Question about the Nikon F3 shutter I fried in my kitchen in Boise
About 6 months ago I was cleaning a customer's Nikon F3 on my kitchen table in Boise and I accidentally let the shutter curtains touch while the camera was still cocked. I heard a tiny snap and knew right away I had bent a blade. Back in the day I would have mailed it off and waited 3 weeks, but now I found a guy on a forum who walked me through resetting the curtain tension with a cheap set of jeweler's screwdrivers. It took me 4 tries over 2 evenings, but the shutter fires clean at every speed down to 1/8 now. The customer never knew, and I charged him $85 for the CLA like normal. Curious if anyone else has messed up a repair mid job and just quietly fixed it before the owner came back?
Wait, you let the shutter curtains touch while the camera was still cocked and it only cost you a bent blade? That's pure luck, my friend. I did the same thing on an FM2 a few years back and it shredded the titanium foil like tissue paper, no amount of jeweler's screwdrivers was saving that one. Hearing that tiny snap is the worst sound in the world when you're mid repair, it's like your stomach just drops. The fact that you got the tension reset in 4 tries over 2 evenings and it fires clean down to 1/8 is honestly impressive, most people would have given up and shipped it out. Charging him the normal $85 like nothing happened is a bold move but hey, the camera works, right?