If I could only keep one repair manual, this is the one I’d keep. As King Solomon said, “With all your getting, get understanding.” This is the difference between Romney and Tomosy. Tomosy explains “a camera”, Romney explains “all cameras”, unknowing step by step versus theory. Still Tomosy’s books are more professionally done and much better illustrated. If these two men could get together they’d make one Hell of a book! The scope of “Basic Training” encompasses nearly the whole of Tomosy’s first four books. Romney calls his approach the “system method” because he goes into the component mechanisms that comprise all cameras.
So much for comparing, on to describing this book. In the introduction Romney begins teaching. He mentions troubleshooting hints at the outset, how to tell a well used camera from one that has been on a shelf, which cameras to look for and which to look out for, etc. In Section 1 (chapter 1?) the required tools are listed as well as makeshift tools that can be made. In Section 2 he jumps right into how to take a camera apart, getting your feet wet fast! Section 3 leaf shutters and the differences between designs, Compur, Seikosha, Prontor, etc. Section 4, focal plane shutters: Exakta-like pin and hole, cloth curtain, Copal Square, etc. Section 5 goes into adjusting shutters while Section 6 is adjusting focus systems. Section 7 & 8 describes wind mechanisms of 35mm and roll film. Section 9 does meters, both built-in and hand held. Section 10 looks at SLR’s as a whole. Section 11 describes lubrication. Section 12 talks about rangefinder and viewfinder cameras. Section 13 is devoted to TLR’s while Section 14 is on Large Format. Sections 15, 16 and 17 lightly touches on electronic cameras. (My experience agrees with Romney when he says service manuals are necessary when troubleshooting electronic cameras.) Section 18, synch and strobe. Section 19, lenses and diaphragms. Section 20 and 21 goes into bellows and wood frame cameras.
This book is short on pictures, its biggest failing. The quality of the pictures and diagrams is its second biggest. The inserted, folded plate pictures (supposedly meant to pin to the wall?) are clumsy to use and probably will get lost and separated from the book.
Getting back to comparing Romney and Tomosy books, buy Tomosy if you only plan on working on one or two cameras that happen to be covered in his books. Buy Romney if you want to understand how to work on many different cameras. Or be like me and buy all of them so you can gripe a bunch about both authors and their methods!
By Henry Taber