Overhauling a "refurbished" SX-70 Model 1 purchased on Japanese eBay

My name is Jake and I repair instant cameras! Got an SX-70 you want overhauled? Get in contact with me! Links below!

In the eleventh episode of The Instant Camera Guy, I re-repair an already refurbished camera for a client of mine.

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My client Stan purchased this SX-70 Model 1 from eBay; paying a premium in exchange for a camera that was supposed to be refurbished and in tip top working order.

After shipping it all the way from Japan, he sadly found the camera had unpredictable exposures and streaky light leaks on the images.

After finding me through my YouTube channel, Stan decided the camera may be better off in my hands, and so sent it in for an good checking over.

After a few discussions with Stan, we decided the best course of action was to give it a full overhaul and and PCB upgrade! The final result ended up amazing and I'm confident Stan will be happy for years to come.

I ended up finding numerous issues with the camera. Not all of these are likely the fault of the Japanese technician that did the refurb, but some mistakes were certainly made. The intent of this video is not to throw shade on other technicians, but to educate everyone watching on how to improve and do things better. After all, we are all human, and even I make mistakes from time to time.

In the end, I feel the biggest problem was a clear lack of proper film testing on the final product before shipping it out. The seller did include a photograph as 'proof' that the camera functioned, but it was a photo shot indoors.

Using an indoor photo as evidence of a cameras functioning simply isn't good enough, since the SX-70 shutter is designed in such a way that poor calibration does not affect low EV scenes as much as high EV scenes. Indoor scenes also often do not produce light leaks due to bellows pinholes, since the indoor lighting is far less powerful than the sun.

If the test photo was taken outdoors in bright sun, both the light leaks and exposure problems would have been spotted and the issue rectified before being sent to the client.



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