Rant: Was I the only one using the wrong lubricant on shutter mechanisms?

I been fixing cameras for like 8 years in my shop near Austin. Always used standard sewing machine oil on shutter blades cause it seemed thin enough. Then last month a guy from a local repair meetup saw me doing it and was like 'dude, that's gonna gum up in 6 months.' He showed me a proper synthetic lubricant for leaf shutters and I felt like an idiot. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been doing a basic step totally wrong for years? What tipped you off?

3 comments

3 Comments

terry_mitchell1mo ago

I mean, are we really gonna act like sewing machine oil is gonna destroy a shutter in six months? I've used it on old folders and those things are still ticking ten years later. Sure, synthetics are probably better for modern stuff with tight tolerances, but half the cameras people fix are already clapped out before you even open them. Honestly, I think the repair community loves to gatekeep little tricks like this to make themselves feel smarter. Unless you're shooting a Leica every day, the oil police aren't coming for you.

the_jason16d ago

Not saying you're wrong, but people act like a few drops of the wrong oil is gonna make a shutter explode. I've got a beat up old Kodak that had 3-in-1 oil in it when I got it, and it still works fine. The whole "you must use this specific synthetic blend or else" thing feels like dressing up a hobby to sound more serious than it really is. At the end of the day, these are mass produced mechanical devices from the 50s, not surgical instruments. A lot of them were built with simpler materials that aren't gonna seize up from a little light machine oil. The real test is whether it gums up over time, and honestly most people aren't gonna run a shutter enough to find out.

dixon.rose1mo agoMost Upvoted

Three years on a Yashica TLR with sewing machine oil and no problems here either @terry_mitchell.

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