Trying to repair a Pathé Webo 16mm Camera... in Los Angeles

I thought that my Pathé Webo needed servicing, because the markings on some C-Mount lenses didn't match the distances at which the image was sharp in the reflex viewfinder.

And I thought that, living near Hollywood, it wouldn't be too hard to find a film technician to help me with it.

How wrong I was! After calling 7 different camera repair shops, only Walters Camera Video & Digital was open about a walk-in to check it.

Some answers I got were:

“I’m not an expert in that - there’s someone who’s an expert in that in the los angeles area - 16mm is a rare commodity etc etc”
“No we do not”
"Yes we repair film cameras, but not 16mm"
"We don’t offer that anymore"
"We don’t I haven't seen one of these in 10 years!"

I was also wrong is assuming there was something to fix with the camera. The lenses that were showing an erroneous distance for the sharpest focus were more recent, TV lenses that didn't mount as properly as lenses designed for 16mm cameras.

I built a little laser-benchmarking station, and found out that the camera - and lenses - were working as they should:

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