Repair a 8MM Camera
In the age of high-definition consumer level home video cameras flooding the market place, there are still those out there who prefer to see 24 images flicker by each second. When recording home movies or shooting your own short films, a film camera is still a viable option. An 8mm camera in particular can give a distinctive and personal look to anything a person should choose to shoot. As brand-new 8mm cameras can be hard to come by, whatever you end up working with may eventually get a little dinged up or just get downright broken. Fixing these cameras can be a bit of a chore, but it is not at all impossible to have you back up and running in no time.
Instructions
1. Shoot and process some film. Sometimes the camera can appear to be functioning correctly, but will consistently render anything filmed unusable. Film can be costly, but it can be the only way to test whether or not your camera is working properly.
2. Locate the nature of the problem. If you shoot and expose your film and the film itself is undamaged but the end result is a poorly exposed or completely blown out picture, there is probably a small crack or some sort of other hole in the case that is causing outside light to hit the film before it should. If the film isn't making its way all the way through the camera, there is a problem with the mechanisms that move it along its path. Try opening the door to the compartment that houses the film (when no film is present), winding the camera and watching it run to see if anything unusual is happening.
3. Attempt to locate replacement parts, if necessary. Often, cities will have one or two speciality shops that deal with film cameras that can order parts and even do repairs for you. In any regard, if you tell them the model number of your camera they can get the parts to you, and after that it becomes as simple as unscrewing a broken part and screwing a new one on in its place.
4. Get creative. For example, is light getting into the compartment that houses the film? If so, rather than trying to find a replacement door for that compartment, just use black electrical tape to keep out any light that could ruin otherwise good film. If you can't find the parts, you're going to have to improvise or give up using your camera altogether.
Tags: your camera, compartment that, compartment that houses, houses film, Repair Camera, that houses
