Debate: should you stick with factory calibration or trust your own eyes on a CLA?

I spent 6 hours chasing a focus ring issue on a vintage Canon that turned out to be minor grease hardening, not misalignment. How much time do you guys sink into old gear before calling it a lost cause?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily_singh21mo ago

You ever waste half a day on something you could've fixed in 10 minutes? Yeah, I used to be the type who'd tear everything apart at the first sign of trouble. Thought I knew better than 50 years of factory settings. But after spending a whole Sunday chasing a sticky aperture blade on an old Pentax that just needed a few drops of lighter fluid, I totally get it now. Sometimes the old grease is the real enemy, not a mechanical flaw. That lesson cost me a whole weekend but saved me from messing with stuff that was fine to begin with.

haydenbutler1mo ago

Funny how the camera community treats lighter fluid like some forbidden magic when it's literally the same stuff Zippo users have been cleaning gunk with for decades. I've seen people spend weeks hunting down replacement parts for a lens that just had some dried up lubricant stuck to the aperture blades. A little naptha on a q-tip and you're back in business without touching a single screw.