christ0pher

I want to strangle my camera serviceman in Houston. I paid him like $240 or so for a much-needed servicing on my Hasselblad, which included cleaning of the lens, body, and three camera backs, and repairing a light leak on one of the backs. He was to have gone over the whole camera and investigated for issues with the mechanics that could lead to a problem of reliability in the field when I need it the most, and barring a majorly expensive repair, the cost would cover any small parts and repair necessary...

well, I had a roll of film ruined. It was a low-light situation and it appeared that the flash synch wasn't, well, synching. I happened upon Casey's Camera here in Las Vegas and it turns out they have a guy that does repair work part time that's retired from doing Hasselblad repairs in NYC for 35 years. really nice old guy. anyway it took him less than a minute to see that this fucker in Houston had squished bits of white paper down onto either side of the flash synch lock trying to hold it in place, rather than letting me know there was a problem and fixing it. how shoddy is that? anyway he found several problems this asshole didn't fix or perhaps created, included scratching up the powder coat when unscrewing some small screws, etc. It's going to cost $190 to fix 3 major problems but the camera will be tip top, and he is going to reclean and lubricate everything as well. I am not worried about the money.. expense is part of business. I just hate paying some guy to fix something and they do almost nothing for more money than it costs to actually fix it. It's hard to find good people for stuff like this anymore.