About
Classic Camera is owned by me, Michael Wake. I can blame my parents for my interest in photography, as my father was a keen amateur photographer and my mother loved the National Geographic magazine.
I would look at the camera ads in the front and back pages of the magazine when it arrived every month and be amazed at these high tech looking cameras.
I took up photography in my late teens but just as a photographer.
It started with an Alpa Reflex
I was given a broken Alpa Reflex camera by a friend 25 years ago to repair and after a year it was complete.
I had no experience, but a lot of mechanical know-how, plus working in the electronics industry made me used to small fiddly tasks.
The Alpa was a very complex camera and needed new springs to get it working.
As it is Swiss, it used watch type mechanicals and 2 springs had broken. I managed to find equivalents and bought books and tools to learn more. I would buy broken cameras online and repair them to practice.
The move to commercial repairs
About 6 years ago Greg at Photo and Video said they were struggling to get repairs on film cameras done and would I consider doing it for them. I did so and continue to repair for Photo and Video, Photo Warehouse and Progear.
My name seemed to spread through the internet and I have repaired many cameras for customers directly.
I started a camera rental company in 2003 called Nikonhire.com. We rented digital bodies and lens until it closed in 2008 because we could not afford to keep the rental fleet up to date with the turnover we had.
I have my own electronics manufacturing company I run by day but still enjoy repairing and collecting. Classic Camera is the culmination of many years teaching myself the art of repairing cameras, acquiring the tools and test equipment and being tired of seeing people pay too much for a second-hand cameras that were not properly serviced and adjusted to work well.
We repair, sell and rent cameras that are working well so you can enjoy your photography.