Apologies if this is inappropriate in this forum, but I thought others might be interested in this story.

I noticed what I thought was a small defect in my 2nd-hand Ebony camera, which is not therefore covered by warranty. I wasn't sure who to contact, but I'd recently had dealings with Mike Walker, of Walker Camera (www.walkercameras.com), to repair a Walker 45XL I'd broken, so I gave him a call. He offered to look the Ebony over for me, since he repairs cameras other than his own, so I sent it off to him last Tuesday.

Two days later he was on the phone to me. He'd dismantled the Ebony, looked at what I thought was a defect, and determined that it was well within the tolerances for the camera. He spent some time on the telephone, explaining in terms I could understand why I didn't need to worry. He then arranged to ship the camera back to me ASAP.

Total charge for his time, expertise and kind advice: nothing. In equity, I felt I owed him something for the work he'd undertaken, but he refused any payment. Eventually, I had to give in.

One of the nice things about the LF community is how helpful everyone is to each other. It's great to see it extends to the commerical side of the community too. If anyone has need of camera repair in the UK (and elsewhere too, I imagine) they could do worse than give Mike a call. He's a really helpful guy, and he certainly will get my business the next time I damage one of my cameras. Highly recommended.