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Had a shutter curtain ribbon cable tear on a Leica M6 while the customer was watching | Camera Repairers - Opinions Matter

leor83•7mo ago

Had a shutter curtain ribbon cable tear on a Leica M6 while the customer was watching

I was in my shop in Portland, the owner right there, when the tiny ribbon for the second curtain just gave out during a test fire. I had to tell him straight up that his classic camera needed a part I didn't have on hand. Ended up ordering the ribbon set from a supplier in Germany, which took two weeks and cost him about $150 extra. Has anyone else had to manage that kind of pressure and delay with a client looking over your shoulder?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_thomas7mo ago

Managing that kind of failure in real time is a special kind of stress. It turns a simple service into a lesson on the reality of aging gear and the global supply chain for parts. You handled it right by being clear, but it sure makes you wish for a local cache of every obscure ribbon cable.

rileyw577mo ago

Man, that's rough. I read a camera repair blog a while back that called those ribbon cables the "Achilles' heel" of a lot of 90s electronic cameras. The plastic just gets brittle. Having it happen with the client there is the worst case scenario, but you did the only thing you could. Being honest about the wait and the cost up front was the right move, even if it felt bad. That two week wait from Germany must have felt like forever with him watching it happen.

dakota_murphy906mo ago

Honestly, I get why you'd say that, but I've had the opposite experience. Tbh, when a part fails in front of a client, showing them the brittle plastic and explaining why it happens builds way more trust than just a phone call later. That face-to-face moment turns them into an understanding part of the process, not just a waiting customer. It's rough, but it sets the right expectations from the jump.