The Repair Shop on BBC One has introduced a brand new expert to its team.
Tonight’s latest episode (27 September) saw 27-year-old camera expert Pierro Pozella made his debut.
In his initial task, Pierro handles a twin-lens camera with an intriguing history—it once belonged to Harry’s grandfather, a graphic designer, and served on set at ATV in Elstree Studios during the 1970s and ’80s.
On joining The Repair Shop team, Pierro revealed: “I just got an email, so it was quite out of the blue- I did wonder if it was real or not at first!
“I was found through my social media which was cool as its taken a while to develop over the years.”
As for how he got into the business of camera repairs, Pierro shared: “When I started repairing film cameras over a decade ago, the world had already moved onto digital, so you couldn’t just go to a factory and learn from the specialists – I had to teach myself.
“What led me into repairs was my fascination for analogue cameras and the history that they hold. As film cameras were deemed redundant at the time, there was a surplus of broken cameras being binned as people didn’t know what to do with them. It seemed crazy to me that cameras nearly 100 years old were just ending up in landfill and I wanted to change this.”
Pierro says he learned a lot of his craft by reverse engineering: Taking cameras apart to learn how to fix them. He later trained alongside a master repairer to fill gaps in his repair skills and enable him to further refine his craft.
“It is what continues to excite me about repairing, as no two cameras are alike so you’re forever learning,” Pierro adds.
Discussing his most complex repair yet, Pierro said: “The most challenging fix so far, has been the last one I did at the barn – the Adox sport camera. This camera was used by the client’s grandfather in the Vietnam War.
“When it arrived, it probably would have been easier to manufacture a new camera than it would have been repair – there were parts missing screws missing everything was broken, springs gone.
“I made several tiny springs, replaced the bellows and even custom-made and 3D printed a brand-new part for the camera. Despite being a complex repair, it was exciting for me to create replacement parts from scratch.”
The Repair Shop continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Wednesdays at 8PM.
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