I finally understood why people hate working on point-and-shoots after a job in Portland

I was at a camera swap meet in Portland last year, and a guy brought me a Kodak Star 35 that wouldn't advance the film. He said two other shops turned him down. I opened it up and found a broken plastic gear, a part you can't get anymore. I spent 4 hours making a new one from brass, and charged him $80. He was thrilled, but I lost money on my time. That day showed me these cheap cameras are repair traps, built to fail. Does anyone else just refuse these jobs now, or have you found a good source for those tiny plastic parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey6825d ago

Is it really that bad to just say no to those cameras? I get they're a pain but sometimes you get a cool story out of it, like your brass gear. Maybe the trick is just charging way more upfront so the customer decides if it's worth it to them.

smith.anna5d ago

Wait, you made a whole new gear out of brass for eighty bucks? Honestly that's wild, I can't believe you only charged that much. Tbh the metal alone and four hours of your time is worth way more. That's basically working for free on a broken camera nobody else would touch. No wonder you feel burned by it.

jasonf174d ago

Actually sometimes you gotta take the weird jobs just to learn. That brass gear was a pain but now I know how to do it. Charging more might scare off the only people who need this stuff fixed. Plus it feels good to save something that was headed for the trash.