This can vary from a couple of weeks to 3 months, depending on your place on the waiting list and the complexity of the job. If parts need to be sourced or produced from scratch, the timing can extend beyond the 3 months period. We don’t do quick fixes; we always strive for a high quality standard in our repairs in order to provide you with the best results. Some jobs are done faster than others of course. From time to time, we need to produce special custom-made tools in order to repair rare lenses or bodies. This also requires extra time, which can extend the repair period. However, we try to be as transparant as possible with you regarding delays or deviations from the agreed upon timing.

Like every good repair shop, we have a waiting list due to the amount of incoming requests. However, certain jobs can be done faster than others. Don’t hesitate to contact us regarding the possibities and our current queue for that particular type of work.

Yes! Please contact us (form, IG or email) if you want to pay us a visit, or drop something off. We do not have a physical shop; only a lab/workspace because we want to fully focus on our task at hand, but we are happy to welcome you with a fresh brew of tea or coffee if you let us know in advance.

At Camera Revival, we focus on the repair of analogue camera’s and still and cine lenses. We do CLA’s, complete overhauls, replacements of parts including light-insulating foam (seals), replacements of bellows and curtains, adjustments of all kinds, ciné-modding of lenses, re-skinnings, anti-fungal treatments, cleanings of optics, repairs of aperture mechanisms, etc. Please ask away if you have other requests or concerns. We own an extensive range of laboratory equipment, testing machines and professional tools in order to provide you with the best results. We also work with high-principled specialists and manufacturers in the field in case we need to replace parts or get something custom-made.

Sometimes we repair dishwashers, washing machines, radios, etc. However, we don’t offer these service to our clients.

We service most of the well known brands such as: Mamiya, Hasselblad, Canon, Nikon, Bronica, Leica, Pentax, etc. For some of these brands we have an extensive stock of spare parts. This doesn’t mean we can’t service rare camera types or lenses. The best way for you to know if we can help you, is just to send us a message.

We know that some repair companies do offer such an option. However, we don’t for some obvious reasons. Every client is important for us and it would be unfair to treat someone differently because they are willing to pay more. Furthermore, providing such an option would distort the waiting queue and would make our workflow more chaotic. If you have a tight timeframe, just contact us and maybe we can find a solution that will work for both of us.

Yes, we do accept bribes and gifts. However, they will not influence the waiting queue or the price of repair. We do appreciate it though!

It doesn’t matter to us if you send us a cheap or an expensive camera or lens. Most of the workload is usually the same. Replacing shutter curtains on a premium camera usually requires the same amount of work as doing it for a much cheaper, lesser known brand. The value of the camera or lens has no correlation to the service or repair cost. The cost is influenced by the issue with the item itself and the complexity of the job.

Every camera and lens is different and every issue is also different. We can provide you with an estimate of the service or repair cost once we had the possibility to inspect your item.

We charge a standard 45 EUR fee for an inspection per item. After providing you with an estimate, this amount can be used as a credit for the total service or repair cost of that particular item. In most cases, a partial disassembly of your camera or lens is needed during the inspection in order to pinpoint the issue. On average a camera body service or repair might cost around 270 EUR. Overhauls are more expensive, because they require a complete disassembly of your camera. Needless to say, in cases where more work is required or parts need to be produced/replaced, this price can increase. The average price for a lens service can vary between 90 and 290 EUR, depending on the type of work that needs to be done. A better estimate can be provided once the items have been inspected by us.

Please note that we don’t do half work, because we take pride in our work and want to maintain a high quality standard. Don’t ask us to fix one issue if we believe that there are multiple issues that need to be addressed for your camera to function properly. All prices stated are expressed in EUR including VAT (unless stated otherwise).

If you’re situated outside of the European Union, additional import taxes and duties might apply during the shipping process. These additional charges are not mentioned on the website and are your sole responsibility.

You may. However, each email, message, and call keeps us away from our main task and that is to service or repair your camera and lens. We will keep your automatically informed during the various stages of the process via our booking system. If we haven’t contacted you for a while, it doesn’t mean we forgot about you. It usually means we’re focussed on fixing and repairing.

It takes courage to attempt to repair a lens or a camera. Kudos for that. However, a lot of damage happens during these attempts and sometimes factory settings are lost. We ask an extra charge to fix repair attempts. In some severe cases we are obliged to refuse them for obvious reasons.

We could write a book about bad packaging: from cameras and lenses wrapped in plastic bags to boxes which were smaller than the item that was shipped. It’s needless to say that cameras and lenses are fragile devices. During transport, they tend to receive a lot of shocks. Shocks are bad. Therefore, it’s very important not try to save costs on packaging material, in order to make sure your camera and lens doesn’t arrive to us with even more issues.

Fortunately, we have a lot of experience in shipping delicate equipment. That is why we have come up with a visual guide on “how to pack your precious gear”. Please follow our guidelines to make sure your items reach us without any additional damage. You can find the guide here. When in doubt, you can also stop by to drop them in person.

It depends. If the camera or lens isn’t working as it should be, we treat those items as for “parts and repairs” without exceptions and value them as such. We get a lot donations of working and non-working cameras and lenses, and we’re grateful for this because it helps us to keep other cameras and lenses working. If you want to sell/donate some cameras or lenses to us, just get in touch with us.

In some cases we also accept trade-ins in order to reduce the total cost of your repair.

