated the repair, we’ll send you an estimate.
  5. If you accept the estimate, we will begin the work. Since we often need to order parts, repair work typically takes 4 to 6 weeks. 
    Do not pay the estimate! Wait for the final invoice. This way you aren’t paying for parts we didn’t end up using.
  6. Once the repair is completed, we’ll send you a final invoice.
  7. Once the invoice is paid, we will ship your equipment back to you.

To streamline our process, we send invoices on Fridays and ship out equipment on Mondays.

Add me to the waitlist
Please note this link will send you to a Google form.

Other FAQs

This depends completely on the specific problem and kind of equipment. If your equipment has not been severely damaged, chances are it can be completely serviced and brought back to original factory specs. However, variables such as the specific condition of your equipment and the availability of replacement parts can affect our ability to complete repairs.

For this reason, we choose to do an evaluation process, which includes partial disassembly of the equipment. Without this step, we would simply be guessing as to whether or not a specific camera can be brought back to life.

This term has been misused by many individuals who are new to the repair industry. Oftentimes external, cosmetic cleanings are mistakenly referred to as CLAs. The complete and appropriate definition for CLA is Clean Lubricate and Adjust. This is in reference to the meter, shutter, and film transport systems.

CLA service includes the replacement of light seals, as well as minor parts like missing screws. Finally, in addition to the standard disassembly of the camera, we will also include the cosmetic cleaning that some have confused for CLA servicing.

Jim has been a repair technician for 35+ years, and spent the last 20 years specializing in camera and lens repair. He’s done countless repairs from many manufacturers, and has been an authorized technician for Nikon, Canon, and Sigma. He is particularly skilled at servicing older lenses that no longer have new parts available.

We have decided to focus on classic equipment, particularly between the decades of 1960s – 1990s. We specialize in Nikon manual through AF-S autofocus lenses, as well as Canon manual focus FD through EF lenses.

Digital equipment, flashes, tripods, and highly electronic items with no parts available.

Evaluating the damage on equipment is a time-consuming process; at minimum we need to check the exposures, speeds, shutters, and meters. Sometimes evaluation even requires partial disassembly of the equipment.

Beyond figuring out what is wrong with the equipment, we also need to assess whether or not we have any necessary replacement parts available. If not, we need to source them. An evaluation fee accounts for this bench time.

If you choose to proceed with the repair, this fee will be deducted from your final invoice.

Depending on what equipment you’re sending, an evaluation will cost $50 per item to pay for our bench time to evaluate, test, and check all systems.

This will vary depending on current volume, weekends, and holidays, but should take roughly 3 – 5 days.

When purchasing film cameras, you’ll find even new equipment suffers from the same pitfalls — old lubrication, dust, and dirt gumming up the works. While getting a comparable replacement that’s “new to you” may seem like a good investment in the short run, it won’t be long before similar issues crop up and the cycle of purchasing and repurchasing continues.

Refurbishing and keeping your equipment well-serviced will ensure its longevity. Ultimately you save money, as well as prevent another decent camera from ending up in a landfill.

We have a fully- equipped repair facility with professional test equipment and an extensive inventory of “New/Old Stock”. That being said, to efficiently embrace the modern e-commerce world and keep our prices down, we primarily have shipping to a secure location. On the rare occasion someone needs to bring in equipment to a San Diego location, we have a partnership with Camera Exposure opens in a new tab.

Before packing, remove all accessories attached or included with the equipment. This includes lens caps, straps, memory cards, and similar attachments that can easily be lost and are not necessary for the repair of your equipment.

Pack your equipment securely with a minimum of 3″ in packing material around the outer perimeter. We recommend bubble wrap and packing peanuts around the camera. Please do not use lots of shipping tape around the camera, as it makes unwrapping difficult. Most cameras fit nicely in a 9″ x 9″ x 7″ box.

ICT provides a 6-month warranty.