TJ Ediger is an expert and definitely someone you ought to talk to. HOME | Pigeon Creek Camera <https://www.pigeoncreekcamera.com/> Sandy
On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 11:32 AM Warren Cockerham <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Frameworkers! > > We’re in need of Bolex service here at my new job at Dartmouth College. My > go-to person when I was in this area before was Abdul (Abderrazak Setoua) > in Astoria at [email protected], but he hasn’t gotten back to us. I’m > guessing, like many Bolex techs, he already has a bench full of work. > > I sent a few Bolexes from my former job in Tampa to DuArt two years ago, > and the service was not great. In fact, one of those cameras now runs very > slow and jams film. So I’m hesitant to go that route again. It’s like a lot > of this kind of work: you think, “Well, I could do that,” but what I’m > really looking for are service techs who are true experts. > > I’m also looking to apprentice with someone, somewhere, so I can > eventually handle more of our service in-house. Like many of us, I’ve been > doing light service on Bolexes for nearly 20 years. But with resale prices > where they are now — maybe four times higher than they were ten years ago — > and with service getting harder to find, I’m ready to invest real time in > learning from someone who knows these cameras deeply. > > As I told our Kodak rep in Tampa after he discontinued 20 years of stock > sponsorship — about 1,000 feet a year of Tri-X and 250D — he said, “I can’t > give it away anymore. Film is hot again.” I said, “And who do you have to > thank for that? Could it be all of us who kept teaching it and pulling > equipment and prints out of dumpsters for decades?” He said, “Touché,” but > never re-upped the sponsorship. > > Right now, we’re having the same issue with two Rex-4 10x viewfinders. The > viewfinder focus adjusts, but it does not lock. I’ve disassembled and > cleaned both assemblies, but there still isn’t enough tension to hold focus > in place. For the moment, I’ve added a fiber washer, which slows the > movement down and almost locks it, but I suspect we may need to source full > replacement viewfinder/focus-lock assemblies for both cameras. And, of > course, parts are hard to find. I’m new here, and there aren’t a few milk > crates of old Bolexes sitting around like there were at my old job. > > Any recommendations for expert Bolex service techs — or anyone willing to > let me apprentice, visit, observe, pay for training, sweep the floor, > whatever it takes — would be greatly appreciated. I’d also be grateful for > any leads on reliable parts sources, donor bodies, or people who may still > have parts and assemblies available. > > All the best, > > Warren (upper valley VT/NH) > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >
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