Sensor Clean Manchester was established by Van Devanney in 2011. He is very well known in the professional photography business, working previously for Leeds Photovisual and Calumet in Manchester, as his experience spans over 27 years.
Primarily he setup the business to clean sensors in the Greater Manchester and city centre area. Van has seen the business grow due to demand and services required that are not easily obtained locally as many professional businesses have reduced in numbers. Originally there was 8 professional photographic suppliers in central Manchester alone, now there are only 3.
We met up to discuss how his business has developed.
Charles: Hi Van, Good to meet you again. Looking around us you certainly have a large collection of cameras and lens spares. It’s obvious you have moved into servicing, how has your business progressed?
Van: We started sensor cleaning as the demand was high and I had many photographers looking for this service locally. We then found photographers have faulty or damaged equipment that needs to be serviced. Photographers are busy and we have a booking service to make studio or house calls to save time between shoots. Repairing and servicing equipment was just the natural progression and I often can’t say no to someone who needs help.
Charles: So, sensor cleaning is still a major part of your business and it’s good to hear you offer a ‘unique’ cleaning service for photographers on-location. You repair cameras and lenses, do you limit yourself to certain brands?
Van: Over the years I have developed good relationships with my customers and manufacturers. Most of the manufacturers are helpful and provide the majority of parts. Of course the major brands are taken care of first as parts are often readily available. Although Brexit has slowed the supply chain down so we have started stocking certain items. We are often asked if we can service equipment that is discontinued and if we can not obtain spares we will source them via our contacts in the trade.
Charles: I see from your services list you offer Software Training, Data Recovery, Colour Profiling and Film and Print Scanning. How do you manage to fit all of this in during the working day?
Van: Time management is paramount. Our sensor cleaning service is via appointment so we can judge the time available to carry out our other services. Of course we can batch scan whilst carrying out repairs, but this isn’t something that happens too often. Our scanning service is used by book publishers, mostly archival materials, as we can scan film, paper and glass slides.
Charles: Many camera systems must have passed through your hands, has there been any rare one’s or maybe you could tell us which is your favourite camera? Not to repair but to use and shoot with…
Van: Well, at the last Focus on Imaging exhibition, in Birmingham, I was honoured to be passed the Hasselblad Lunar camera. Ironically the front of the lens fell off, I’m glad to say it was only the lens cap and hood! My favourite cameras to use was the Nikon F3 Titanium with105mm f2.5 and Rollei 6008 medium format camera with 50mm Distagon lens. Exceptional results and beautifully engineered. I will post some results from a weekend spent recently in York.
Charles: Do you have any plans to expand your business?
Van: Yes we have a 5 year plan to develop the business which has been delayed by Covid. We have a regional development strategy on the table and we expect to start this process in October 2021.
Charles: That’s great to hear and we look forward to reading more in the coming months.
Contact Details: M: 07761 300412 info@sensorcleanmanchester.co.uk
Check out our full range of services: https://www.sensorcleanmanchester.co.uk
