2nd Shot Part IV: A New Beginning

For 80s horror movie buffs that’s a little homage to the Friday the 13^th series… very formulaic but man, those poster titles were effective. [Title + Part ___: = Tagline]. Great, now I’m gonna have to take a few hours to watch those again. Unfortunately the CED format died shortly before part VI was released (kinda biased on that one being the best… **discuss**) so I only have 1-5 on videodisc. I’m spoiled.

FINALLY! It's about #&$*@) time... here's the site I promised forever ago. Click the link below to be magically warped to a place where instant film thrives. All sales and repair pricing has been updated as well as customization options. Feel free to stop by and take a glance. There's still a LOT of bugs and shitty spelling (I think I spelled 'shitty' right - this page just became PG-13). As mentioned on the site's sales page, inventory is constantly being updated and moved around. I'll be adding more pages and items like film and accessories very soon. Also shirts, stickers, and other swag will make it's way on there too. It definitely is a work in progress. ;) 

So here we are… a new beginning, new chapter, clean slate, dawn of a new day, and all those other colloquialisms and metaphorical literary terms that I’m most likely using incorrectly. Apologies in advance to the grammar and literary police. This is an exciting time that I’ve been dreaming of doing the past 3 years and with Impossible gradually perfecting their integral format, the popularity of Instax films, and the launch of two fantastic instant cameras from Impossible and Mint, it’s the perfect time to promote instant and all film photography. No pics this eve... I'm pooped. Thanks and let's see where this goes!

Polaroid SX-70 Bliss!

Dry N Crispy!

Had a bit of free time today to give a little blurb and check in… So here it is! It’s a bit dry and crispy here in Buffalo but it beats the hell out of the 7 feet of snow in my driveway 2 years ago. I’ll take dry and crispy over buried and freezing any day. Have a few new developments going on in and out of the shop and I have time to address a few things that have been brought up by a few customers over the last few months.

I want to start off by giving a HUGE shout out to The Impossible Project with their new i-1 camera and their new generation of instant films. I absolutely love what these guys are doing and how well they’ve progressed through the last few years. I’ll be getting my hands on an i-1 very soon and can’t wait to poke at i. Keep up the amazing work TIP!!!

Ok… shop stuff. First and foremost, I’m always looking at ways to avoid destroying a fixable camera for parts. There are some cameras that are doomed from the start like ones that are rusty, moldy, or dropped/cracked. But ones that are "all there" are very salvageable regardless of mechanical or electronic problems. FER CRYING OUT LOUD, DON'T THROW YOUR CAMERA AWAY IF IT SIMPLY WONT RUN!!!! Sorry for yelling. One part that I would often strip from sonar type models is the autofocus opto sensor (aka the pickoff)… I’ve wrote about that part many times and how it’s a headache to find a replacement. This part fails over time causing the camera’s autofocus to be limited to only 3-5 feet. Even when using a replacement from a donor camera, it’s not predictable when or where it will fail.

So after a little CAD work, some electronics research, and a few prototypes, I’m happy to announce I’ve finally built a perfectly suitable replacement pickoff that can bring the autofocus on your Sonar back to life and working like new! This will also eliminate the need for destroying serviceable cameras. I’ll be adding this service to the list on the blog and will also be offering these to others that repair SX70s so if your AF on your Sonar is going bonkers, please contact me.

Some really quick housekeeping… if anyone is actually reading this… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try to avoid sending your camera in cases or with accessories attached. Also, when possible, please take care in packing your camera for shipping! I’ve yet to remove a camera from a box that was padded with bubble wrap, air bags, or packing peanuts. I’ve had a few cameras arrive broken that were packed in paper or compressed cardboard. I’ll be updating the blog/site this fall so I probably should include a quick tutorial on shipping your camera to the shop. It’s best to wrap the camera like a burrito in bubble wrap, line the bottom of the box with either foam or more bubble wrap, and pack the rest of the box with either more foam or bubble wrap. It also helps to not piss off your Postal Worker. Finally, please make sure that when paying through Paypal that your address is current in your shipping info.

So that’s an update for summer of 2016… some exciting stuff coming up so as always, keep the site bookmarked and be sure to check out 2^nd Shot on Instagram at www.instagram.com/2ndshotsx70service.

A few highlights from the past few months (as seen on IG but these were some of my faves)!