I found this camera repair place, just off ul. Grzybowska. Time, I thought, to get the sensor of my D40 cleaned. Pictures (especially those of clear skies) have darker spots on them that I need to Photoshop away before publishing; it's getting time consuming.
Anyway, I strike a deal (125 zlotys - around 25 quid to get the camera cleaned up, ready by 18:00 tomorrow), take out the memory card, ready to leave the D40 behind. Then the young lady behind the counter asks me to take the strap off the camera.
"Why?" I ask. "Because the mechanic says so," she replies. It's not an easy thing to do, especially with numb fingers and no reading glasses to hand. And, no doubt, I'd be asked to put the strap back on again, even more difficult, threading a reluctant woven nylon strap through tight plastic hoops.
Politely I pick up my camera and tell the young lady that I shall get it repaired elsewhere. If they want my business - and assuming the strap really needs to be removed in order for the base to be unscrewed (which I doubt) - they'd take the trouble to take off and then put back the strap. For the price - towards the upper band of what I find online - I did not expect the client to be asked to do some of the work for the repair guy.
Anyway - I check the website; it transpires they also fix "Helwett-Packard" and "Haselblat" cameras. If the guy's as precise with his mechanical skills as he is with his spelling, I'm better off avoiding his services anyway.
Can any reader recommend a good place for cleaning sensors (my D80 also needs clean inside...)
This time two years ago:
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First snow, winter 2008-09
This time four years ago:
Escapism
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5 comments:
I bought a pack of 12 cleaning swabs on Amazon for my 500D, and make sure you get the right sensor size and it's real easy to do yourself (only a little daunting when you see the sensor open and naked ;))
@ Hugo - it's that 'daunting' bit that daunts me :) My close-up eyesight is not that good, I'm afraid I might mess something up. I'll let someone do it who spends half his life burrowing in the innards of cameras!
Michael - I had mine cleaned at the Nikon service center near Galeria Mokotow.
Bob
Michael,
I had the same problem with my Nikon, I fixed it during my holidays in Warsaw (I am deeply disappointed by the quality of services in Belgium) at the Nikon center on Marynarska St. It might be that they asked me to remove the strap, though.
All the best,
Wojtek
Michael - I forgot - yes, at Nikon they asked me to remove the strap as well.
Bob
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