I was cleaning shutter blades with the wrong stuff for months

I mean, I had this old Nikon FM2 come in with a sticky shutter, and I kept using a drop of lighter fluid on a q tip like I always did. It worked okay, but the shutter would get slow again after a few weeks. Then last month, I was watching this repair video from a guy in Germany, and he said using anything with naphtha on titanium foil shutters is a bad idea long term. He said it leaves a tiny film that attracts dust and makes the problem come back. I felt so dumb. I switched to pure isopropyl and a special lint free swab, and the last three cameras I did that on have been perfect. Has anyone else run into this with specific shutter types? I'm worried I messed up some past jobs.

3 comments

3 Comments

jesse_barnes3725d ago

That German repair video is a total game changer. It makes me wonder if the film from the naphtha could also mess with the shutter curtain's timing over a long period, like a slow buildup that throws off the springs. I've got an old F3 that might be a victim of my own lighter fluid phase, gonna have to crack it back open.

betty_scott1825d ago

Honestly, that whole "tiny film" thing sounds a bit overblown to me. I've used lighter fluid on old metal shutters for years and never had a comeback. Tbh, if it was really that bad, we'd see way more totally dead shutters from it. Maybe it's a bigger deal for those specific titanium ones, but I bet for most cameras it's fine. Switching to alcohol is probably cleaner, but I doubt you ruined any past jobs.

wade55819h ago

Come on, that film is real and it gums stuff up bad over time. I've seen it kill shutters that worked fine for years after a cleaning.