At Camera Revival, we go a long way to fix problems; we take pride in our work and we do not like to leave issues unsolved, as in a good marriage. However, some things cannot be fixed due to age related issues, bad maintenance/storage, missing parts, etc. This can only be discovered after we have examined and inspected your items carefully.

This is a question that we get asked a lot and the answer is not always straightforward. Sometimes it’s cost effective to repair your camera or lens instead of buying another one. Why? Most items sold on the secondhand mark are rarely serviced. You’re spending your precious finances on another item with issues. The issues are usually not be visible at first but might appear very fast. It might seem to be the logical thing to do in the short run. However, this will hurt you more in the long run. If your camera or lens is really beaten up, a repair might not be the best option and this is where you can consider getting a replacement. There is no such thing as a “cheap” camera or lens with second hand equipment.

It depends. Over the years, we have seen many sad cases of poorly “serviced” (or should we rather say “butchered”) gear by unskilled people with insufficient knowledge, bad tools and unreliable equipment. The result of these poorly serviced camera’s or lenses was often horrifying and needless to say it’s very hard to restore the damaged camera or lens back into working condition. We also witnessed many cases of DIY/Youtube attempts gone wrong. Broken parts, ripped curtains, scratched lens surfaces, etc. Please make sure to hand over your gear to professionals with the right tooling/equipment only.

CLA stands for Clean, Lube and Adjust. It’s the industry standard terminology for servicing your camera and/or lens. However, the term CLA is subject to interpretation. At Camera Revival, we will tell you what we will do when we do a CLA. In some cases, it might mean we need to do a partial revision and/or disassembly of the device. The goal is to get your camera and/or lens back into working condition. Nevertheless there is a major difference between “working” and “working as it’s supposed to work”. In many cases CLA means as little work as possible for as much money as possible. However, here at Camera revival, we don’t think we do any justice to our name if we do a little greasing and oiling here and there and call it a day. Sometimes, a CLA isn’t sufficient and we are obliged to perform a complete overhaul on your camera or lens.

Let’s not forget that the majority of the vintage analogue cameras and/or lenses on the market haven’t seen a service for decades. Over time, finger oil, aperture ring grease and dirt accumulate and lead to internal damage. These devices are engineering wonders and mechanical devices need a frequent service in order to guarantee the proper functioning. It not only improves the durability, but also reduces the wear and tear of internal parts. Replacing parts is more costly than regular maintance. Besides, with a good maintenance your camera will keep it’s market value!

If a CLA won’t do the job, we do partial revisions or even complete overhauls. As mentioned before, we don’t like to do a half job. We treat every repair as a long term investment. An “overhaul” means we perform a complete camera disassembly with (ultrasonic) cleaning of all mechanical parts and screws. In case a part is broken, we replace it. Subsequently, we clean the internal and external camera shell and and lubricate all the internal mechanical components using high quality industrial oils and greases. We clean all optical surfaces in the camera body. After we’ve assembled everything, we do an extensive precision alignment of various parts. Finally, we double check or even tripple check everything in our lab to be sure we didn’t forget anything.

Lens separation means that the lens elements inside your lens are separating. In most cases, separation starts at the edges, so center sharpness and contrast won’t be affected much. However, as the separation process advances, you’ll probably notice a loss in contrast and an increased flare due to the new air gap which is created in between the elements. In worst case you’ll have a cheap soft focus filter inside your lens.

Minor separation might not be so problematic. However, severe lens separation might affect your image quality by bringing the lens elements out of alignment which introduces abberations. The issue can only be resolved by recementing the lens elements. We work closely with an optical specialist with decades of experience in recementing lens doublets, polishing of lens elements and their recoating. This process requires expensive machinery in order to guarantee the correct allignment of your optical assembly and is not something that can be performed at home using some online tutorials.

If you’ve received your purchase or your repaired camera and lens and you still believe there is an issue, just contact us! Your purchase or repair is always covered by a warranty. This is what differentiates us from non-official hobby resellers or repair individuals. Our return rate is as good as non existing and there is a reason for that; we double or tripple check everything to be sure that your item works as it should work.

Your satisfaction is our prime concern.

We try to ship your fresh purchases as soon as possible. We pack them with the utmost care, usually within 2-5 workdays. We only work with premium shippers to guarantee your delicate product reaches you well. We don’t send packages unsecured or uninsured. Of course, delivery times depend on your location, the speed of the shipper and external factors like weather conditions, war, etc. You’ll receive an online tracking code when your order is processed.

Repairs: We will send you a total cost including shipping rate once the repair on your item has been completed.

Webshop: When you buy a product on our website, shipping costs are automatically calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide. However, if you’re situated outside of the European Union, additional import taxes and duties might apply. These additional charges are not mentioned on the website, and your sole responsibility. Please contact your local customs office for more information.

We accept the following payment methods:

– PayPal

– Bank transfer

We don’t require deposits. We will ask you to pay for your items once the job has been finished and the items are ready to be shipped back to you. Everything is always shipped with the utmost care and we will provide you with multiple insurance options for you to choose from.

Items purchased from our webshop always require a payment in advance in order to complete the purchasing process; you can pay directly with PayPal or wire transfer by bank account.

If you buy a product on our website, the general terms and conditions apply. You can find them here.

If you buy a product on our website, the general terms and conditions apply and you will receive a 12-month warranty. You can find more info here.

At the moment we don’t have any open positions. If we do, we’ll make sure to post it on our social media channels or state it on our website. At the moment we cannot accomodate interns due to our workload.

By clicking here.